Ancient Pu-erh trees in the forest in Meng Song Shan。 After a while, I fantasize that these were the Ents and they will start roaming around the forest and talking to me. They have lived thousands of years and time passes slowly. They grow very tall, the roots very deep, the lichen very thick, the branches holding up the sky. The sparse leaves on each tree will make just a few Bingchas worth.
Back to business. The old Menghai factory is now Tae Tea, and the old Yunnan Import Export company ‘China Inc.’ has folded into Zhong Cha Company, which is the largest State owned brand of teas. (中茶). Tae is privately owned and produces the largest quantity of Pu-erh today. Above: the old Menghai factory is still going strong. Professionals for Zhong Cha is tasting and grading Maocha, the raw material, to determine its future life. These pros will say: the more you taste Pu-erh, the more difficult your job is as you become acquainted with such a huge myriad of permutations….
Bulang village is prospering off of the old tea trees on top of the mountain. Of the 16 different ethnic minorities at Xishuangbanna 西双版納 the Dai 傣族 are the majorities here and cleverly banished the Bulang 布朗 up to the top of the mountain where transportation is difficult some remote ancient years ago. Little did they figure that Pu-Erh tea from the old trees would fetch astronomical auction prices in the future. Here, the Bulang architecture looks very Dai /Thai like indeed.
Wild ancient Pu-erh trees that are between 1500 to 1800 years old at Bulang Shan. These enormous leaves are classified as Da Ye Qiao Mu, large leaf arbor type, tea. Leaves this large are bitter, and will turn to sweet, over a long aging process of 20-50 years.
Me, and Mr. Wang, one of the most serious, and seriously respected, Pu-Erh merchants around. To say he is merely a merchant though, is hardly close to his deep expertise, selection process, serious attention to all nuances, and his ability to push all the levers throughout the new incarnations of the old Menghai and Yunnan factories. He is responsible for setting the standards for what is regarded as some of the highest quality Pu-erh. Here we pay homage together to the old trees of Bulang, Mr. Wang’ favorite mountain for Pu-Erh.
I made my way up 1600 meters atop Bulang Shan 布朗山 after the burst of torrents，to one of the Six Ancient Tea mountains, where the ancient Pu-Erh trees live. Blue skies and incredible cumulus formations after the storm.