Ten-Mile Tea Village

Ten-Mile Tea Village

The Ten-Mile Tea Village is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Hunan Province.

The Ten-Mile Tea Village in Nanyue Xiling is the largest primary production area of Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea. It stretches over ten miles between Huagai Peak and Guanyin Peak within the Nanyue Hengshan Scenic Area, and consists of the Huagai Tea Farm of Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea Industry and the Shanwan Tea Cooperative. The renowned thinker and philosopher Wang Fuzhi once wrote ten poems titled “Nanyue Tea Picking Songs,” which vividly describe the entire process of tea planting, picking, processing, and selling in this area, as well as the industrious daily lives of the tea farmers.

The tea village is divided into the southern slope of the front mountain and the northern slope of the back mountain by the scenic area highway. Vast tea fields are interspersed with bamboo groves and wildflowers, while mountain streams murmur through the valleys. From late March to early May each year, the cloud brocade azaleas, azaleas, and magnolia flowers in the Ten-Mile Tea Village bloom in succession. Tea grows amidst seas of blossoms, and flowers thrive within tea gardens—here, a stretch of ten miles is filled with the fragrance of flowers.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea has been listed as a tribute tea. Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea, mentioned Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea four times in his Classic of Tea, stating, “Tea from the southern mountains is produced in the valleys of Hengshan County,” referring to Nanyue Hengshan in Hengyang, Hunan.

The Ten-Mile Tea Village scenic area lies in the core zone of the Nanyue Hengshan National Nature Reserve. Traveling along the Nanma Highway on the western route of Nanyue Ancient Town in Nanyue District, it takes about 10 kilometers to reach the Xiling ticket gate. Without entering the scenic area, turn westward and continue for another four kilometers to arrive at the Ten-Mile Tea Village.

The Ten-Mile Tea Village, the largest primary production area of Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea, stretches for dozens of miles between Huagai Peak and Guanyin Peak—one of the seventy-two peaks of Nanyue Hengshan. It includes attractions such as the Educated Youth Tea Farm (also known as Huagai Tea Farm) of Nanyue Cloud Mist Tea Industry, the Shanwan Tea Base, the Mountain Opening Ceremonial Altar, the Ancient Tea Village Path, the Cloud-Gazing Platform, and Fangguang Temple.