Bai Ying Shan 白莺山 Mountains

06. 01. 2024

Bai Ying Shan 白莺山 is one of the branch mountains of Wu Liang Shan 无量山 in Southwest Yunnan Lincang Region, and near Lan Cang River. Though it is still not as famous as many other tea mountains of Yunnan,  Bai Ying Shan is the origin of the Yunnan old big tea trees as study indicates. Here there is the oldest tea tree more than 3000 years old, and the biological character of the tea seed of Bai Ying Shan old tree proves here is the birthplace of the Yunnan Big Leaf Tea. The tea species growing here according to the farmers include Ben Shan Cha 本山茶, Hei Tiao Cha 黑条茶, Er Ga Zi Cha 二嘎子茶，Meng Ku Zhong 勐库种, Bai Ya Cha 白芽茶，Liu Ye Cha 柳叶茶, He Zhuang Cha 贺庄茶 and Teng Zi Cha 藤子茶.

The tea trees themselves grow in the Bai Ying Shan Village. They grow pretty far from each other and many of them are very big and thousand years old. Bai Ying Shan village is on the peak of the mountain and faces Northeast. This location makes the land entirley exposed to the sunlight all the day. At night, a temperature drops significantly.  The moisture from the Lancang River goes up to the mountain and forms clouds and mist. This kind of weather is ideal for the quality of tea. For the pu-erh tea lovers, Bai Ying Shan 白莺山 is definitely one of the locations that cannot be missed. Many alll time best vintage pu-erh teas come from Bai Ying Shan. It is really wondeful for the sweetness and rich strong taste it gives.

Baiying Mountain is located in the middle of Dabing Mountain in the Lancang River Nature Reserve in the northern part of Yun County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province. It is located in the center of Lancang River Civilization and belongs to the core area of ​​"Manhuai Neolithic Culture". As early as the Neolithic period more than 4,000 years ago, there are traces of human ancestors' activities here. The ancestors of Baiying Mountain lived on the native tea trees and made a living by picking tea and hunting. While collecting "wild tea", the ancestors introduced "wild tea" to the front and back of the village, commonly known as Benshan tea, which was the beginning of the introduction and domestication of tea trees. As a result of the conscious or unconscious introduction and selection of the ancestors of Baiying Mountain and the natural hybridization and variation of tea trees, the morphology and quality characteristics are obviously different. It is called black stripe tea, Ergazi tea, white Yazi tea, Fujizi tea, etc. by local tea farmers. It is a unique landscape where various types of tea such as Willow Leaf Tea, Doumi Tea, Daye Benshan White Yakou Tea, Heqing Tea, and Red Yakou Tea coexist with Benshan Tea and Mengku Tea in the same garden.

Baiyingshan Tea Area is centered on Baiyingshan Village, Manwan Town, covering 3 townships (towns), Manwan Town, Maolan Town, and Manhuai Township, and 25 administrative villages. The total area of ​​the tea area is 56,000 acres. The entire tea area is surrounded by The Dabingshan Nature Reserve and distributed in a ring, among which nearly 30,000 acres of Baiyingshan ancient tea garden is formed in the high mountain zone with an altitude of 1,800 meters to 2,300 meters. There are more than 160,000 ancient tea trees in Baiyingshan Ancient Tea Garden that are more than 400 years old. Among them, there are more than 100 tea trees with a height of 6 to 10 meters; 6,500 tea trees with a height of more than 5 meters; larger tea trees with a height of 9 to 10 meters. The base circumference of the root is 0.8~3.9m. Among them, the most representative Egazi Tea King is 2800 years old, 10.5m tall, 8.4×8.6m wide, 3.85m in base circumference, and has 11 branches.

On May 1, 2006, experts from the "Origin of Tea" Academic Seminar at the First Tea Culture Expo in Lincang, China, commented on Baiying Mountain: It is the only area discovered so far where you can see the entire transformation process of tea trees from wild to domestic. The different stages in which tea became a cultivated crop are historical witnesses to the origin and domestication of tea trees. The Baiyingshan Ancient Tea Garden is the ancient tea garden with the most diverse tea tree varieties discovered so far. Baiying Mountain has the oldest Tea Horse Road and is an ideal base for popularizing tea science and promoting national tea culture.

In 2016, the Lincang Municipal People's Government included the 12,400-acre ancient tea garden with Baiyingshan Village as the core in Lincang City's first batch of cultivated ancient tea garden protection lists, with a core protected area of ​​810 acres designated for protection. On October 15, 2020, at the symposium on the listing and protection of the Baiyingshan Ancient Tea Garden in Yun County, Lincang City [Kunming], Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Peasants and Workers’ Party and senior agronomist, pointed out: "Baiying Mountain in Yunxian County is the only area with the richest diversity of tea tree species in the world. It is a living fossil for studying the origin, evolution and tea culture history, and has the most precious tea trees in the world. The natural gene bank of germplasm resources is the most important agricultural cultural heritage and natural cultural heritage. It is a natural laboratory for conducting research on the origin and evolution of tea trees.

 

According to expert research, the Baiying Mountain Tea Area has a subtropical monsoon climate. It is warm and humid with abundant rainfall. The average annual rainfall is about 1600 mm, and the rainfall is evenly distributed. During the tea bud germination period from March to April, there are continuous spring rains. The humidity reaches more than 82%, and the new shoots grown by the tea trees have larger leaves, long internodes, high yields, and are rich in nutrients such as chlorophyll, caffeine, and tea polyphenols, forming the Yunxian Baiyingshan tea that is mellow, smooth, and tastes fresh and moist. It has the specific qualities of long-lasting sweetness, strong sweetness and strong fragrance. It is also the best raw material for making Dian black tea and Yunnan white tea.

In April 2021, Chen Zongmao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a famous tea expert, inscribed the "Baiying Mountain Tea Tree Evolution Natural Museum". On May 13, 2021, the Lincang Municipal People's Government took the lead to launch the "Baiying Mountain Tea Tree Evolution Natural Museum".

Sources: Good Tea, Wufeng Tea, Central Media Headlines China