Site of the Northern Park Imperial Tea Workshop

Site of the Northern Park Imperial Tea Workshop

The Site of the Northern Park Imperial Tea Workshop is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Site of the Northern Park Imperial Tea Workshop is located within the current Fengshan Tea Plantation in Dongfeng Town, approximately 15 kilometers northeast of Jian’ou City, Fujian Province.

Since 1985, over fifty historical sites have been discovered here. The imperial tea from the Northern Park originated in the first year of the Longqi era (933 AD) during the Min Kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and continued to be presented as tribute for a remarkable span of 458 years. Historically, it has been praised as “the most renowned tribute tea from the Northern Park under heaven.” The Northern Park was a famous imperial tea garden during the Song and Yuan dynasties and was considered the ancient tea capital of China. According to the Jian’ou County Annals, in the first year of the Min Longqi era, the Phoenix Mountain tea plantation was designated as a royal tea garden. Since it was located in the northern part of the Min capital, it was called the “Northern Park.” From the Song through the Yuan and Ming dynasties, successive imperial courts established transport and administrative offices at the Northern Park, where senior officials such as Ding Wei and Cai Xiang once supervised the production of tribute tea. The tribute teas produced there, including the “Dragon Cake and Phoenix Cake” and “Miyun Dragon,” were exquisitely crafted and were celebrated with the praise, “Of all teas under heaven, those of Jian are the finest; of all teas of Jian, those of the Northern Park are the finest.”

The discovery of the Northern Park site provides strong evidence for the study of ancient Chinese tea history. In 2006, the Site of the Northern Park Imperial Tea Workshop was included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council as an ancient site from the Song Dynasty.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units