Location and History

Menghai Tea Factory勐海茶厂 is located in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province (formerly known as Fo Hai). In 1938, to revitalize the Chinese tea industry, Mr. Fan Hejun, a graduate of the University of Paris, and Mr. Zhang Shicheng, a graduate of Tsinghua University, led over 90 tea technology workers to Menghai County to establish the tea factory under the commission of the China National Tea Corporation. The factory was officially completed and put into production in 1940.

Basic Information

Establishment

Menghai Tea Factory is a core member of the Dayi Tea Group. It is situated in the picturesque Menghai County, which is the birthplace of tea trees and the renowned origin of Pu-erh tea. The factory was established in 1940 and is the oldest specialized tea production enterprise in Yunnan. Menghai Tea Factory has developed into a comprehensive enterprise integrating raw material cultivation, processing, and sales, producing hundreds of varieties of “Dayi” brand products, including Pu-erh tea, black tea, and green tea.

Development Achievements

By 2012, Menghai Tea Factory had grown into a leading producer of Pu-erh tea, occupying over 380 acres with a comprehensive processing plant for Pu-erh tea. It has two major ecological tea planting bases, the Bada Base and the Bulang Mountain Base, which cover thousands of acres and ensure a stable supply of raw materials. Additionally, the factory has established tea collection groups and primary processing facilities across various towns and has strong product development capabilities, entering a period of scale development.

Menghai Tea Factory has played an irreplaceable role in the modern development of Pu-erh tea. From its inception, it has promoted the production and trade of Pu-erh tea, serving as a backbone for the revival of modern Pu-erh tea over the decades. As one of the developers and earliest adopters of the artificial post-fermentation aging technique for Pu-erh tea, Menghai Tea Factory has long led the development of the Pu-erh tea industry with its advanced tea-making technology and craftsmanship.

As the manufacturer of most of the existing aged Pu-erh tea, Menghai Tea Factory’s “Dayi” brand Pu-erh tea has become a leading product, beloved by consumers both domestically and internationally. The “Dayi” 7572 and 7542 blends have become classics in the Pu-erh tea world and are widely recognized as standard products for evaluating the quality of ripe and raw Pu-erh cakes.

Menghai Tea Factory’s promotion of Qizi cake tea and the success of the modern Pu-erh tea artificial post-fermentation process have made significant contributions to the development of modern Pu-erh tea. The “Dayi” brand Pu-erh tea has long been regarded as a representative of classic Pu-erh tea and is highly sought after by tea enthusiasts as a treasured product.

Dayi Tea Group Overview

Group Overview

The Yunnan Dayi Tea Group is a leading modern large-scale tea enterprise in China. It includes several member companies, such as Menghai Tea Factory (Menghai Tea Co., Ltd.), Yunnan Dayi Tea Co., Ltd., Beijing Dayi Tea Culture Exchange Center, Beijing Huangcha Tea Culture Association Co., Ltd., and Yunnan Dayi Happy Tea Online Service Co., Ltd. The group is renowned for its “Dayi” brand, which enjoys a strong reputation both domestically and internationally.

Since its establishment, the group has been committed to the mission of “contributing to health and creating harmony.” It adheres to the development principles of “win-win cooperation” and “creating and sharing value,” with a brand-driven approach and a focus on channels. The group provides high-quality tea products and services to consumers and is dedicated to leading the development of the Chinese tea industry to international standards while promoting and elevating the fine tea culture of China.

As a professional tea supplier, Dayi Group’s product line covers various categories, including Pu-erh tea, black tea, green tea, and health teas. Many of its products, especially the “Dayi” brand Pu-erh tea, have received organic (natural) food certification from the National Environmental Protection Administration and have won numerous international, national, and provincial-level gold and silver awards. The products have also passed EU international organic certification and are exported to regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Europe and the United States. “Dayi” tea has become a classic tea product and a symbol of a healthy lifestyle, cherished by countless consumers.

