Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black Tea

Yunnan Province is home to an abundant number of resourceful wild tea trees, some of which date over a thousand years. These trees are carefully protected and are regarded as a lasting treasure; they are often used for making Pu-erh tea and black tea. The combined feature of Yunnan’s black tea and Yunnan’s Pu-erh is distinctive and memorable.

As the name indicates, this black tea is made of the leaves of ancient wild tea trees. This wild tree black tea is traditionally processed following the crafting method of Dian Hong tea and is uniquely bold yet delicate and emits a rich, unique aroma.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	194℉ / 90℃		194℉ / 90℃
	3 teaspoons / 5g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 3 - 5 mins		7 steeps: rinse, 15s, 25s, 35s, 50s, 80s, 130s, 210s

Xiang Zhu Qing ecologic tea garden is elevated around 1500 meters and is where the primitive ecological environments provide ideal organic growing conditions for black tea cultivation. Fallen leaves and wild fruits decompose to provide sufficient nutrients and enrich the soil, enhancing the way these tea trees thrive. This is the secret to why tea leaves from this area are abundant in nutrients and can endure 10 infusions without turning bitter. In Xiang Zhu Qing, mainly Fengqing large-leaf tea trees grow, with many wild and ancient trees daring hundreds of years old, and some reaching thousands.

The Lang Cang River been seen from top of the tea garden.
Photograph by TeaVivre Member Chris

Tea trees and the river reflect nicely with each other, resulting in beautiful and ecologic scenery.
Photograph by TeaVivre Member Chris

More than thousand years old wild tea tree
Photograph by TeaVivre Member Chris

Tea trees here are very tall and grown totally naturally without any pesticides. Furthermore, tea farmers need to climb a ladder to pick tea leaves.

Feeling the freshness of the fresh wild tea leaves.

An authentic Yunnan farmer, Mr. Zhou has been avidly contributing to the tea business for over 20 years. A short chat with Mr. Zhou revealed his passion and insistence of the traditional tea process. He values the quality inside tea and his experience came from spending most of his time on tea mountains. Mr. Zhou is passionate about bringing out the nature of tea to share with tea lovers around the world and claims that the best environment for growing perfect tea trees is in Fengqing.

The Dian Hong Black Teas are produced in Fengqing, which is located in the south of Dianxi Longitudinal Valley. Fengqing is a county in Lincang, one of the four famous Pu-erh production areas (Xishuangbanna, Pu’er, Lincang and Baoshan), and is one of the first origin places of tea in the world. It is famous for being the hometown of Yunnan black tea in Lincang. Fengqing has a long history of planting, producing and drinking tea and it contains a throng of mountains alternated with rivers.

This Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black Tea is made from Wild large-leaf tea bush species that belong to Yunnan large-leaf species. The sexual propagation, arbour, super large-leaf means this big plant can reach over 6 meters tall. In 1984 the Fengqing large-leaf species was certified by the Chinese Government as national grade and was numbered as "Huacha NO. 13 (GsCT13)".

This species contains an abundant amount of tea polyphenol and catechin. The formation of these teas in the spring is 2.9% amino acid, 30.2% tea polyphenol, 3.2% caffeine and 13.4% catechin.

The tea leaf on the left side is common Fengqing large leaf with downy characteristic, while the Wild large tea leaf on the right side is glossy and shiny.

The best place to grow tea due to its natural environment is Fengqing, Yunnan and that’s where Dian Hong Black Tea was first produced in the 1930’s. The first batches were instantly popular and quickly exported through Hong Kong to England and other Western countries. Nowadays, Dian Hong is one of the most respected and widely known types of Chinese black tea. It is held with the utmost regard in China and is presented as gifts by the government to visiting dignitaries.