Currently, Pu'er tea is one of the best-selling products in the tea market, beloved and highly praised by tea enthusiasts for its unique health benefits and rich flavor. There are many varieties of Pu'er tea, differing by tea mountain and production methods, yet Pu'er ancient tree tea remains particularly favored. So-called Pu'er ancient tree tea uses raw materials picked from ancient tea trees. How much do you know about China's oldest Pu'er tea tree? China is the world's earliest country to plant, process, and drink tea, with a history of tea cultivation spanning thousands of years. In Pu'er County, Yunnan, there is a 'King of Tea Trees,' standing 13 meters tall with a 32-meter crown, boasting a history of 1,700 years, making it the oldest existing Pu'er tea tree.

Yunnan is the birthplace and origin of Pu'er tea. Wild ancient tea trees discovered in Yunnan are over 10 meters tall, with trunk diameters requiring two people to embrace. In the vast primeval forests of Qianjiazhai, Jiujia Township, Zhenyuan County, at an altitude of over 2,600 meters, two rare wild 'Kings of Tea Trees' grow. China is the world's earliest country to discover and utilize tea trees, with legends dating back over four thousand years. Tales of tea trees were already common during the Spring and Autumn period.

Currently, the oldest cultivated large tea tree in China is located in the Nannuo Mountains, southwest of Jinghong, over 300 kilometers from Kunming. This tea tree, with a history of over eight hundred years, is locally known as the 'King of Tea Trees.' The tree stands 5.48 meters tall, measures 10.9 × 9.86 meters in width, with a main trunk circumference of 1.38 meters, earning it the title 'Two-Person Embrace Tea Tree.' They stand one tall and one short, one male and one female. The taller tree is 20.35 meters high, with a diameter of 0.9 meters, a main branch diameter of 0.127 meters, a smooth grayish-white trunk that begins to branch 5 meters above the ground. Its leaves are elliptical, 15 cm long and 4.3 cm wide, with a canopy shaped like an open umbrella, covering an area of 20 square meters. The 'King of Tea Trees' is surrounded by a vast 54-acre wild tea forest, said to be its descendants.

Expert assessments indicate that these two 'Kings of Tea Trees' are 2,700 and 2,600 years old, respectively, originating from China's Spring and Autumn period, making them the oldest wild tea tree kings discovered in China to date. Every spring during the tea sprouting season, people from nearby townships enter the mountains to set up shelters and pick wild tea, harvesting over 2,500 kilograms of tea leaves annually.

Pu'er ancient tree tea is limited in supply. When purchasing, tea enthusiasts must carefully identify its authenticity and quality. Regardless of the type of tea, everyone should choose based on their own constitution and preferences, and avoid blindly following market trends.