Moreover, the group actively practices corporate social responsibility, with investments in social welfare amounting to tens of millions of yuan over the years. The desire to love tea, care for people, and give back to society has become a deep-seated aspiration among Dayi’s management and all its employees. For over 68 years, generations of tea people have dedicated themselves to this mission, and Dayi Group has grown alongside the development of the Chinese tea industry. Looking to the future, the group aims to leverage its strategic advantages in talent and technology, continuously improve its operational management capabilities, effectively integrate resources, and explore and create overall value in the tea industry to foster its own new development while better serving the needs of consumers at home and abroad.

Employee Information

Menghai Tea Factory currently employs over 1,200 people, including more than 200 graduates with tea science degrees and over 140 various professional technicians. The factory covers an area of over 380 acres and has its own high-quality tea leaf base exceeding 20,000 acres, with closely cooperative bases distributed across all tea-producing regions. Initial processing facilities and collection stations are spread across towns and villages in all tea-producing areas of Yunnan Province.

Achievements and Honors

Since its restructuring, Menghai Tea Factory has received multiple honors and qualifications, including being the first in the province’s tea industry to obtain a Food Quality Safety (QS) production license. It has been recognized as a key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization in Yunnan Province. The “Dayi” trademark has been identified as a famous trademark in Yunnan Province, and the Bada and Bulang Mountain bases have been designated as national-level standardized demonstration areas for Pu-erh tea raw materials. “Dayi” brand Pu-erh tea has been awarded the title of “China Famous Agricultural Product” by the Ministry of Agriculture, making it the only enterprise in Yunnan to receive this honor. The Yunnan Pu-erh Tea Processing Engineering Technology Research Center is located at Menghai Tea Factory, which is a significant recognition of its professional capabilities.

Dayi Brand

Registration and Use

The “Dayi” trademark was successfully registered by Menghai Tea Factory on June 10, 1989, granting it exclusive rights. The “Dayi” products inherit the factory’s rich history and its dedication to making fine tea, making them highly favored by consumers since their launch due to their professional, high-quality, and caring brand genetics.

Brand Meaning

• Tea as a Healthy Beverage: Tea is recognized for its ecological benefits and rich array of beneficial substances, earning it the title of a natural beverage for the 21st century, contributing to physical “benefits.”
• Tea as a Civilizing Drink: Tea serves as a medium for nurturing the mind and enlightening wisdom, contributing to spiritual “benefits.”
• Tea as a Harmonizing Drink: Tea is appreciated by both refined and ordinary people, serving as a bridge for friendly and civilized interactions between individuals, contributing to communicative “benefits.”

Vision

To integrate important stakeholders in the tea industry, including suppliers, distributors, consumers, research institutions, and media, to explore and create the overall value of the tea industry—Dayi—by creating and sharing value through win-win cooperation.

Core Values

The core values include maintaining integrity, promoting performance, striving for innovation, and taking responsibility.

As the leading brand of Dayi Pu-erh tea, it encompasses all products in the group’s standard and mid-to-high-end Pu-erh tea lines. Over nearly 20 years since its registration, the Dayi brand has garnered numerous honors and awards, including “China Famous Agricultural Product” and “China Well-Known Brand.” Today, the “Dayi” brand has become a symbol of Pu-erh tea, representing the most valuable brand in the Yunnan tea industry and even the Chinese tea industry as a whole. In 2008, the “Dayi Tea Making Technique,” directly named after the brand, was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list as a representative of Pu-erh tea production techniques. With the slogan “Tea Has Dayi” becoming increasingly ingrained in the public consciousness, Dayi continues to make significant contributions to providing consumers with health, quality of life, and leading industry development.

Product Anti-Counterfeiting Measures

To enhance brand protection, Menghai Tea Factory officially adopted advanced national anti-counterfeiting technology in January 2006, utilizing cutting-edge banknote printing techniques specifically for its products.

Simple Identification Methods

Consumers can easily verify the authenticity of Dayi products with the following methods:

1. Visual Inspection: No special instruments are required; simply observe with the naked eye. Both the internal flying tag and the label feature a deep brown line that appears and disappears on the paper. This line contains laser microtext reading “大益” (Dayi), which can also be clearly seen with a magnifying glass at specific positions. If these conditions are met, the product is genuine.
2. Ultraviolet Light Observation: When observed under ultraviolet light, the character “益” (Yi) in the center of the label glows green. Additionally, the “益” character in the center of the internal flying tag and the blank area below, marked “DAYI,” also appears green.
3. Microtext on Labels: A microtext version of “DAYI” is embedded within a specific line on the internal flying tag and label, which can be clearly seen with a magnifying glass.
4. Advanced Anti-Counterfeiting Software: The product incorporates anti-counterfeiting patterns generated by internationally advanced software, providing strong anti-copying features.

