Menghai has a long history of growing, processing, and using Tea, dating back to the Western Han Dynasty, flourishing during the Tang and Song dynasties, and reaching its peak in the Qing Dynasty. According to The Grand Scribe's Records: The Chapter of Dayuan: “The Kunming tribes had no leaders and were prone to banditry, often killing and plundering Chinese envoys, making communication impossible. However, it was heard that about a thousand miles westward, there was an elephant-riding country called Dianyue, which some traders from Shu managed to reach.” As recorded in The Records of Huayang Kingdom: Southern Region Annals, written by Chang Qum of the Jin Dynasty: “In Yongchang Commandery lived the chest-piercing people, the ear-stretching tribes, the Minyue Pu, the Jiuliao, the Min Pu, the Piao Yue, the naked Pu, and the people of India.” According to The Chronicle of Xishuangbanna Prefecture: “In the 12th year of Emperor Ming's reign in the Eastern Han Dynasty (69 AD), Yongchang Commandery was established, which included the territory of Xishuangbanna.” Therefore, Menghai has always been a part of the sacred territory of China since ancient times.

From the Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the central government did not establish governance in the Yunnan region. During this period, the tea industry in Bashu and Jiangnan had made significant advancements from sun-dried tea to steamed and compressed cake tea, but the Pu'er tea area lagged due to a lack of interaction with mainstream Chinese tea culture. After the Mengshe tribe defeated the Tang army and established an independent kingdom in Yunnan, the Tang envoy Fan Zhuo visited the kingdom and wrote in The Book of the Barbarians: “Tea grows in the mountains of Yinzhang Prefecture, scattered without any specific processing method. The Mengshe tribespeople mix pepper, ginger, and cinnamon into their tea preparation.” During the Tang and Song dynasties, the Pu'er tea area belonged to Yinzhang Prefecture of the Yunnan Kingdom, and Pu'er tea developed slowly in isolation from the rest of the world.

In the Ming Dynasty, the government gradually implemented the policy of replacing hereditary chieftains with officials appointed by the central government and introduced military settlement in Yunnan. Large numbers of Han people migrated to Yunnan, strengthening the spread of Central Plain culture, which propelled the development of tea in Yunnan towards compressed cakes. However, due to the rich content and strong, bitter flavor of Yunnan's large-leaf tea, it did not receive much attention from the central government during the Ming Dynasty and continued to develop freely.

In the seventh year of the Yongzheng era (1729), General Governor Eertai established a tribute tea factory in the Pu'er tea area, expelled new and old merchants and civilians, set up a monopoly tea shop, and imposed official tea regulations, leading to the neglect and abandonment of tea mountains. In the twelfth year of the Yongzheng era (1734), the government issued edicts “Prohibition of Forced Purchase of Official Tea” and “Further Prohibition of Tea Office Malpractice,” reduced the quota of tribute tea, and restored free trade. This allowed Pu'er tea to enter the capital in large quantities, gaining favor in the Qing imperial court and promoting the production and sales of Pu'er tea. According to The Comprehensive Annals of the Qing Dynasty: “The tea tax in Yunnan is three thousand permits, with a quota of nine hundred and sixty taels of silver,” marking the entry of Pu'er tea production into its historical peak period.

According to the “Six Tea Mountains' Relics” in the Chronicle of Pu'er Prefecture of the Daoguang era: “The relics of the Six Tea Mountains are all located in the southern part of the city. It is traditionally believed that Zhuge Liang (Wuhou) traveled through these six mountains, leaving a copper gong at Youle, placing a sword at Mangzhi, burying iron bricks at Manzuan, leaving wooden gongs at Yibang, burying stirrups at Gedeng, and placing a quiver at Mansa, hence the names of these mountains. Additionally, there is a tea king tree at Mangzhi, larger than those on the other five mountains, which is said to have been planted by Zhuge Liang and is still worshipped by the indigenous people today.”

The Six Great Tea Mountains are divided into those outside the river and those inside. These tea mountains were already the main production areas for Yinzhang tea during the Nanzhao period. Yinzhang tea was the precursor to Pu'er tea, which developed further from it. By the late Qing Dynasty, Pu'er tea processing techniques gradually shifted from Pu'er and Simao to the tea regions of Mengla Yibang, Yiwu, and Fo Hai (today's Menghai). In the late 1930s, due to political corruption, social unrest, difficulties in transportation and sales, and heavy taxation, the Six Great Tea Mountains gradually declined, affecting the tea industry in Simao. Coupled with the outbreak of epidemics, the tea industry in the Simao area was severely impacted. However, the Fo Hai tea region attracted state-owned enterprises and many tea merchants to set up factories and tea shops, purchasing sun-dried rough tea and processing it into various compressed teas, which promoted the prosperity of the tea industry in Fo Hai. The round tea produced in Fo Hai was sold in Burma, amounting to approximately eight hundred to one thousand five hundred baskets. Brick tea produced here was “exclusively sold to Tibet, with a small amount sold to Bhutan and Nepal, totaling around two hundred to three hundred baskets annually.” Tight tea produced here was “exclusively sold to Tibet, with a small amount sold to Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim, totaling sixteen thousand baskets annually” (from An Overview of Fo Hai Tea by Li Fuyi). Thus, during that period, Fo Hai became the center for raw materials, processing, and trade of Pu'er tea.