The Six Puer Tea Mountains in Xishuangbanna
The six tea mountains generally refer to the six ancient tea mountains of Yunnan tea or Pu’er tea, which are located in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna（西双版纳傣族自治州）. It includes six tea mountains in Lancang River system, namely gedeng(革登）, Yibang（倚邦）, mangzhi（莽枝）, manzhuan（蛮砖）, MANSA (Yiwu)（曼撒易武）, and you le (Jinuo)（攸乐基诺）; six tea mountains outside the river: nannuo（南糯）, Nanqiao（南峤）, Mengsong（勐宋）, Jingmai（景迈）, Bulang（布朗）, and bada（巴达）.
Chinese Name: Six tea mountains
English Name: The Six Puer Tea Mountains in XishuangBanna
ADD: Xishuangbanna(西双版纳)
1. The history of Tea mountain
Ancient “six tea mountains” had tea planting before the Three Kingdoms period. After the Three Kingdoms period , tea was used as a commodity and foreign trade. The name of the ancient “six tea mountains” is related to ZhugeLiang. ZhugeLiang, the Prime Minister of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, visited the six tea mountains and left many relics to commemorate them. Gradually developed in the Jin Dynasty, tea commodity bases had been formed in the Tang and Song dynasties. During the reign of Hongwu period in Ming Dynasty, it was divided into a separate administrative region. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the tea mountain was at zenith, and its products were sold to Sichuan(四川）, Tibet（西藏）, Hong Kong（香港）, Macao（澳门） and Nanyang（南阳）. Pu’er tea was famous both at home and abroad.
The ancient “six tea mountains” were not only the main economic source of all ethnic groups in Xishuangbanna（西双版纳） in the past, but also attracted hundreds of thousands compatriots from the mainland to develop, which played a huge role in prospering the frontier economy and strengthening the unity and exchanges of all ethnic groups.
The “six tea mountains” gradually declined in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China and tea production fell to a low point before liberation of various reasons. After the founding of the people’s Republic of China, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, governments at all levels attached great importance to tea production. “The six ancient tea mountains” gradually revived and came out of the trough.
2. Geographic location
The ancient six Chashan mountains are located between 21 ° 51 ′ N and 22 ° 06 ′ N, 101 ° 14 ′ E and 101 ° 31 ′ E, bordering Laos in the East, Jiangcheng County(江城县） in the north, Jinghong City（景洪市） in the west, Menglun （勐仑）and Yao District （瑶区）in the south. They are historically known as inside District of Lancang river（澜沧江）. Youle tea mountain is a township of Jinghong City（景洪市）, located in the northeast of Jinghong City（景洪市）, 53 kilometers away from Jinghong City（景洪市）; Yiwu tea area (including) Yiwu tea mountain（易武茶山）, Mansa tea mountain（曼撒茶山）, 123 kilometers away from Jinghong(景洪）, 110 kilometers away from Mengla County（勐腊县）; Xiangming tea area (including Yibang tea mountain倚邦茶山, Manzhuang tea mountain（蛮砖茶山, Gedeng tea mountain革登茶山) 168 kilometers away from Jinghong(景洪）, 163 kilometers away from Mengla County（勐腊县）.
There is a great potential for the restoration of the ancient tea garden and the cultivation of the new tea garden in the six ancient tea mountains. If we focus on planting, management, picking, processing and sales, the prospect is very good.
3. Ecological environment
The six ancient tea mountains connect with river, the topography, climate and vegetation are similar. Heishuiliangzi(黑水梁子） in Yiwu （易武）tea area is highest altitude 2023 meters; Manpeiluosuo River（曼配罗梭江） water surface in Xiangming （象明）tea area is lowest altitude 565 meters；The altitude difference is 1458 meters. As the temperature decreases by 0.5 ℃ every 100 meters, it has three-dimensional climate characteristics. And the land here are red dark soil and red soil with deep fertile soil layer and PH between 4.5-6.5, which is very conducive to tea tree growth. There is no severe cold in winter and heat in summer. The annual rainfall is 1700 mm to 2100 mm, and the general annual rainfall is about 1800 mm, There is much rain from April to October,The plants are evergreen all the year round, difference between the four seasons is not obvious. Just have rainy season and dry season.
4. The origin of the name
Record of Tan Cui, a scholar of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty <DianHaiYuHengZhi>, The name of Pu’er tea is more important and It comes out of the six tea mountains. One is Youle(攸乐）, two is gedeng（革登）, three is Yibang（倚邦）, four is mangzhi（莽枝）, five is manzhuan（蛮砖）, six is Mansa(曼撒）. The name of ancient tea mountain all correct.
5. Tribute tea
The land of the six ancient tea mountains is covered by many kinds of trees, bamboo forests, grass, vines and flowers. Forming a beautiful and colorful Kingdom of animals and plants. It is also far away from towns and factories, free from pollution by waste gas, dirt and noise. The air is so fresh and nutritious, and the environment is so clean and beautiful. The ancient tea garden growing here has never used pesticides and chemical fertilizers. It has a good color, fragrance, taste and shape. Xiangming(象明） tea area was designated as tribute tea by the court in Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty.
Pu’er tea is favorite tea of the royal family members. It is a royal symbol of family members who have Pu’er tea from six ancient tea mountains. Pu’er tea is also a gift given to heads of state and VIPs by the court, which is loved by foreign guests. The Qing government designated tribute tea as year tea and established tribute tea factory in Pu’er(普洱）.
6. Big leaf Baihao tea
The six ancient tea mountains are not affected by the destruction of glaciers in the fourth century and there are many Camellia plants left. There are wild big leaf tea and small leaf tea in Heishuiliangzi(黑水梁子）. The birthplace of big leaf tea in these places through our Investigate in Yiwu(易武）.
From March to April 2002, Zhang Yi, Zhu Guangfa and Yang Fugui visited the right side of Wangluo River(王罗河） and jinchang river（金长河） of Yiwu（易武）. They found two wild tea trees with a girth of 140-198 cm and a height of 14-18 M. they are wild Baihao. At present, the newly discovered wild tea trees in Yiwu（易武） tea area are a piece of more than 300 acre along the same line river at the junction of Yiwu（易武） and Yao district（瑶区）, the largest one is 60 cm from the soil surface with a height of 15 meters; one large leaf Baihao planted on the road behind Yiwu Luoshuidong Village（易武落水洞村） has been listed as the protected object.
The six ancient tea mountain inside of Langcang river(澜沧江）
Gedeng Tea Mountain in Mengla County, XishuangBanna (革登)
Yibang Tea Mountain in Mengla County, XishuangBanna (倚邦)
Mangzhi Tea Mountain in Mengla County, XishuangBanna (莽枝)
Manzhuan Tea Mountain in Mengla County, XishuangBanna (蛮砖)
Mansa Tea Mountain in Mengla County, XishuangBanna 曼撒（易武）
Youle Tea Mountain in Jinghong County, XishuangBanna 攸乐(基诺)
The ancient tea mountain outside of Langcang river（澜沧江）
Nannuo Tea Mountain in Menghai County, XishuangBanna 南糯山
Nanqiao Tea Mountain in Menghai County, XishuangBanna 南峤
Mengsong Tea Mountain in Menghai County, XishuangBanna 勐宋
Jingmai Tea Mountain in Lancang County, Puer 景迈山