These methods ensure that consumers can confidently identify genuine Dayi products and protect the integrity of the brand.

Major Historical Events of Menghai Tea Factory

Menghai, located in the southwestern part of Yunnan, was originally the territory of the Chali Tusi (a higher-ranking local chief). This area is known for its extensive ancient tea forests, although the exact origins and dates of the tea cultivation remain somewhat unclear due to a lack of documentation.

Key Events

• 1910: The Qing government assisted the Chali Tusi in quelling internal conflicts between the Menghai and Mengzha Tusi. That year, Han Chinese merchant Zhang Tangjie established the first tea shop in Menghai. At the time, Menghai produced less than 2,000 dan (a dan is approximately 50 kilograms) of tea annually, all of which was transported to Simao for processing. After 1923, with the discovery of a tea route through Myanmar and India into Tibet, many began establishing tea shops in Menghai to process tea for export.
• 1939:
  • Early in the year, the newly established Yunnan China Tea Trade Co., Ltd. decided to send Mr. Fan Hejun and Mr. Zhang Shicheng to Menghai (then known as Fohai) to investigate the tea production and marketing situation and to establish an experimental tea factory with an annual production of 5,000 boxes of machine-processed tea.
  • In April, the “Yunnan Sipuxi Tea Experimental Station Nan Nuo Mountain Tea Factory” was established with investment from the Yunnan Provincial Finance Department (at the time, Nan Nuo Mountain was under the administration of Chali County).
  • On April 1, Mr. Fan Hejun and Mr. Zhang Shicheng departed from Kunming, passing through Dali, Baoshan, Laxu, Yangon, and Jingdong, finally arriving in Fohai on May 26.
  • On August 1, Li Sheng (alias Maotang), the director of the Nanqiao (now Mengzha, Menghai County) farm, led a team of 25 technicians to work in Fohai, arriving at the end of the month. In the same month, nine local students were recruited to join the factory.
  • By late September, after 18 days of tea processing, the factory produced one type of white tea, three types of black tea, two types of green tea, two types of brick tea, one type of compressed tea for Tibetan trade, and three types of aged green tea, totaling 1,170 pounds.
• 1940:
  • On January 1, the “Fohai Experimental Tea Factory” (the predecessor of Menghai Tea Factory) was officially established, with Mr. Fan Hejun serving as the factory director.
  • On February 27, a second group of over 40 workers, students, and staff arrived in Fohai.
  • The Yunnan Provincial Economic Committee provided a new currency guarantee of 260,000 yuan, while the Yunnan China Tea Trade Co., Ltd. and Yunnan Fudian New Bank each provided 120,000 yuan to establish the Fohai Service Society under the Yunnan Provincial Economic Committee, with Mr. Fan Hejun as the temporary manager.
  • The Fohai Experimental Tea Factory produced 93 dan of black tea, 39 dan of green tea, and 400 dan of round tea (processed by Tongchanghao and Chen Xi from Yuxi). Additionally, the Fohai Service Society produced 1,000 dan of compressed tea.
• 1941: The Fohai Tea Factory mainly produced black powder tea and heavily purchased compressed tea from private merchants. From autumn 1941 to spring 1942, over 12,000 dan of compressed tea were purchased, some of which were sold in Gelunbu, while others were destroyed or scattered across various tea shops in Menghai.
• 1942: Due to the Japanese army’s invasion of Myanmar, the export routes for Fohai tea were blocked. Japanese bombers bombed Fohai, causing most of the factory’s employees to retreat, and the factory entered a maintenance period. The factory’s assets were overseen by Li Fu from the Fohai Service Society, with personnel like Dao Guodong and Zhou Guangze remaining to manage operations.
• 1943: The Fohai Tea Factory produced 318 pounds of high-grade white tea.
• 1945: Li Fu sold part of the compressed tea accumulated in 1942 to Ding Xinghao, owned by Ma Dingchen.
• 1946: The thousands of dan of compressed tea acquired by the Fohai Tea Factory in 1942 were sold to Hengsheng Company in Simao, which sold the entire batch to Tibet.
• 1947: Zhou Guangze, a staff member remaining at the Fohai Tea Factory, used the factory’s mimeograph machine to publish the “Fohai Weekly,” producing a total of 10 issues.
