Yunnan's Ancient Tea Trees - A Timeless Beauty	Page 1 | 2 | 3

Yunnan's Ancient Tea Trees belong to a special broad leaf species of plant indigenous to Yunnan Province. Hundreds and sometimes over a thousand years old these ancient trees represent the origins of tea in China. Puerh tea produced from the leaves of these magnificent trees is a national treasure.

While these ancient tea trees have been around for thousands of years the history of Puerh tea production in connection with these magnificent trees is unclear. Little is known about Puerh tea production* in previous eras. To this day a multitude of theories and assumptions still surrounds the type of raw materials used in the production of old Puerh vintages and masterpieces from the past. As a result the recognition for these ancient tea leaves came late. It was not until around 2003 when Puerh aficionados became aware of a few batches of old growth Puerh produced in the mid to late 90s. These teas had turned out to be a revelation and once the market had recognized the inherent quality and limited supply of old growth tea the tremendous demand catalyzed by the Puerh boom at the time pushed prices of old growth tea to 20X their early value within the span of a few short years. To this day the tremendous demand for old growth tea remains unabated.

*Puerh tea producers are very protective of their production methods and batch recipes they use for blending leaves. In past eras this information was not often recorded as craftsmanship was taught hands on and passed down from generation to generation. Disruptions from both the WWII and China’s subsequent Civil War enforced long periods of dormancy on Puerh producers and caused much of Puerh’s history to be forgotten and lost.