Currently, the Tea in Yiwu Town, Mengla County, has entered the Spring Tea picking season. Tea farmers from the “seven villages and eight hamlets” are busy shuttling through the tea gardens, harvesting nature's bounty.
Yiwu is known as “China's First Tribute Tea Town”
It has a long history of tea cultivation
The climate is suitable, with prominent advantages for tea resources
It is one of the six ancient tea mountains of Pu'er tea
The area under tea cultivation is 107,000 mu (about 7,133 hectares)
Of which, the area of ancient tea gardens is 72,800 mu (about 4,853 hectares)
The annual output of dry raw tea is over 3,000 tons, with a value of approximately 526 million yuan
Stepping into the ancient tea garden, everywhere is full of vitality; tea trees sprout new green leaves, and the fragrance of fresh tea buds greets you. Tea farmer Ding Wanchun from Mahhei Village Group, Mahhei Village Committee, Yiwu Town, Mengla County, is leading tea pickers to harvest spring tea.
Ding Wanchun, a villager from Mahhei Village Group, Mahhei Village Committee, Yiwu Town, Mengla County, said, “My family has over 100 mu (about 6.67 hectares) of tea garden. We need more than 20 tea pickers every day, and our annual output of raw tea is around 300 kilograms, with an income reaching over 3 million yuan.”
In the Jinghe Tea Industry Cooperative of Yiwu Town, workers pour baskets of fresh tea leaves into pots to be withered, and the aroma of tea fills the air. After being weighed, withered, rolled, and other processes, the fresh tea leaves are dried for one or two days. This results in cups of bright, fragrant, and persistently sweet Yiwu spring tea that allow you to taste the flavor of spring.
Yang Zhuaiyang, a tea farmer from Manxiu Village, Mahhei Village Committee, Yiwu Town, Mengla County, said, “Our family started sending our fresh tea leaves to the Jinghe Tea Industry Cooperative since 2025, and our annual income is roughly over 1 million yuan.”
The Mengla Jinghe Tea Industry Cooperative was established in 2016 and has 33 members. These members are distributed across tea mountains such as Mahhei, Sanhe, Yibang, Mansong, and Manzhuan, and they manage 1,300 mu (about 867 hectares) of organic tea gardens. The cooperative has been awarded titles such as “Advanced Collective in Poverty Alleviation in Mengla County” and “Live Streaming Demonstration Base for Yiwu Pu'er Tea in Mengla County.” In 2025, it was granted the title of “Green Food Brand” county-level industrial base by the office of the working group for creating world-class “green food brands” in Yunnan Province.
Zhang Bing, chairman of the Mengla Jinghe Tea Industry Cooperative, said, “In recent years, we have purchased over 100 tons of fresh tea leaves from surrounding tea farmers and over 30 tons of dry raw tea. Our economic benefits have reached over 20 million yuan, and we have helped over 400 tea farmers in the vicinity achieve prosperity together.”
In recent years, Yiwu Town has inventoried its ancient tea tree resources and implemented standardized management by hanging identification tags. Around the jurisdiction, there has been extensive publicity and education based on the “Regulations for the Protection of Ancient Tea Trees in Yunnan Province” and relevant policies for forest resource protection. Ecological upgrades and transformations have been explored, including the coexistence system of tea and forest and the transformation of tea gardens into forest-like environments. This has made the tea gardens more ecological and organic, achieving stable yields regardless of drought or flood. At the same time, the regional public brand “Yiwu Zhengshan” for Yiwu Town has been created, and a traceability system covering the entire region has been established. This ensures that the price and quality of the tea are transparent, allowing consumers to purchase with ease and drink with confidence. Through these measures, Yiwu Town has ensured the quality of tea produced in the jurisdiction, stabilized market prices, and increased the income of tea farmers through increased production and improved quality.
Liu Jun, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and mayor of Yiwu Town, Mengla County, said, “The Party Committee and government of Yiwu Town, through field research, conducting forums, and on-site meetings, promptly understand the needs of various enterprises and take targeted assistance measures. They encourage leading enterprises to form a community of interests with a broad range of tea farmers and adopt a development model of ‘company + specialized cooperative + base (farmers).' At the same time, they optimize the business environment and successfully resumed hosting the International Tribute Tea culture Festival and Yiwu Tea Competition in Mengla, continuously enhancing cultural influence and assisting tea enterprises and farmers in increasing their income.”
According to Liu Jun, in the future, Yiwu Town will earnestly implement the “Creation Plan for the First Pilot Area of Integration of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Industries in Ancient Tea Mountains in Xishuangbanna Prefecture.” Following the development strategy of cultivating the tea industry, protecting ancient tea gardens, promoting tea culture, conducting tea tourism, and constructing an ancient tea town, it will promote the development of the tea industry to enhance the development of tea culture and use tea culture to promote the development of the tourism industry, striving to achieve prosperous industries, an ecologically livable environment, civilized rural customs, effective governance, and a prosperous life.