• 1950: In March, the temporary people’s government of Fohai County took over the Fohai Tea Factory, which had a three-story building, two two-story buildings, a 25-kilowatt generator, an 18-kilowatt generator, a 24-kilowatt engine, a 2-kilowatt motor, a bull power engine, two tea drying machines, one cutting machine, one bull power rolling machine, one round flat machine, a punch, a lathe, and various other equipment.
• 1951: The provincial tea office sent Wang Xing, Yang Bingkui, and Tang Qingyang to prepare for the resumption of production at the Fohai Tea Factory. Wang was fully responsible, Yang handled administration, and Tang managed business operations. Production officially began in 1952, with a small quantity of black tea processed; large amounts of green mao tea were purchased, along with tightly compressed tea produced by private merchants such as Hong Ji, Kai Yi Xing, and Yun Sheng Xiang for sale by the provincial company. The company was named “China Tea Company Fohai Tea Factory.” On September 14, the China Tea Corporation unified the registration of the “Zhongcha” trademark, with registration number 8071, and required all national state-owned tea factories to use this trademark. Except for藏销 tea products, all products from Fohai Tea Factory used the Zhongcha trademark. Before 1984, all exported teas and most of the domestically sold refined teas from Menghai Tea Factory had to be transferred to Kunming for redistribution by the provincial tea office.
• September 1953: The tea factory was renamed “China Tea Industry Company Xishuangbanna Tea Factory.” In the same year, it took over the Nannuo Mountain Tea Factory, which mainly produced black tea. Due to inconsistent business and personnel management, Menghai Tea Factory did not have a formal factory director for a long time, only responsible persons (one of the deputy directors). Among these responsible persons were Liu Guodong, Hu Jie, Yan Zhenru, and Zhou Peirong. Since all state-owned tea factories in the country used the “Zhongcha” trademark, the name change of Menghai Tea Factory did not necessarily reflect on the packaging, and old packaging and stamps could still be used.
• April 1954: Fohai Tea Factory was renamed “Yunnan Province Tea Industry Company Xishuangbanna Tea Factory,” and began processing compressed tea and green tea.
• February 1956: It was renamed Simao Prefecture Menghai Tea Factory. The China Tea Company changed its name to the China Tea Export Company. Yunnan exported round tea and green mao tea to Guangdong Tea Company for export or recombination.
• 1957: The tea factory was reassigned to the Economic Crop Bureau of the Yunnan Provincial Commercial Department. The factory reformed its tea-making machinery, leading to a dramatic increase in processing capacity.
• 1958: To solve transportation issues, Menghai Tea Factory began to steam and compress raw mao tea materials from the internal transportation company into large blocks for transport. The Kunming and Xiaguan tea factories would then re-steam and break them down.
• 1959: Menghai Tea Factory developed new products such as “Menghai Square Tea,” “Pu’er Square Tea,” “Menghai Tuo Tea,” and “Menghai Brick Tea.”
• January 1961: It was renamed “Menghai County Tea Factory.” The new tea factory at No. 1 Xincha Road and the old factory at No. 8 Pinghe Road were used simultaneously. In the same year, the China Tea Export Company changed its name to the China Tea Specialty Import and Export Corporation.
• January 1963: The tea factory was renamed “Yunnan Province Menghai Tea Factory.”
• 1964: Deputy Factory Director Zhou Peirong participated in the comprehensive assessment of Yunnan large-leaf tea in Menghai and the technical research on producing high-quality black tea using Yunnan large-leaf tea.
• 1966: The Yunnan Tea Sub-Company of the China Tea Specialty Import and Export Corporation was established.
• 1967: The heart-shaped compressed tea was changed to a rectangular brick shape, using the Zhongcha trademark.
• 1970: The China Specialty and Livestock Import and Export Corporation was established, specializing in tea export business. The tea factory was renamed “Menghai County Tea Factory” again.
• 1972: The Yunnan Tea Sub-Company of the China Specialty and Livestock Import and Export Corporation was established. Most of the “Yunnan Seven Sons Cake Tea” we see today originated from this period onwards.
