Mojiang Pu'er Tea

Mojiang Pu'er Tea

　　Mojiang Pu'er Tea is a specialty of Mojiang County in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. Mojiang is one of the famous production areas of "Pu'er Tea." As early as the fourth year of the Daoguang reign in the Qing Dynasty (1824), villagers from Yangbazhai in Baliu, Mojiang, introduced and planted the tea from Lüchun.

　　Mojiang is an Hani Autonomous County under Simao City and one of the regions where Pu'er Tea is produced. The tea-growing areas include Jingxing (now Jingxing Township), Mayu (now part of Lüchun County), two major tea mountains, as well as the Xuli Tea Mountain in Bixi Township, with scattered tea gardens found throughout all townships. Mojiang lies on the Tropic of Cancer, offering a climate suitable for tea growth. In the vast region ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 meters above sea level, tea grows very well. In Mojiang’s Cangputang, there is a wild tea tree that stands 5.87 meters tall, with a base diameter of 43 centimeters and a canopy spread of 2.7 meters. In Mojiang’s Jiepai, there is a cultivated tea tree that stands 3.2 meters tall, with a base diameter of 41.3 centimeters, a wide-spreading canopy of 5.18 meters.

　　Jingxing Tea Mountain has a long history of tea cultivation. In the 30th year of the Republic of China (1941), it had 300,000 tea trees, producing 40–50 dan (a traditional unit equal to roughly 50 kilograms) of tea annually, with peak production reaching 60 dan. Its "Yulu Yunzhen" tea was of premium quality, highly favored by customers both within and outside the province. In 1949, the production reached 336 dan. The Xuli Tea from Bixi is also quite well known for its fragrant and mellow taste. Even after three to five brews, its color, aroma, and flavor remain excellent. During the Qing Dynasty, Xuli Tea was listed as a tribute product. In 1954, the county had over 1,000 mu (approximately 66.7 hectares) of tea gardens, producing more than 100 dan of tea. By 1984, this had grown to 20,000 mu of tea gardens, yielding 3,000 dan of tea.

　　The "Mojiang Yunzhen Tea" developed and put into production by the Mojiang Tea Factory won the Simao Region Quality Product Award in 1982, and in 1985, it was listed among the top eight famous teas in Yunnan Province. In 2003, "Lushui Snow Sprout" won the gold award at the Second Yunnan (China) Tea Trade Fair.