XiShuangBanNa
Yunnan China
"twelve thousand acres" in the local Dai (Thai) language.
it is the two thousand year old home of tea.
Deep Jungle Tea Trees
The southwest hook of China,
snuggled in between Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand,
nurtured by the Lancang / Mekong river.
It is the only piece of tropical forest inside China’s borders,
0.2% of the land supporting 24% of China’s biodiversity
and the only place where elephants still live in their natural habitat in China
Ancient Tea Horse Road
Yunnan borders Tibet at 7000m, dropping in XiShuangBanNa to 70m
The evolution of Puerh is hand in hand with its conveyance.
China hungry for horses, Tibetans for tea,
led to compressing the tea for storage and for transport.
In making its way along the ancient tea horse road
through the thick and misty Yunnan rainforests,
winding up to the high plains of Tibet it began to transform.
Aging in Tibet the Buddhist monks came to
realise the benefits of natural fermentation and aging.
Buddhist Monks
supported by the local tribes and ethnic groups of the Nan Zhao kingdom,
established during the Tang Dynasty in what is today Yunnan province.
This close connection between Buddhism and the place where Pu-erh tea originated,
attributed a special spiritual significance to the way of preparing and drinking tea.