Under the tea trees

Minority village is a unique biotic landscape system where village and tea garden bond together, tea farmers inherit gardening techniques from their ancestors, and biological diversity and human beings are interrelated. Under the tea trees, clansman worship ancestor, celebrate festivals and meet here all the time.

There are few steps from house to garden. Mushroom, wild vegetables and giant wood would be found with the tea trees. The biological chain has good function in pest controlling, multitudinous animals and plants could keep a healthy environmental balance in the tea garden.

The Qizi cake is the most representational puer tea embodied form. Ming Wanli, the court set up government to manage the tea trade in Puer. The governors brought the puer tea to Beijing and the palace. Then the raw puer tea was gradually popular with the whole country.

Emperor Qianlong evaluate the Qizi cake as “Round as autumn Moon, fragrant like charming orchid”. The high compressed raw puer tea comes from special geographical conditions and period. In the early period, in order to carry easily, the tea was steamed and packed, and compressed into cake. One piece of cake was 7 Liang (the old weight unit), 7 piece cakes were packaged into one bamboo package, thus the tea cake got its name, Qizi.

The tea-growing minorities.

The Bulang, Hani, Lahu, Dai and other minorities are the earliest planters who domesticate and plant tea. They live in the high mountains, company with woods, culture the tea trees, and guard them from generation to generation.

Up to now, these minorities still respect and worship the tea. They think ancestor’s spirit bond with the tea trees, so they still worship the trees regularly.

 

where to buy high quality tea

The teaching from the ancestor as following:

If you are inherited with gold and silver, you will use them all; if you are inherited flocks and herds, you will eat them all; hence, you be supposed to inherited with tea trees which could supply you with endless food and income.