Beiyuan Imperial Tea Garden

Beiyuan Imperial Tea Garden

For many people in northern Fujian, Beiyuan is both a source of pride and a regret. In such a vast country as China, Beiyuan is not particularly remarkable in itself, but what sets it apart is that it is not just an ordinary tea plantation — it was an imperial tea garden exclusively for the royal family. According to local historical records, the original owner of Beiyuan was a local gentry named Zhang Tinghui, who donated his tea plantation to the then King of Min, thus turning it into the royal tea garden of the King of Min. Friends, please don’t think that the imperial tea garden referred to here was only that of the King of Min. In fact, Beiyuan was only moderately famous during the era of the King of Min. The true brilliance of Beiyuan tea emerged during the Song Dynasty, especially reaching its peak during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. A key indication of this is that Emperor Huizong himself wrote the treatise “Daguan Tea Treatise” about Beiyuan tea, and renowned poets such as Su Dongpo and Lu You composed numerous poems about it. As Emperor Huizong wrote in the “Daguan Tea Treatise”: “Since the rise of our dynasty, tribute has been sent annually from Jianxi — Dragon Cake and Phoenix Cake teas, renowned across the world…” and so on.

Source: People's Government of Nanping City