• 1974: The production of Pu’er tea (ripe tea) reached 6 dan, with subsequent annual increases. Due to fermentation technology issues, the higher-grade ripe loose tea from Menghai Tea Factory (such as level 3-4 and 5-6 tea) did not meet foreign merchants’ requirements for soup color and aged flavor, so it was exported under the name “Yunnan Qing.”
• 1976: Document No. 84/45 from Yunnan Province set the following seven tea numbers for Menghai Tea Factory’s Pu’er tea: Yunnan Seven Sons Cake 7572, 7682, Yunnan Pu’er Tea 74092, 74102, Yunnan Qing (tea) 74342, 74562, 74782. The numbers for Kunming’s 7581 brick, 7663 tuo, 7763 brick, etc., were also specified in this document. Here, the third and fourth digits of loose tea, and the third digit of compressed tea represent raw material grades; the fifth digit of loose tea and the fourth digit of compressed tea represent the factory: Kunming Tea Factory 1, Menghai Tea Factory 2, Xiaguan Tea Factory 3, Pu’er Tea Factory 4.
• 1978: The processing volume of Pu’er tea (ripe tea) ranked first among all refined teas. That year, Menghai County processed a total of 27,797 dan of refined tea, including 3,675 dan of green tea, 7,403 dan of black tea, 6,936 dan of compressed tea (Pu’er raw tea), and 9,783 dan of special tea (Pu’er ripe tea).
• 1982: It was renamed “Menghai Tea Factory.” Zhou Peirong passed away. If Fan Hejun is considered the first factory director, Zhou Peirong is the second director appointed after the Cultural Revolution.
• 1983: Yunnan Seven Sons Cake Tea won the title of provincial quality product and commercial department quality product. That same year, Tang Qingyang was appointed as the third factory director and retired at the end of the year.
• 1984: Zou Bingliang took over as factory director, becoming the fourth formal factory director of Menghai Tea Factory.
• 1985: Menghai Tea Factory created two new tea numbers, 8582 (raw tea) and 8592 (ripe tea), at the request of Hong Kong Nantian Company.
• 1986: Pu’er tea at levels 10 and 8 received provincial quality titles.
• 1988: Menghai Tea Factory opened two ten-thousand-acre tea garden bases in Bada and Bulang Mountain, laying a solid foundation for the future raw material supply of Menghai Tea Factory. In the same year, Menghai Tuo Tea won a silver award at the national nutritional food “Panda Cup.”
• 1989: The “Dayi” trademark was successfully registered, marking the start of overseas market promotion under the tea factory’s independent brand. This move by Menghai Tea Factory was a countermeasure against the China Specialty and Livestock Import and Export Corporation’s requirement for subordinate tea factories to pay usage fees for the Zhongcha trademark. In the same year, loose Pu’er tea numbers 79562, 79092, and 79102 received provincial quality titles.
• 1990: Menghai Tuo Tea and Pu’er Square Tea won provincial quality titles.
• 1992: “Palace Pu’er” was awarded the title of Yunnan Famous Tea.
• 1993: Menghai Tea Factory readjusted and standardized the blending ratios of various tea numbers for Pu’er tea. After 1993, government-organized tea evaluations gradually gave way to awards organized by various associations and event committees, with Menghai Tea Factory receiving numerous gold, silver, and bronze awards, not all of which are recorded here.
• January 1996: “Menghai Tea Co., Ltd.” was established, implementing a management model of two signs, one team, and independent accounting, beginning diversified operations and investing in breweries, toy factories, and other fields.
• 1996-1998: Lu Yun served as factory director.
• October 1998 – 2002: Ruan Dianrong served as factory director.
• 1999: Menghai Tea Factory obtained dual certifications for green food and organic (natural) food.
• 2002-2004: Zheng Yue served as factory director. From 2000 to 2004, the products of Menghai Tea Factory became rich and diverse, with many products being custom teas ordered by dealers, and some being processed teas. This made the identification of Dayi tea a complex task.
• October 2004: Yunnan Bowen Investment Co., Ltd. took over Menghai Tea Factory completely.
• November 25, 2005: Menghai Tea Factory became the first in Xishuangbanna to obtain the food production quality safety (QS) license.
• January 1, 2006: Menghai Tea Factory fully implemented a packaging anti-counterfeiting system.

