"Cut Basin Tea" has historically been one of the famous teas of Yunnan, named after the place name "Kanpenqing". Its history of fame spans over 400 years. Historically, besides being made into loose tea for export, it was also processed into bamboo tube tea, mortar tea, and tea paste for export and tribute. In 1978, it was recognized as one of Yunnan's八大名茶 (Eight Famous Teas) in a quality appraisal by the provincial foreign trade system, sharing the honor with Haitang tea and Madeng tea. In 1989, it received the provincial famous tea certificate. In recent years, Kanpenqing tea, with its inherent quality advantages, has been regarded by the industry as a "rare treasure among teas" and the "king of teas".
The Kanpenqing tea garden is located in the remote Kanpenqing villager group, Wenkuang Village, Mengda Town, situated in the border area of Enle, Anban, and Mengda towns, belonging to the Wuliang Mountain system, and is a representative tea garden of the Mengda Ancient Tea Mountain. Legend has it that this tea garden was established by ancient people who migrated deep into the mountains to escape plague and war, using local materials and transplanting wild tea trees to form the plantation. It is said that the Kanpenqing tea garden initially had tens of thousands of ancient tea trees, but the number gradually decreased due to "calamities", especially suffering great damage during the 2007 Pu'er tea crisis. According to statistics, only about 200 acres of ancient tea garden remain today, with over 4,000 ancient tea trees, among which more than two hundred trees with larger tree crowns can produce over 300 kg of spring tea annually.
The temporary popularity of Kanpenqing tea is due not only to its own quality advantages but also to two other reasons: first, the improvement of local conditions such as road construction and the rise in market popularity of Pu'er ancient tree tea; second, local tea makers, while learning tea processing techniques, developed a tea product with a "rock sugar sweetness" similar to "Bingdao", which is highly sought after by tea merchants. The traditional Kanpenqing tea is also a favorite among tea connoisseurs, characterized by its strong tea taste, high aroma, mellow flavor, rich taste, and sweet, moistening aftertaste. Relevant data shows that the price of Kanpenqing tea was 700-800 RMB/kg in 2011; 800-1000 RMB/kg in 2012; 1000-1400 RMB/kg in 2014; and rose to 2000 RMB/kg in 2015.
According to statistics, the Mengda Ancient Tea Mountain currently has nearly 4,000 acres of ancient tea gardens, scattered in patches. Some ancient tea gardens are distributed within the primitive forest in the core area of the Wuliang Mountain Nature Reserve, while others are near villages, interplanted with grain crops, poorly managed, with weak tree vigor, but excellent quality. They mainly produce sun-dried green tea, which is high-quality raw material for making Pu'er tea and green tea. They are primarily distributed in Dajing, Wenkuang (Kanpenqing tea), Wenmeng, Wenkai, Wenbu villages of Mengda Town, Zhenyuan County. This area has an altitude of 1428 to 1910 meters, vegetation consisting of montane evergreen broad-leaved forest and mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest, an average annual temperature of 15.8 to 18.1 degrees Celsius, an annual precipitation of 920 to 1910 mm, and soil types of latosolic red soil and red soil. Its representative plant is the Kanpenqing tea (ZY2006-037) from Wenkuang Village, classified as普洱茶 (Pu'er tea).
Furthermore, in Liangtai, Dashan She, Dashan Village, Mengda Town, there is a cultivated shrub-type ancient tea tree, namely the Liangtai Dashan tea (ZY2006-039). The buds and leaves of this tea tree are exceptionally hairy, with balanced biochemical component content, making it优质原料 (high-quality raw material) for producing Pu'er tea and green tea. According to Mr. Li Kun, a local tea culture scholar and chairman of the Luding Tea Industry Cooperative, a small number of ancient tea trees are also distributed in Luolongqing, between Heping Village and Wenbu Village, Mengda Town.
Pu'er tea made from raw material of the Mengda Ancient Tea Mountain has the following main characteristics: bold and full buds, golden yellow and bright liquor, relatively strong bitterness and astringency, pure aroma, rich taste, and a明显的山野气韵 (distinct wild charm). Please stay tuned for the next installment: "A Tour of Pu'er's 26 Ancient Tea Mountains: Madeng Ancient Tea Mountain". (Author: Ai Wenhua)
Author Profile: Ai Wenhua, male, born on June 6, 1990, from Zhaotong, Yunnan. Poet, Pu'er tea columnist, editor-in-chief of Shuocha.com. Works have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies such as "Poetry Journal", "Stars", "Dianchi", "Years", etc. Personal WeChat: YQaiwenhua.