Baiying Mountain Tea

Baiying Mountain Tea

　　Baiying Mountain Tea is a specialty of Baiying Mountain in Yun County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province. Baiying Mountain is a natural museum of ancient tea trees and a genetic treasure trove of tea germplasm resources. The middle reaches of the Lancang River where Baiying Mountain is located have since ancient times been the core cultivation area of the Yunnan large-leaf tea — the raw tea used in today’s Pu’er tea production.

　　Baiying Mountain is located in the central part of Dabing Mountain (with the main peak at an elevation of 2,834 meters) in Manwan Town, Yun County, Lincang. It faces the Wuliang Mountains across the river and is backed by the wild tea tree communities of Dabing Mountain. Situated at an altitude between 1,800 and 2,300 meters, it stretches 6,000 meters from north to south and 1.6 kilometers from east to west. Currently, it still retains over 1.8 million self-sustaining, semi-wild, and cultivated ancient tea trees, distributed across 12,400 acres of mountainous land and villages.

　　The middle reaches of the Lancang River where Baiying Mountain is located have since ancient times been the core cultivation area of the Yunnan large-leaf tea — the raw tea used in today’s Pu’er tea production. The region enjoys abundant water, fine soil, ample sunlight, and fresh air — making it the optimal environment for cultivating Yunnan large-leaf tea. The Baiying Mountain ancient tea plantation spans 20 square kilometers, with trees sparsely distributed among natural vegetation. The oldest trees are over 2,400 years old, and there are more than 10,000 trees aged over a century. These ancient tea trees vary in shape — some are round like balls, some have canopies like umbrellas, and others stand lush and towering, leaving visitors in awe.

　　In the Baiying Mountain ancient tea garden, 36 natural villages are nestled within thousands of acres of ancient tea plantations. There are ancient tea trees within the villages, planted around village edges, at field corners, and covering the mountainsides — vast and lush. The diversity, scale, and long cultivation history of these ancient tea trees demonstrate the evolutionary process from wild to cultivated tea plants. They serve as a microcosm of tea cultivation history, historical evidence of tea plant origins, and a natural laboratory for studying the origin and evolution of tea plants.

　　Today, with the establishment of the Yunnan Pu’er tea brand, the Baiying Mountain ancient tea garden showcases significant cultural value related to Pu’er tea. Currently, Lincang Lancang River Tea Company has implemented comprehensive protection measures for the ancient tea trees on the mountain and has built a standardized and scientific Pu’er tea production workshop at Baiying Mountain. At the same time, the “Baiying Mountain Ancient Tea Garden Natural Museum” has been established, creating a protective production base for Buddhist tea — where tea is picked, processed, stored, and sold all within this sacred tea land.