Varieties of Ripe Pu-erh Tea

Almost all tea lovers who drink Pu-erh tea start their journey into the world of Pu-erh tea with ripe tea. The technique for producing ripe tea through wet piling was developed in 1973. Since then, due to the exceptional wet piling technology of Menghai Tea Factory, which far exceeds that of its peers, Menghai’s ripe teas have become the most favored among consumers.

The standard ripe teas produced by Menghai Tea Factory began mass production in the mid-1970s, sourcing raw materials from a wide range of locations, including not only Menghai County but also materials from areas like Lincang. The main products of Menghai Tea Factory’s ripe tea include various grades of loose ripe tea, as well as 100g and 250g tuocha, bricks, and cakes. The main types of tea cakes include the following:

1. 7572 Ripe Cake
   • The 7572 ripe tea from Menghai Tea Factory can be traced back to the mid-1970s. This tea has been consistently popular and is a flagship ripe cake of Menghai. The tea materials used are grades 3-8, primarily using 5-6 grade young leaves, with a high degree of fermentation and a sweet, delicate soup.
   • However, historically, not all 7572 were produced using the wet piling technique. In 1981, the provincial tea authority accepted an order from Hong Kong’s Li An Tea Company to produce a batch of 7572 raw tea.
2. 8592 and “Purple Heaven Ripe Cake”
   • The 8592 label from Menghai Tea Factory’s Seven Sons cake uses a blend of grades 3-6 leaves for the outer tea and older leaves for the inner tea, with a lower degree of fermentation. It is known to have started production in 1985 and has been consistently produced since then.
   • This tea was initially ordered by Hong Kong’s Nanjian Trading Company. The outer packaging of these batches of 8592 bears a purple “Tian” circular seal, commonly referred to as “Purple Heaven.” The old tea of 8592 has always been favored by tea enthusiasts, with the early-produced “Thick Paper Purple Heaven” products being the most valuable. In the early 1990s, Hong Kong’s Lin Qi Yuan Tea Company also began customizing 8592 ripe cakes, with the outer packaging featuring a red “Tian” seal, hence being called “Red Heaven.”
   • The “Purple Heaven” circulating in the market is often counterfeit products stamped by merchants using contemporaneous or later products. Due to the significant reputation of “Purple Heaven” in the industry, counterfeit products not only use contemporaneous 8592 with seals but also sometimes use 7572. Over time, some have even stamped various colors of “Tian” (purple, red, blue, yellow, etc.) on tea bricks and certain raw tea products for profit. Additionally, some products with the “8892” stamp are circulating in the market, but this tea is not from Menghai Tea Factory; it was manufactured by private merchants in the late 1990s.
3. 7262 and 7562 Brick Tea
   • In the late 1990s, Menghai Tea Factory developed a series of new tea products, including labels such as 7042, 7062, 7502, 7512, 7592, 7692, etc. However, most of these new products were not mass-produced; only 7262 became a regular product and was widely promoted. Additionally, 7592, as a customized tea, also saw several batches produced.
   • The 7262 was reportedly launched around 2000. This tea has a lower degree of fermentation, using near-court-grade golden tips as the outer leaves, with the inner tea selected from grades 3-6 young leaves, resulting in a very attractive appearance and a thick, smooth taste.
   • According to former Menghai Factory deputy director and blender Mr. Dong, this tea was developed in response to the improved quality of life and targeted high-end consumers. Among Menghai’s ripe tea series, this product is praised as the top-grade ripe cake due to its delicate selection of materials, attractive appearance, and thick, smooth taste.
   • The labeling method of 7262 differs from other Menghai standard products (where the second digit is always 5), which often leads consumers to confuse it with 7562. The 7562 label is a standard ripe tea brick from Menghai Tea Factory, using a blend of grades 3-6 leaves and with a lower degree of fermentation. Early products used fine buds as the outer leaves, while later products did not include this step. This tea also has a long production history and has been produced consistently over the years.
4. 7452 Ripe Cake
   • The 7452 is believed to have started production around the same time as 7572 at Menghai Tea Factory in the mid-1970s. In the factory’s history, the 7452 was produced only in the early years and gradually faded from the market.
   • The origins of 7452 remain a mystery. Some experts believe that the difference between 7452 and 7572 lies in the grades of the blended materials, with 7452 using finer grades. Another theory suggests that 7452 was packaged in single paper boxes as 7572, but the truth will require further historical documentation to clarify.

