The most famous tea from Tianba Ancient Tea Mountain is "Old Haitang Tea," one of the eight famous teas of Yunnan, named after the place name "Haitang." Its history can be traced back to the fourteenth year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1381 AD). According to a local tombstone and related records, Han Chinese people still living in Haitang, Waqiao Village, Tianba Township—such as those with the surnames Ai, Fang, Ye, and Dao—moved their entire families from Jiangxi to Haitang in the tenth year of the Yongle era (1413 AD) to escape war. They settled here and cultivated tea gardens of a certain scale in this wild land. During the Yongzheng era of the Qing Dynasty (1723 AD), local salt and tea trade gradually flourished, boosting the development of Haitang tea. By the seventh year of Yongzheng, Haitang tea was transported by horse caravans to Kunming, Tibet, and even the capital, becoming a local famous tea. After tasting it, Emperor Yongzheng praised: "Tea from Haitang, yellow in color and sweet in taste, wild yet gentle, a supreme tea." Since then, Haitang tea has become widely renowned.
The Haitang ancient tea tree area belongs to the Wuliang Mountain range. The ancient tea tree resources are mainly distributed in the Haitang group of Waqiao Village. The tea gardens in Waqiao Village and surrounding areas such as Lijia, Penhe, Tianba, and Chenggong all belong to the Old Haitang tea area, with a total of 1,150 mu of cultivated old tea trees. Among them, 700 mu are between 50 and 100 years old, and 450 mu are over a hundred years old. The annual production of ancient tree spring tea is about 1.3 tons. The most representative ancient tea tree is located on Potou Mountain in Tianba Village, not far from the Haitang ancient tea tree area. It is a cultivated small arbor-type large tea tree named "Baiya Kou Tea," about 5 meters high and nearly 1,000 years old. This tea tree has abundant bud hairs, small buds, and a phenol-ammonia ratio of 10.2, making it a raw material for producing Pu'er tea and high-quality green tea.
The tea tree varieties in the Haitang ancient tea tree area are relatively mixed. The ancient tea trees around a hundred years old are mostly of the Mengku tea species. The larger tea trees are mostly "special species" tea, called "Dashan Tea" or "Big Tree Tea." Their characteristics include tall plants, semi-open tree posture, obvious main trunks, dense branches, leaves slightly upward or horizontally arranged, oval leaf shape, dark green leaf color, and fat leaf buds. They originated in the Wuliang and Ailao Mountains (likely local group varieties from natural hybridization between wild and cultivated tea trees) and have a cultivation history of over a thousand years. It is precisely due to the mixed tea tree varieties that Haitang tea develops its unique style and quality, also related to its fine pure handmade processing techniques. The tea products made from it have a golden liquor, mellow taste, lasting sweetness, and are smooth and brew-resistant.
According to relevant statistics, the ancient tea gardens of Tianba Ancient Tea Mountain currently cover over 3,000 mu, distributed in patches, mostly mixed within forests. Some tea gardens are near villages, interplanted with grains, generally managed, with strong tree vigor and excellent quality, mainly producing sun-dried green tea. They are mainly distributed in Waqiao Village (Haitang Tea) and Minqiang Village (Chashanqing Tea) in Tianba Township, and Lianmeng Village in Anban Town of Zhenyuan County. This area has an altitude of 1,770 to 1,816 meters, with vegetation consisting of montane evergreen broad-leaved forests and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests. The average annual temperature is 16.5 degrees Celsius, with annual precipitation of 1,180 to 1,215 mm. The soil is red soil and purple soil. Representative plants include Baiya Kou Tea (ZY2006-034) from Tianba Village and Daye Tea (ZY2006-025) from Minqiang Village.
In addition, the Chashanqing tea area in Mingqiang Village, Tianba Township, is famous for its ecological environment. It is currently the most pristine tea area within Zhenyuan, connected to the Huangcaoba tea area in Jinggu to the south and the Kunlu Mountain tea area in Ning'er. There are currently 1,050 mu of cultivated old tea trees aged between 100 and 600 years. It is said that this tea area was established by ancient people seeking seclusion. They grew tea for drinking, passing it down through generations. Later generations discovered the excellent quality of the tea here, with a full taste and lasting sweetness, so they named it "Chashanqing," where "Qing" refers to the clear mountain spring water that flows year-round. Since then, tea from Chashanqing has been sold far away to Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Guangdong, Gansu, Hong Kong, and other places across the country, becoming famous elsewhere.
Pu'er tea made from raw materials from Tianba Ancient Tea Mountain has the following main characteristics: thick and large strips, golden liquor, noticeable bitterness but weak astringency, slightly slow but lasting sweetness, pure aroma, full-bodied liquor, and a distinct mountain wilderness aura. Please stay tuned for the next installment, "A Tour of Pu'er's 26 Ancient Tea Mountains: Mengda Ancient Tea Mountain." (Author: Ai Wenhua)
Author Profile: Ai Wenhua, male, born on June 6, 1990, from Zhaotong, Yunnan. Poet, Pu'er tea columnist, and editor-in-chief of Shuocha.com. Works have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies such as "Poetry Journal," "Stars," "Dianchi," and "Years." Personal WeChat: YQaiwenhua.