Hello Fellow Tea Enthusiast,

Bana Tea's Leaf-let is published between our periodic Bana Tea Leaf newsletters to provide you with the most current Bana Tea news.  

In this edition of the Bana Tea's Leaf-let, we will cover the following four topics (click to be transported to beginning of each topic):

1. Linda's report on her March/April 2010 trip to Yunnan, China.
2. New videos on Pu-erh tea and its processing, filmed during Linda's recent trip, are now available for viewing.
3. Jingmai Tea Mountain.
4. Bana Tea introduces the "Yiwu Golden Unicorn," a 2005 raw Pu-erh tea just added to the Bana Tea line-up.

1. Linda's Report About Her 2010 Trip to Yunnan, China

I was joined on this trip by my webmaster, Alana, my sister Mei, and two other friends.  Our guide, Mr. Gao, drove us deep into the tea regions of Yunnan, to areas little traveled by non-minority Han Chinese, much less Westerners.

Though not a popular tourist destination like the cities of Shanghai or Beijing, Yunnan is a province that is rich in natural resources and cultural diversity.  On this trip, we visited the Hani rice terraces that date back to well over 1000 years ago.  We also visited several tribal villages in Jingmai tea mountain and tasted the Pu-erh tea each village grew and processed. Switching from our mini-vans to tractors and four-wheel drives, we covered much ground, from 1200 meters to 2400 meters in elevation, from well-paved roads to narrow, winding rugged mountain paths. Although we spent many hours on the road each day, we were rewarded with fascinating sights and rich experiences. 

Jingmai tea mountain is situated in the farthest end of the Southwest corner of China and borders Myanmar. It is most famous for its abundance of ancient tea gardens/forests. According to our host, of the 63,000 mu (1 mu=.6 acre) of tea gardens, 28,000 mu is filled with arbor tea trees that are centuries old. The area is native to the Bulang, Dai and Lahu tribal people, most of whom continue to live a life style much like that of their ancestors.  Most are tea farmers.  

When we reached 2,400 meters in elevation, we encountered and trekked through an old forest where wild tea trees could be found.  According to our guide, wild tea trees were interspersed throughout this forest; each mu had about 5 or 6 such trees and they could only be recognized by experienced tea farmers.  We located an ancient wild tea tree and found the leaves to be very glossy and supple.  I noted that the serrations on its leaves were less pronounced than those found on regular tea leaves.  When we got back to the village, a native Lahu woman served us with the most delicious wild tea.  

We were able to stroll through the villages of Bulang, Dai and Lahu peoples. While there are some similarities among these villages, there were distinct differences in the architecture of the houses and the native clothing of the women.  These tribal groups have been living in the mountains for many generations and, as their ancestors did in times past, they continue to live in harmony with nature.   During our stay, we ate wild vegetables, wild mushrooms, wild fruits, wild honey and wild boar.  You can say that we had a "wild time."  My companions and I all agreed that these meals were among most tasty and most healthy that we have ever had.  

If you are interested seeing more photographs from Linda's Yunnan trip, please click here for the slide show link on the Bana Tea Company website. 

2. New Videos Now Available for Viewing on Bana Tea Company's Website 

Have you ever wondered how Pu-erh tea is produced?  What processing does it undergo before it reaches your teapot?  How is the tea formed into its unique disk-like shape?  You will learn this and more by viewing these four very informative videos.

Preliminary Pu-erh Tea Processing

Pressing Raw Pu-erh Tea into Cakes

Quality and Safety Symbol

Crab Claw Growth on Ancient Tea Trees

Click on the above titles to access the Bana webpage with the videos.

3. Jingmai Tea Mountain

A special note on Jingmai tea mountain.  I chose to visit Jingmai this year because this area contains a large concentration of ancient tea trees. According to historical accounts, natives in this mountain have been planting tea trees for almost 2,000 years.  Jingmai is also believed to be the birth place of Pu-erh tea.  As we drove around the hillside, we saw many bush-like tea plantations as well as natural forest-like ancient tea gardens.  We got out of our car and closely examined these old-growth tea trees.  Jingmai is very famous for its “crab’s claw,” a plant that grows on tea tree branches.  The locals say these long, odd-looking green plants are believed to possess detoxifying properties. Because these plants are very rare and very much in demand, they sell for very high prices. 

Jingmai Mountain is renowned for producing premium Pu-erh tea.  It was a little surprising that we came across some farmers in this region that are not cultivating and harvesting their tea trees on a large scale.  In fact, they were very meticulous in their methods and their output, although low in volume, is extremely high in quality (due in no small part to the presence of ancient wild tea trees in the area).  It was nice to know that there is a healthy pride of workmanship among these farmers.