Types of Raw Pu-erh Tea

The raw Pu-erh tea produced by Menghai Tea Factory primarily uses raw materials sourced from within Menghai County, Yunnan Province. This region includes tea mountains such as Bada, Bulang, Nannuo, and Banzhang, where a significant number of heirloom wild tea plants from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era remain. Early Menghai tea cakes were predominantly made from these tea leaves. After the mid-1980s, these old tea gardens were quickly replaced by improved varieties of bush tea gardens, establishing three main tea garden bases in Bada, Bulang, and Nannuo.

To ensure relative stability in the production of bulk products, the raw Pu-erh teas from Menghai Tea Factory are all blended. In addition to using raw materials from different regions and of different grades for blending, a crucial aspect that is not easily known to outsiders is that all types of tea also use 3-5 years old raw maocha (tea leaves) in their blend, meaning that a single cake may even contain older materials. The raw Pu-erh teas from Menghai Tea Factory are available in various forms, including square bricks, tuocha (tea bowls), and tea cakes. The main types of tea cakes include:

7542 and “73 Qing Cake”

The tea numbered 7542 is the most significant product from Menghai Tea Factory. Its blending method involves using tender leaves of grades 3 and 4 for the outer tea and leaves of grades 5 and 6 for the inner tea (later batches also included leaves of grades 7 and 8).

This tea began production in the early 1980s. Records from import and export companies indicate that during the Cultural Revolution, Menghai Tea Factory did not produce any tea with the number 7542. There has long been a saying in the market that products numbered 75X2 began production in 1975, but this is not the case. The only known products from the 1970s produced by Menghai Tea Factory are two types of cooked tea: 7572 and 7452. It remains undetermined whether raw cakes were produced during the Cultural Revolution. However, the raw cakes available in the market, such as 7532, 7542, and 7582, should all be products from the 1980s onward.

Among the old raw cakes available in the market, 7542 is the most numerous. This tea has a long production life, and the quality varies significantly between batches, so discerning the quality and age of a specific tea requires considerable experience. People often use the printing on the outer packaging paper to judge the year. However, the outer packaging paper should only be considered as a reference since there are products with changed packaging and later products imitating early prints. For dating the tea, the inner flyleaf of the cake provides a more reliable reference; factors such as ink, paper quality, cake mold, and blending techniques are also important criteria for identification.

The tea commonly referred to as “73 Qing Cake” is named by Mr. Huang of Yu Hu Xuan in Taipei in December 1998. This batch’s outer packaging features a large mouth with a manually stamped tea character, and the inner flyleaf has two types: fine text protruding and artistic fonts, stamped with numbers 7542—503 or —506. It was initially believed that the “73 Qing Cake” was produced in 1973; however, it can be confirmed that the number 50X on the horizontal ticket indicates it was still in production in 1985.

7532 and “Snow-Printed Qing Cake”

The tea numbered 7532 is the most delicate product from Menghai Tea Factory, with limited production. Its blending method uses leaves of grades 3-6, with consistent outer and inner tea.

Commonly referred to as “Snow-Printed Qing Cake,” the 7532 was named by Mr. Huang of Yu Hu Xuan in November 1999, referring to a batch of 7532 cakes from the early 1980s. This batch of 7532 features packaging in a paper tube, with a thick outer paper and a powder green hand-stamped tea character, red fine text on the inner fly, and a small inner ticket with a small cake mold.

