Menghai has a long history of growing, producing, and using Tea, dating back to the Western Han Dynasty, flourishing in the Tang and Song dynasties, and reaching its peak during the Qing Dynasty and Republican era. According to “The Grand Scribe's Records: The Liezhuan of Dayuan” by Sima Qian: “The Kunming tribes had no rulers and were prone to banditry, often killing and plundering Chinese envoys, making communication impossible. However, it was heard that about a thousand li to their west lay an elephant-riding country called Dianyue, where some merchants from Shu may have reached.” According to “Records of Huayang Prefecture: Nan Zhong Zhi” compiled by Chang Qu of the Jin dynasty: “Within Yongchang Commandery lived the chest-piercing people, the Dan'ers, the Minyue Pu, the Jiu Liao, the Min Pu, the Piao Yue, the naked Pu, and the people of India.” According to “The Annals of Xishuangbanna Prefecture”: “In the 12th year of Yongping (69) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yongchang Commandery was established, and the territory of Xishuangbanna belonged to it.” Thus, this land of Menghai has been a sacred part of China since ancient times.

From the Jin dynasty to the Tang dynasty, the central government did not establish governance in Yunnan. During this period, the tea industry in Bashu and Jiangnan underwent a leap from sun-dried tea to steamed and compressed cakes, while the Pu'er tea region remained stagnant due to a lack of interaction with mainstream Chinese Tea culture. After the Mongshe tribe defeated the Tang army and established the independent kingdom of Nanzhao in Yunnan, Tang envoy Fan Que visited Nanzhao and wrote in “The Book of the Barbarians”: “Tea grows in the mountains around Yinzhen city, collected loosely without any processing method. The Mongshe people cook it with pepper, ginger, and cassia before drinking it.” During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Pu'er tea region belonged to the Yinzhen prefecture of the Kingdom of Yunnan, and Pu'er tea developed slowly in isolation from the outside world.

In the Ming dynasty, the government gradually implemented the policy of replacing hereditary officials with imperial appointees and stationed troops in Yunnan, leading to a large influx of Han people, which strengthened the spread of Central Plain culture in Yunnan and promoted the development of tea in the form of compressed cakes. However, due to the rich content and strong bitterness of the large-leaf tea varieties in Yunnan, they were not favored by the central government during the Ming dynasty and continued to develop freely.

In the seventh year of the Yongzheng reign (1729), Yunnan viceroy Eertai established a tribute tea plantation in the Pu'er tea region, expelled new and old merchants, set up a monopoly tea shop to control profits, and, along with official tea disturbances, led to the neglect of tea mountains. In the twelfth year of the Yongzheng reign (1734), prohibitions against buying official tea at low prices and further restrictions on the handling of official tea were issued for the Pu'er tea region, reducing the amount of tribute tea and allowing free trade once again. Pu'er tea began to enter the capital in large quantities and became popular among the Qing court, promoting the production and sales of Pu'er tea. According to “Comprehensive Annals of the Qing Dynasty”: “The tea tax in Yunnan is based on 3,000 licenses, with a quota of 960 taels of silver collected,” indicating that the production and development of Pu'er tea gradually entered a historical peak.

According to “Relics of the Six Tea Mountains” in the Daoguang “Annals of Pu'er Prefecture”: “The relics of the six tea mountains are all located in the southern part of the city. It is traditionally said that Wu Hou (Zhuge Liang) visited each of the six mountains, leaving a copper gong in Youle, placing a sword in Mangzhi, burying iron bricks in Manzuan, leaving wooden gongs in Yibang, burying stirrups in Gedeng, and placing a quiver in Mansa, thus giving their names to these mountains. There is also a tea king tree in Mangzhi, which is larger than those on the other five mountains, and is said to be a legacy of Wu Hou. The indigenous people still worship it today.”

The Six Great Tea Mountains are divided into those located outside the river and those within. These major tea mountains were already the main production areas for Yinzhen tea during the Nanzhao period. Yinzhen tea is the predecessor of Pu'er tea, which developed from it over time. By the late Qing dynasty, Pu'er tea processing technology gradually shifted from Pu'er and Simao to the tea regions of Mengla Yibang, Yiwu, and Fohai (today's Menghai). In the later 1930s, due to political corruption, social unrest, difficulties in transportation and sales, and heavy taxes, the Six Great Tea Mountains gradually declined, affecting the tea industry in Simao. Additionally, the spread of epidemics caused the tea industry in Simao to falter. However, the Fohai tea region benefited from abundant raw materials and convenient transportation channels to foreign countries, attracting state-owned enterprises to open tea factories and many tea merchants to set up tea shops, purchasing sun-dried Green Tea and processing it into various compressed teas, thereby promoting the prosperity of the tea industry in Fohai. The round tea produced in Fohai was “sold in Burma to the tune of approximately 800 to 1,500 piculs.” The brick tea produced “was sold exclusively in Tibet, with a small portion sold in Bhutan and Nepal, amounting to about 200 to 300 piculs annually.” The Compressed tea “was sold exclusively in Tibet, with a small portion sold in Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, amounting to 16,000 piculs annually” (from “Overview of the Tea Industry in Fohai” by Li Fuyi). Therefore, during that period, Fohai became the center for raw materials, processing, and trading of Pu'er tea.