2024 Tea Mountain Journey

First Stop: Yunnan Intangible Cultural Heritage Bamboo Tube Tea

This year, my journey began with a visit to the site of Yunnan’s intangible cultural heritage, where the traditional bamboo tube tea is made. A special highlight of this stop was that I officially apprenticed, becoming a recognized inheritor of this tea-making tradition. Through this experience, I deeply felt the profound strength and responsibility that comes with preserving this cultural heritage. This visit was not only about learning a craft but also about paying homage to the culture itself.

Second Stop: Bangdong Tea Mountain

Next, I arrived at Bangdong. Unfortunately, the weather this year has been particularly unkind, with scarce rainfall. I waited on the mountain for a week, but the ancient tea trees showed very few buds. Fortunately, I was able to taste the first batch of freshly fried tea, although there wasn’t much of it. The rest of the tea will have to be mailed to me later from the farm.

Xigui Tea Mountain

Following that, I traveled to Xigui. The drought here was so severe that the tea trees had already started to yellow, and there were still no buds in sight. Despite the conditions, the landscape of this tea mountain remained majestic, though there was an undeniable sense of helplessness in the air.

Along the Way: Yunnan Green Tea Production

Not wanting the journey to feel entirely fruitless, I took the opportunity to observe the production process of Yunnan green tea along the way. Although the overall harvest this year was disappointing, this experience still offered valuable insights—at least I didn’t come away empty-handed.

Tongqing River Tea Mountain

My final stop was Tongqing River. By this point, I had lowered my expectations, but to my surprise, the outcome was better than anticipated. This unexpected delight brought a small but satisfying conclusion to this tea mountain journey.

Cat Ear Tea

Then, I tried Cat Ear Tea. This year, the flavor was noticeably inferior to previous years, likely due to the weather. Despite this, the tea still retained its unique characteristics, making it worth savoring.