Editor's Note: According to statistics in the recently jointly released “White Paper on China's Ancient Tea Tree Resources (2024)” by the National Innovation Alliance for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Ancient Tea Trees and the Research Center for Ancient Tea Trees of Southwest Forestry University, there are approximately 56 million ancient tea trees in China, with about 97% distributed in Yunnan Province, across all 16 prefectures and cities. Yunnan possesses the richest resources of ancient tea trees in the country and places significant emphasis on management, research, and utilization of these resources. As early as 2025, the provincial government of Yunnan issued the “Regulations on the Protection of Ancient Tea Trees in Yunnan Province” aimed at effectively protecting ancient tea trees and standardizing their management and utilization. Prefectures and cities such as Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Lincang, and Dali have also enacted local regulations for the protection of ancient tea trees.

Recently, the Pu'er Municipal Government made a total of nine revisions to the “Implementation Rules of the Regulations on the Protection of Ancient Tea Tree Resources in Pu'er City.” A cursory review of these changes reveals that the newly revised “Implementation Rules” places greater emphasis on “research,” such as changing “management and development” in Article 2 to “management, research, and utilization.” This indicates that at the governmental level, there is an intention to strengthen in-depth research and foster a correct understanding of ancient tea trees.

Mr. Yu Fulin has long been engaged in research on ancient Chinese Tea trees and published a book titled “Ancient Chinese Tea Trees,” which delves deeply into the origin, evolution, classification, and ecological types of ancient tea trees. Concerned about the one-sided understanding of ancient tea trees among industry insiders and outsiders, he wrote this article titled “Nine Questions about Ancient Tea Trees” in hopes of correcting some current misconceptions about ancient tea trees. The views expressed in the article may differ from what we have traditionally believed, but as the saying goes, “Hearing both sides makes one wise.” Understanding opposing viewpoints can deepen our understanding of ancient tea trees to some extent. We encourage and welcome different perspectives from various sources to engage in profound academic discussions, for it may be only through the exchange and collision of these viewpoints that “truth” will eventually become clear.

Flipping through the “Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese Teas,” there is no entry for “ancient tea tree.” The term “ancient tea tree” only emerged in the past two or three decades. As Pu'er tea became a market hotspot, ancient tree teas became a new selling point, thus stirring up discussions about ancient tea trees. However, the current understanding of ancient tea trees among industry insiders and outsiders is not without one-sidedness, ambiguity, and even contradictions. The following lists some misconceptions about ancient tea trees, aiming to point out errors, distinguish truth from falsehood, return to the original source, and discuss with dissenters.

I. What is an Ancient Tea Tree?

Misconception: An ancient tea tree is a large tea tree.

(I) An ancient tea tree refers to a tea tree over one hundred years old.

Ancient tea trees are primarily categorized based on age, unrelated to tree type or size, including wild-type tea trees and cultivated-type tea trees. Ancient tea trees are not necessarily large tea trees, and large tea trees are not necessarily ancient tea trees. From a morphological perspective, there are large-leaved arbor, small-leaved arbor, and shrub types with medium and small leaves. The term “large” for large tea trees is not quantified; some become large tea trees after growing for a hundred years, while others do so after growing for only thirty or forty years.

(II) Ancient tea trees fall into three categories:

The first category consists of wild-type ancient tea trees naturally growing in primary forests, such as Dali tea in southwestern Yunnan, Dachang tea in southwestern Guizhou, and Houzhou tea in western Guangxi, among the most common examples.

The second category includes precious ancient tea trees, including rare ancient tea trees with historical, scientific, or memorial value. For example, the eighteen imperial tea trees in Longjing, Hangzhou, and the seven royal tea trees on Mount Mengding in Ya'an record the changes throughout history and cultural lineage; the ancient tea trees in Gantong Temple, Dali, are not only a marker of the natural distribution of Dali tea but also a type specimen of the Dali tea species, holding scientific value; a large tea tree in Zhen'an Xiaotiandam, Longling County, Yunnan, site of the Huangcaobu battlefield during the Anti-Japanese War, stands 13.2 meters tall with a trunk diameter of 123 cm (the thickest tea tree discovered so far), bearing witness to the scenes of the Chinese military and civilians fighting in blood and fire, and possessing memorial significance.

The third category consists of tea trees eighty years old or more but less than one hundred years old, referred to as subsequent ancient tea trees, mostly planted before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and constituting the main part of ancient tea gardens today.

II. What are the morphological characteristics of ancient tea trees?

Misconception: Ancient tea trees grow vigorously with robust buds and leaves.

Ancient tea trees, having experienced the vicissitudes of time and biological invasions, are mostly weak and decrepit. Arbor and small arbor tea trees have rough and mottled bark, often gray-brown or gray-white, covered with moss, lichen, dodder, and other parasitic plants, and suffering from gummosis. Their branches are thin, short, and curved. Tea trees in primary forests often have decayed trunks due to year-round shade, thinner buds and leaves, more opposite leaves, and shorter internodes on new shoots. Some ancient tea trees have naturally fused branches and trunks into closed frames. Shrubby ancient tea trees mainly feature “tangled roots” at the base, with rough gray-brown bark and often having wart-like protrusions. They have fewer flushes, less uniformity, and weaker growth of new shoots.

Image: Eighteen tribute teas in Longjing Village, Hangzhou, personally designated by Emperor Qianlong

III. What are the differences between wild-type tea trees and cultivated-type tea trees?

Misconception: Wild-type tea trees are wild tea trees, and cultivated-type tea trees are cultivated tea trees; the Xiangzhujing Large Tea Tree is a cultivated-type tea tree; the Bangwei Large Tea Tree is a transitional-type tea tree.

From the perspective of tea tree evolution, whether tea trees are wild or artificially cultivated, they can generally be divided into two types: one type is wild-type tea trees, and the other is cultivated-type tea trees.

(I) Wild-Type Tea Trees

These refer to tea trees that possess primitive characteristics in reproductive organs, etc., during system development, related to the degree of evolution. Most are in a natural state of growth, but some are artificially transplanted and cultivated, such as the ancient tea trees in Dabaoqing, Maguan County, and the Ben Mountain tea in Baiying Mountain, Yun County, which were transplanted by humans in earlier times.

Characteristics of wild-type tea trees:

1. In the evolutionary stage, most grow in primary forests.

2. Tall with arbor or small arbor tree types, usually having large or extra-large leaves. Large flowers with many thick petals and five (or four) carpels. Branches of Dali tea have a fishy odor.

3. Lower contents of water-soluble extracts, catechins, amino acids, Caffeine, etc. (see Table 1), resulting in poorer tea quality. The aroma is faint, the taste lacks freshness and fullness, and some have unpleasant flavors. Wild-type tea trees in primary forests are generally unsuitable for direct processing into tea.

Table 1 Comparison of biochemical components of cultivated and wild-type tea trees in Sh