The genuine “Snow-Printed” is now rarely seen in the market. However, due to the fame of the “Snow-Printed” name in the tea community, many later 7532 products have also been labeled as “Snow-Printed” to increase their value. Care should be taken to distinguish the age when purchasing.

7582 and 8582

Menghai Tea Factory began producing the 7582 Qing Cake after 1980. After 1985, Hong Kong’s Nanjian Trading Company began customizing raw Pu-erh tea cakes from Menghai Tea Factory, and this product’s number was subsequently changed to 8582. The number 8582 has been used continuously since 1985 until the early 1990s, after which some products reverted to the name 7582.

The blending method for 8582 involves using tender leaves of grades 3 and 4 for the outer tea and leaves of grades 7 and 8 for the inner tea (later batches also included some leaves of grades 5 and 6). Early 8582 cakes were relatively large, with a diameter of about 21 cm.

Most 8582 Qing Cakes are packaged in thin paper, although there were early batches wrapped in thick cotton paper. These batches are known to date from 1987 to 1992, and there are significant differences in the cake molds among these three batches.

7572 Raw Tea

The 7572 has long been associated with Menghai Tea Factory’s cooked tea. However, for specific reasons, a batch of 7572 raw tea also historically appeared.

This batch of 7572 raw tea was produced in 1981 for an order placed by Hong Kong’s Lian Tea Company, commissioned by the former deputy factory director of Menghai Tea, Li Yisheng. This batch of tea is packaged with large mouth outer wrapping, featuring fine text on the inner fly. The tea leaves used were slightly thicker than those in the contemporaneous 7542, with similar outer and inner tea. When purchasing 7572 cakes, attention must be paid to storage quality, as most seen in the market have poor appearance and taste due to improper storage.

Yellow-Printed Seven Sons Cake and Others

Early products from Menghai Tea Factory include the “Yellow-Printed Seven Sons” series, as well as “Big Blue Print,” “Red Ribbon,” and other teas. These products are now exceedingly rare and have largely entered the collections of tea enthusiasts, disappearing from market circulation.

The “Yellow-Printed” system is quite complex, with tea connoisseurs distinguishing various types based on visual differences, including “Big Yellow Print,” “Small Yellow Print,” and “Carefully Blended.” The name “Yellow Print” derives from the tea character in the eight-character tea logo on the outer packaging, which is often yellow due to fading of the original green pigment. Consequently, teas with green “tea” characters are also sometimes referred to as “Yellow Print.” Many products in the “Yellow Print” system lack specific numbers, and their age is often inferred to be earlier than numbered products, based on the degree of transformation. Their outer packaging features large mouth printing with fine text protruding from the inner fly.

“Big Blue Print” is also an early Qing Cake from Menghai Tea Factory, dating closely to the Yellow Print system. It features large mouth printing with fine text protruding from the inner fly.

In the early days of Menghai Tea Factory, there was a batch of tea that earned the nickname “Red Ribbon Qing Cake” because a red ribbon was embedded on the front of the cake. Its blending method is similar to early 7532, and its packaging paper is thin and wide. The dating of the “Red Ribbon” is commonly believed to be contemporaneous with the 73 Qing Cake, although some believe it to be even older.

Heritage Preservation

In November 2019, the list of representative projects for the protection of national intangible cultural heritage was announced, and Menghai Tea Factory (general partnership) was awarded the qualification as a protection unit for the project “Pu-erh Tea Production Skills (Dayi Tea Production Skills).”

Corporate Honors

On November 20, 2020, the Central Civilization Committee recognized Menghai Tea Factory as a “Sixth National Civilized Unit” in its decision to commend the sixth session of national civilized cities, civilized villages and towns, civilized units, as well as the second session of national civilized families, civilized campuses, and the new session of advanced work in ideological and moral education for minors.

On February 4, 2021, the labor union of Menghai Tea Factory was awarded the title of “National Advanced Enterprise Labor Union for Dual Love and Dual Evaluation” by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.