Wuyishan Tea Plantations

Wuyishan Mountain is a UNSECO World Heritage site, internationally recognized and protected for its biological diversity and significance as an ancient cultural site and tea production center in south China. The mountain grows a particular tea called Dahong Pao (it is a kind of oolong tea, aka Wuyi Rock Tea), which was once the best tribute tea of both the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 – 1911). For centuries, the farmers in Wuyishan Mountain have developed the methods for making Wulong tea. At present, these methods were elected as the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, and now is a candidate, on behalf of China, of the World Intangible Cultural Heritage. More so than any other famous Chinese tea, understanding Dahong Pao tea is inextricable from examining the intricacies of its growing region.

Wuyishan Mountain is best known for its spectacular network of rocky hills, winding rivers, and beautiful caves. It enjoys a subtropical, warm climate characterized by high humidity and plenty of rain. Here, summers are long and winters are short, providing ideal conditions for growing Dahong Pao tea. There are many tea plantations have been built since the Tang and Song dynasties (618 -1297). In the mountain, you can see the plantations dotted in the mountian here and there. The big ones have thousands of tea trees, while the small ones only have several trees. Few of them still preserve the rare “mother trees of Dahong Pao”. Some famous tea plantations are Tianxin Tea Plantation, Liuxianjian Tea Plantation, Royal Tea Garden, Niulanken Tea Plantation, Huiwankeng Tea Plantation, Dakengkou Tea Plantation, and Wuyuanjian Tea Plantation.

Take a trip to Wuyishan Mountain to visit some tea plantations, and you may understand why this mountain, the most famous tea mountain in all of China, produces so many world-renowned oolong teas. If you visit Wuyishan Mountain on April or May, you can pick the authentic rock tea with the local famers and witness the oolong tea’ processing.