The four major Pu'er Tea production areas are Xishuangbanna, Lincang, Pu'er, and Baoshan. Due to differences in geographical environment, the taste and flavor of the tea produced in these four regions vary. The basic characteristics of these regions can be summarized as follows: Menghai is known for its bitterness, Lincang for its astringency, Simao (Pu'er City) for its mildness, and Baoshan for its limited production.

Xishuangbanna Production Area

The well-known mountains in Xishuangbanna can be generally categorized into fourteen, which include the ancient six great tea mountains located north of the Lancang River and the eight newer tea mountains located south of the Lancang River. The ancient six great tea mountains are: Yibang, Gedeng, Mangzhi, Youle, Manzhuan, and Yiwu. The eight newer tea mountains, moving from north to south along the Lancang River, are: Mannuo, Mengsong of Menghai, Nannuoshan, Pasha, He Kai, Bulang Mountain, Mengsong of Jinghong, and Bada.

The ancient six great tea mountains: Youle, Mangzhi, Gedeng, Yibang, Manzhuan, Yiwu

Pu'er (Simao) Production Area

Simao, now officially renamed Pu'er City in 2007, covers ten counties and districts where each produces tea. Among them, the main producing areas are Pu'er City, Jingdong, Jinggu, Lancang, Jiangcheng, and others.

Pu'er City has a forest coverage rate of 63%, with two major mountain ranges – Ailao Mountain and Wuliang Mountain. It is known as the “Green Sea Pearl” due to its vast forests. After examination, there are nearly 80,000 acres of wild ancient tea tree clusters in 29 dense forests across seven counties within the city. Notable examples include a 2,700-year-old and a 2,500-year-old wild tea king tree in Zhenyuan County, as well as thousand-year-old wild ancient tea trees in Kunlushan and Banshan in Pu'er County. There is also a thousand-year-old wild ancient tea tree in Zhengxing, Jinggu County, and a transitional thousand-year-old ancient tea tree in Bangwei, Lancang County. Additionally, there are world-renowned thousand-year-old cultivated ancient tea gardens in Jingmai and Mangjing villages. Although Pu'er City is home to the largest area of ancient tea trees and the greatest number of old tea trees, it exceeds Xishuangbanna in terms of the area of ancient tea trees and the number of old tea trees.

The most representative area in the Pu'er tea region is the Jingmai Ancient Tea Area, which encompasses Jingmai Village and Mangjing Village in Lancang County. Here, there are extensive ancient tea gardens that have been cultivated for over a thousand years. These tea gardens are composed of very large, old tea trees, with hundreds of year-old trees being common. This is currently the largest ancient tea garden found in Yunnan Province. Some of the more distinctive mountains in this area include Mengben, Dapingzhang, Bangbo, and Mangjing, each with distinct flavors.

In addition to Jingmai, other famous tea areas in the Pu'er ancient tea region include Bangwei, Jinggu, Zhenyuan, and Jiangcheng.

Lincang Production Area

Lincang is characterized by continuous mountains and peaks. Generally, it has a subtropical monsoon climate with ample sunshine and abundant rainfall, without severe cold in winter or extreme heat in summer. These favorable natural conditions make it ideal for tea growth. In the Gongnong village and Bingdao village, located in the middle and lower parts of the Mengku Great Snow Mountain in Shuangjiang County, Lincang City, is the origin of the famous Yunnan Mengku large-leaf variety. Historically, Pu'er tea made from the Mengku large-leaf variety gained fame for its high-quality products. As a result, the Mengku large-leaf variety has not only been introduced to neighboring tea regions within the province but has also been widely planted in nine provinces and regions, including Guangxi, Guangdong, and Sichuan.

Mengku's eighteen villages are divided into the western and eastern half-mountain areas. The western half-mountain (ten villages): Bingdao, Bakar, Dongguo, Dahusai, Gongnong, Banggai, Bingshan, Hudong, Dashanxue, Xiaohusai. The eastern half-mountain (eight villages): Mangbang, Bamu, Naqiao, Bangdu, Nasai, Donglai, Mangna, Chengzi.

Baoshan Production Area

Baoshan is located in western Yunnan, with high terrain in the north and low in the south. The Lancang River runs through its eastern part. Among the four main tea-producing areas in Yunnan, Baoshan has the highest latitude, average altitude, lowest temperature, and least rainfall. The areas with large-scale tea production include Baoshan City, Changning, Tengchong, Longling, and Shidian.

Baoshan has excellent natural conditions suitable for tea growth, with rich tea tree varieties. It is an important production area for both “Dian Hong” and Pu'er tea in Yunnan. From 1986 to 1987, Changning, Tengchong, and Longling were listed as the first batch of outstanding tea base counties and national export Black Tea commodity base counties in China. Currently, the city has 100,000 mu of clonal tea bases and 150,000 mu of pollution-free tea production bases.