According to the definition of the national standard, Pu’er tea is made of Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea within the scope of geographical indication protection, and is made by specific processing technology within the scope of geographical indication protection.
The scope of Pu’er tea production includes 11 prefectures (cities) in Yunnan Province, including Xishuangbanna, Lincang, Pu’er, Kunming, Dehong, Dali, Baoshan, Honghe, Chuxiong, Yuxi and Wenshan.
In terms of regions, the main tea producing areas are Xishuangbanna, Lincang City and Pu’er City, among which Xishuangbanna is the most famous and largest producer.
Xishuangbanna Tea Area
Xishuangbanna is located at the southern tip of Yunnan Province in China, connected with Laos and Myanmar by mountains and rivers, and close to Thailand and Vietnam. Tea plantations in this area are mainly distributed in mountainous areas with an altitude of 800-1800 meters, frost-free all the year round and annual rainfall of 1300-1800 mm. The soil is mainly lateritic red soil and latosol, with deep soil layer and high natural fertility. The ecological vegetation is good, mainly rubber forest and broad-leaved forest, with a vegetation coverage rate of more than 50%, which is very suitable for the growth of tea trees, and the tea germplasm resources are very rich.
Xishuangbanna has a long history of tea planting, tea making, tea drinking and tea trading.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were activities of tea production, and in the Tang Dynasty, tea was sold to Xizang. In the Song Dynasty, there was a tea and horse trade between Yunnan and Xizang, which was the most prosperous from the Ming Dynasty to the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the first spring tea of the six ancient tea mountains was listed as the imperial tribute tea for the imperial court.
The production area of Xishuangbanna can be roughly divided into two parts.
- The first part is in Mengla County, which includes seven villages and eight stockaded villages in Yiwu, as well as four “ancient tea mountains” in Xiangming, Yibang, Manzhuan, Gedeng and Mangzhi. Therefore, the tea here is also called Yiwu tea.The tea soup of Yiwu Tea is exquisite, soft and firm, and the production of body fluid is relatively fast, and the throat rhyme is obvious, which has the characteristics of “the older the tea is, the more sufficient it is”.
- The second part is Menghai County, covering the area south of Lancang River in Xishuangbanna, including Mengzhe, Nannuo Mountain, Bulang Mountain, Bada, Mengsong, Manuo and other places.The overall taste is mellow and strong, the bitter taste in the mouth is heavy, the sweet taste lasts for a long time, and the degree of foam resistance is high.
Lincang Tea Area
Lincang is located between the middle and lower reaches of Lancang River and Nujiang River, with an annual average temperature.The annual rainfall is 1400 mm, the Tropic of Cancer passes through the territory, and the climate of the whole region is mild and full of light.Sufficient, low latitude, high altitude, abundant water resources, red soil, PH value acid, the most suitable.The growth of tea trees.At the same time, in high-altitude areas, tea trees have a longer growth cycle, leading to relatively better tea quality.
Lincang tea area is the original habitat of Mengku large-leaf tea, where there are many large-scale and continuous distribution of wild tea trees, and ancient artificial cultivation of large tea trees are preserved, and this area is also the largest producing area of Pu’er Tea tea materials.
The tea mountains in Lincang are most famous in Shuangjiang, Mengku, Fengqing, Yongde and Bangdong. Among them, the white tea produced in Shuangjiang, Lincang, is represented by Iceland.
Pu’er tea is the most famous in the past, which is what we often call “Laobanzhang”.
Black tea is mainly produced in Fengqing County.
Tea trees in Lincang production area have unique growth environment, rich endoplasm and thick taste. The produced tea has rich taste, high degree of soaking resistance and endless aftertaste, and is suitable for making various types of tea.
Pu’er Tea Tea Area
Pu’er City, also known as Simao, is a prefecture-level city in Yunnan. On January 21, 2007, Simao City was renamed Pu’er City. Tea areas in Pu’er Tea are vast, and there are eight tea areas in Pu’er Tea, such as Qianzhai, Jingmai and Bangwei, which are important tea producing areas in Pu’er Tea.
Pu’er Tea has no severe cold in winter, no intense heat in summer and mild climate. “Sunrise in the east and rain in the west” and “one mountain has four seasons and ten miles of different days” are the prominent climatic characteristics of Pu’er Tea, which create excellent climatic and environmental conditions for the growth of tea trees. There are abundant tea germplasm resources in this area, such as well-preserved Jingmai Mountain ancient tea garden and Kailu Mountain ancient tea garden.
There are also many ancient tea gardens in Simao Tea Area, such as Jingmaishan Ancient Tea Garden in Lancang County, Qianzhai Ancient Tea Garden in Zhenyuan County, Jinggu Yanggu Dabai Tea, etc. In Jingmai Tea Mountain, there is still the best-preserved and largest artificial cultivated ancient tea forest found in the world.
Among them, there are Mengben, Dapingzhang, Bangbo, Mangjing, Jingmai Mountain, Wuliang Mountain, Trapped Deer Mountain, Mojiang Fenghuangwo and so on.
“Fragrant” and “sweet” is a major feature of Jingmai tea, with strong mountain charm, thick and delicate soup, lasting throat rhyme, strong and full taste, and rapid sweet aftertaste.