We've arrived today at Hekai Manong Old Village, and right behind me is its core production area. There are plenty of ancient Tea trees around here, surrounded by ancient tea gardens. However, they haven't sprouted much yet. It's estimated that the ancient tree teas from Bulang Mountain will likely only be ready for picking and processing around the Water-Sprinkling Festival. Let me take you to have a closer look at the sprouting situation.
The younger tea trees have sprouted fairly well so far, but it will still take at least another week before they can be picked. The slightly larger tea trees just a few meters away are in a completely different state and haven't sprouted much yet. Therefore, it seems that ancient tree teas may only be pickable around the Water-Sprinkling Festival. Although we can pick a small amount now to taste, doing so wouldn't really make much sense.
The tea trees along the roadside have sprouted quite well, but once you enter the ancient tea garden, there are very few sprouts. A few pruned tea trees have sprouted, but those that haven't been pruned haven't started sprouting yet. So, anyone selling this year's new ancient tree tea right now isn't very reliable. A little bit of ancient tree tea has been harvested in Yiwu over the past couple of days, but the quantity is not much. There's virtually none in Bulang Mountain yet. You can pick a little to taste, but if you want to sell even a small amount, it's unlikely. Especially for those who sell tea, everyone should pay extra attention.
These two tea trees behind me are among the most famous and oldest ancient tea trees in Hekai. One of them has a large canopy with a trunk diameter of about 60 centimeters, and its branches are densely sprouting, but they have just started sprouting. Based on my experience, if the season is good, the fresh leaves of such a tea tree can yield about 30 kilograms, which can produce 8 to 10 kilograms of dried tea. The other tree is in a similar condition, and its output might even be slightly higher. With our introduction to these two ancient tea trees, our “Hekai Journey” comes to an end here.