Yangta Dabai Tea

Yangta Dabai Tea

　　Yangta Dabai Tea is a specialty of Yangta Village, Minle Township, Jinggu County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. This white tea has a history of over 140 years. It is renowned for its elegant appearance, prominent white pekoe, fragrant aftertaste, and pure tea liquor. Historically grown in limited quantities and with low yield, it is particularly precious and is one of Yunnan's eight famous teas. During the Qing Dynasty, it was listed as a court delicacy, known as "White Dragon Whisker Tribute Tea," and was highly favored by the imperial court.

　　Yangta Dabai Tea is produced in Yangta, a village within Dacun, Minle Township, Jinggu County, China. It is characterized by superior tea plant varieties, buds and leaves densely covered in downy fuzz, resulting in robust and weighty finished tea. The tea features prominent white pekoe, silvery-white tea strips, a delicate fragrance, clear tea liquor, a mellow and sweet taste, and excellent infusion endurance. It is named after its place of origin. Yangta is located in a misty, high-altitude forested mountain area with a cool climate. With a planting history of over 160 years—dating back to the 20th year of the Daoguang reign in the Qing Dynasty (1840), some of the original old tea trees still exist today. Unlike other types of tea, this white tea is uniquely white in appearance and visually appealing, prompting local officials at the time to mandate its careful processing into “White Dragon Whisker Tribute Tea,” which was presented as a tribute to the imperial court, making it a rare and precious variety. Dabai Tea is suitable for producing a range of tea types. When made into traditional sun-dried green tea, spring tea is considered the best, followed by autumn tea, with pre-Qingming tea being the finest, known as “Pre-Qingming Spring Tips.” When processed into stir-fixed or baked green tea categories, the aroma is even more pronounced, with a silvery-gray fuzz color and a greenish liquor. As black tea, it displays golden fuzz, robust and plump tea strips, and an excellent taste. In 1981, Dabai Tea was recognized as one of Yunnan’s eight famous teas and listed as a local premium tea variety, later included in the 1989 edition of the "Chinese Agricultural Encyclopedia: Tea Volume." Administratively, Yangta Village now belongs to Minle Township, Jinggu, but geographically it is closer to Jinggu Township. As a result, the local tea-making methods in Jinggu Township have always been consistent with those used for Dabai Tea, and the tea is rolled into straight strips, referred to as “bunch tea.”