Mayu Tea

Mayu Tea

　　Mayu Tea: Produced at the Mayu Tea Plantation in the Hani Autonomous County of Lüchun in southern Yunnan. The tea gardens are located at the foot of the Huanglian Mountain, at an altitude of 1100–1300 meters. In front flows the Mayu River, which runs continuously — hence the name Mayu Tea. Over four hundred years ago, the tea was steamed in wooden baskets, packed in bamboo tubes, and dried over fire, belonging to the category of bamboo tube teas. It was widely sold in regions such as Mojiang, Simao, and Pu'er, and was well received by consumers. Today’s Mayu Tea is made using the pan-fired green tea method. The finished product features robust and tightly rolled leaves, a dark green and glossy color, slender buds, visible silver tips, clear and bright liquor, a high and lasting fragrance, a fresh and mellow taste with a hint of honey aroma, and tender, even, and bright leaf bottoms. Regular brewing of Mayu Tea usually doesn’t leave stains in teaware. In 1980 and 1981, it was rated as one of the province's famous teas. (Dehong)

　　Mayu Tea gets its name from Mayu Village, a Hani settlement in Qimaiba Township, Lüchun County. The village lies deep within the Huanglian Mountain, which is part of the provincial-level nature reserve for subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests in Honghe Prefecture. Huanglian Mountain Nature Reserve has a maximum elevation of 2637 meters and spans 133 square kilometers. Here, the mountains undulate, valleys run deep, clear streams flow endlessly, and the climate is cool and humid with fertile soil. At the mountaintop, clouds and mist linger among ancient trees; at the foothills, fragrant tea gardens thrive in lush abundance.

　　As the saying goes, “Good tea comes from high mountains and clouds.” The region’s exceptional natural conditions endow Mayu Tea with natural plant nutrients. Mayu Tea boasts excellent qualities such as robust and tightly rolled leaves, a dark green and glossy appearance, shining silver tips, long-lasting infusion, jade-like and clear liquor, a mellow and rich aroma, a lingering aftertaste, and teaware that stays free of stains. It stands out among famous teas. Mayu Tea contains effective components such as proteins, amino acids, alkaloids, organic acids, polyphenols, sugars, and fats. It helps relieve fatigue, quench thirst, improve vision, warm the stomach, invigorate the spirit, aid digestion, dispel cold, and detoxify — offering many benefits to the human body.

　　Mayu Tea is divided into two grades: premium and regular, based on raw material quality and production techniques. Premium Mayu Tea uses tender, intact one-bud-one-leaf fresh shoots as raw materials, processed through techniques such as fixation, initial rolling, initial drying, re-rolling, roasting, and sorting. The regular grade uses one-bud-two-to-three-leaf shoots of Mayu Tea and is processed using the pan-fired green tea method typical of large-leaf Yunnan tea. Mayu Tea has evolved from a single product to a series, including Mayu Silver Needle, Mayu Tea, Dream Spring, Thousand-Mile Fragrance, Seven-Leaf Ginseng, Stir-Fried Green, Green Tea, and Cloud Mist. Among them, Mayu Tea was rated as a high-quality famous tea of Yunnan Province for three consecutive sessions, and Mayu Silver Needle was selected as a designated product for the first Kunming Trade Fair.

　　The cultivation of Mayu Tea by humans dates back over 400 years, while wild tea trees have long existed at the foot of the Huanglian Mountain. Among the thousands of wild tea trees discovered so far, the most representative is a large tea tree growing near Mayu Village, with a trunk diameter of 84 centimeters and a height of over 10 meters. This tea tree is over 1700 years old and is a rare “king of tea trees” in the world.

　　In recent years, the reputation of Mayu Tea has grown steadily. The Lüchun County Tea Company, the main producer of Mayu Tea, has focused on improving product quality by strengthening the management of tea gardens and teams, as well as emphasizing processing techniques and new product development. This has helped Mayu Tea maintain strong competitiveness in the market. Cultivation of Mayu Tea has expanded from scattered plots in fields to large-scale planting. Currently, the county tea company owns over 4400 acres of tea gardens, producing nearly 130,000 kilograms of Mayu Tea annually. Products are sold across the province and beyond, reaching international markets such as Morocco, Pakistan, and Russia.