Fengqing County and the Mother of Tea Trees

Since one of our most popular delicious teas comes from the Fengqing County, we’ve mentioned this region several times on our website and social media. Did you know, however, that this County in Yunnan Province is home to what’s known as the Mother of Tea Trees? In today’s blog, we will discuss a little bit more about this enchanting region and legendary tree.

In many respects, Fengqing County is not all that dissimilar from other regions within Yunnan Province. Like most of southwestern Yunnan, Fengqing has an incredibly rich history and culture surrounding tea. Pu-erh tea accounts for a large portion of the region’s agriculture, and its reported that there are around 14,400 square miles of ancient tea trees growing in the region. Besides Pu-erh tea, Fengqing County is also quite famous for being the hometown of Dianhong, or Yunnan Black tea.

High up in the mountains of Fengqing County, in Xiang Zhu Qing village, lies a massive, ancient tree. Colloquially referred to as the Mother tea tree, this magnificent giant is about 35 feet tall (which is extremely tall for a tea tree), and is so wide that it’s said that it takes eight people holding outstretched hands to full surround the tree. Besides her gargantuan size, this tree is also remarkable for its unmatched history. This ancient tree is recorded as being over 3,200 years old. To put this into perspective, this tree was around for 700 years before Confucius walked the planet, and it had been growing for an entire millennium before the first emperor ruled a united China.

All around this tree are her “offspring,” which themselves are hundreds and thousands of years old, all planted by her. The people in the region ascribe almost deity-like qualities to this tree, and she is so revered that it’s been several years since people have actually picked her leaves. The people in the region are fiercely protective of her, striving to preserve this tree for future generations. Nowadays, this ancient matriarch primarily serves the function of a great symbol of the rich history of Pu-erh, as well as living proof that Yunnan province truly was the birthplace of tea trees.

Even though it’s becoming increasingly difficult to drink the tea of this living legend, tons of tea is still being produced in this almost mystical region. If you’re intrigued by the fantastic tea grown in Feng Qing county, try our Millennium Feng Fragrance Ripe Pu-erh Tea, which is made from leaves harvested throughout this incredible place.