The most expensive teas are already historical relics (like the Golden Melon Tribute Tea preserved in the Palace Museum), or are completely protected (like the Dahongpao on the cliff wall of Jiulongke in Wuyi Mountain), or are special agricultural products reserved for specific groups (like some Mingqian West Lake Longjing, Junshan Silver Needle, Lushan Cloud Mist). For those few who can obtain them, it requires significant connections and luck. If you truly get some, it comes without brand packaging—perhaps a little scooped into a plastic bag or wrapped in rice paper. It's priceless.

1. Wuyi Mountain Mother Tree Dahongpao

Three ancient tea trees in Jiulongke, over 350 years old. A premium tribute tea for Qing dynasty emperors, exclusively for imperial use. It once reached a record high price at an auction: 198,000 yuan for 20 grams, equivalent to 4.95 million yuan per jin. Impressively expensive, right? But there's more! In April 2005, during the Dahongpao Festival in Wuyi Mountain, the price was auctioned at 208,000 yuan for 20 grams, equivalent to 5.2 million yuan per jin. It has been banned from harvesting for many years now.

2. The Eighteen Trees of the Longjing Imperial Tea Garden

In 2014, top-quality Mingqian Longjing cost around 50,000 yuan per jin—and that's for Longjing from trees other than these eighteen. Each of these eighteen trees yields about 400 buds, totaling 7,200 buds, producing roughly two liang (about 100 grams) per year. Its price is beyond discussion.

3. Songzhong No. 1 Phoenix Narcissus

Songzhong No. 1 is the oldest existing tea tree in the Phoenix tea region. It was selectively bred from the natural hybrids of the Wudong Mountain Phoenix Narcissus population. It grows among several huge Tai stone drums at the top of Li Zai Ping village on Wudong Mountain, at an altitude of about 1,150 meters. It is said to have been selectively bred by villager Li during the late Southern Song Dynasty and passed down to this day, with a tree age of over 600 years. However, the yield of this mother tree, which has witnessed centuries of Phoenix Mountain tea culture, has declined year by year, producing only two jin per year. Two jin is ten times more than two liang, but it still reaches only a few hands.

4. Golden Melon Tribute Tea

The Golden Melon Tribute Tea is a national Grade II cultural relic. In 2007, when Pu'er City in Yunnan welcomed back the tea, the event organizers insured it for a staggering 19.99 million yuan. When tea becomes a cultural relic, it is no longer just tea. If you really wish to taste relic-grade tea, you could opt for a century-old Qian Lizhen Songpinhao cake worth millions per piece or Qing Dynasty palace tea paste as substitutes.

Teas That the Wealthy Can Actually Drink

The teas mentioned above are collector's items. The following teas, though precious, might still be available on the market.

1. Imperial Brand West Lake Longjing Mingqian Special Grade Imperial Eighteen, market price: twelve thousand (12,000) yuan.

2. 8582 Green Cake, 1980s Pu'er Tea, market price: one hundred twenty thousand (120,000) yuan.

3. Junshan Silver Needle Gold Inlaid with Jade, market price: six thousand (6,000) yuan.

4. Wuyi Star Ritual Respect Dahongpao, market price: thirty thousand (30,000) yuan.

5. Tongmu Guan Jinjunmei Golden Cup, market price: twelve thousand (12,000) yuan.