As soon as we mentioned to our guide in Kunming that we like tea, we ended up in a tea shop. We tried a few raw Pu-Er teas and resisted the very popular fermented Pu-Er teas. The lady attending to us studied tea at Kunming university and was very knowledgable. After two hours I ended up buying an expensive but mediocre Pu-Er Bin (disc).
Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province in China. Yunnan sees over 200 million visitors every year and Kunming airport over 20 million. Due to mining, hydro-electric power and tourism is Yunnan booming. The increase in wealth is clearly visible in the booming real estate sector. Therefore it was a relief to find this charming old-style restaurant tucked away in a little side-alley.
Yunnan provinence is famous of its tea, Pu-Er tea to be precise. This very specific type of tea has a history that dates back over 1000 years. In fact, some of the tea trees in Yunnan are even older than that. And they still produce wonderful tea. Isn't that amazing? Is is therefore no surprise that Pu-Er tea is one of the oldest and most valuable teas in the world.
I spent the last ten days on the bumpy roads in Yunnan, visiting tea farmers, watching Pu-Er being made and drinking lots of tea. Here are my first posts from the Jingmai mountains where I watched the tea harvest and processing while sleeping in the tiny little mountain village of Mangjing.
Recent Comments