Jinggu: Yangta Dabai Tea and Kuzhushan

People seeing Jinggu Dabai tea (景谷大白茶) for the first time are often startled by its looks: plump buds covered in white down, the dry tea looking silvery white. Many assume it's white tea, but "Dabai" (big white) actually refers to a tea tree variety; it can be made into white tea, and it can also be made into pu'er. Besides Dabai tea, Jinggu also has a mountain called "Little Jinggu," Kuzhushan.

Where Is Jinggu?

Jinggu Dai and Yi Autonomous County is in the northwest of Pu'er City, Yunnan, within the Wuliang mountain system, with alternating ranges and river valleys and many small basins among the mountains. Jinggu was called Weiyuan in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, was renamed Jinggu in 1914, and today is administered by Pu'er City. For the locations of Pu'er City's counties, start with The Pu'er City Tea Region.

Something else often mentioned about Jinggu: fossils of a broad-leaved Magnolia about 35.4 million years old were discovered here, and locals regard them as an important clue in research on the origin of the tea plant. Jinggu was also an important town on the Tea Horse Road. During the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, Ji Xiangting, a jinshi (imperial scholar) who had returned home, took the lead in planting tea around Jinggu Town, expanding from scattered plantings to whole tea forests; villagers around him followed suit, and Jinggu gradually became a new tea trading hub.

What Is Yangta Dabai Tea?

Yangta (秧塔) is a villager group in Dacun Village, Minle Town, Jinggu County, set in misty high-mountain forest above 1,700 meters with a cool climate. It's the native home of Jinggu Dabai tea, which has been grown here for more than 200 years.

There are different local accounts of where Dabai tea came from. One says that during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty (around 1840), a villager went to the Lancang River to trade and brought back a handful of white tea seeds to plant in Yangta, and they have propagated ever since; another holds that it arose as a variant under Yangta's particular natural conditions. The Encyclopedia of Chinese Agriculture: Tea Volume takes the latter view: Jinggu Dabai tea is a sexually propagated population variety, native to the Yangta area at over 1,700 meters, with more than 200 years of cultivation history.

Characteristics of Dabai tea:

• Buds and leaves: Plump buds, large, thick, soft leaves, and tender buds covered in down;
• Finished tea: Prominent white tips, silvery-white leaves;
• Taste: A clear, bright liquor, a clean aroma, a mellow taste with returning sweetness, and good staying power over infusions.

Legend has it that in the Qing dynasty local farmers shaped Dabai tea like ears of grain and handed it to the tusi, who sent it on as tribute to the court, calling it "White Dragon Whisker tribute tea." In the early 1960s, Jinggu Dabai was selected by the Yunnan Tea Experiment Station as one of 46 improved tea varieties; from 1984, Jinggu set up a tea technology extension station to promote Dabai tea. Today Yangta still has more than 1,000 Dabai tea trees over a hundred years old, and Dabai tea is grown on about 150,000 mu (about 10,000 hectares) across Jinggu County.

Is Jinggu Dabai Tea White Tea or Pu'er?

Either; the key is processing. "Dabai" is the name of a tea tree variety, not a tea category:

• Made into white tea: Only withered and dried; the most famous is "Yueguangbai" (Moonlight White), made by shade-withering Dabai leaves, with dry leaves black on one side and white on the other;
• Made into raw pu'er: Processed the pu'er way, with shaqing, rolling, and sun-drying, it becomes sun-dried maocha that can be pressed into cakes and stored;
• Other categories: It can also be made into baked green tea or black tea.

So when you buy "Jinggu Dabai tea," check whether the packaging says white tea or pu'er. Pu'er's national standard uses sun-dried tea from Yunnan large-leaf varieties as its raw material, so Dabai made into sun-dried maocha and then processed the pu'er way counts as pu'er. For how pu'er differs from white tea, green tea, and Dianhong, read How Pu'er Differs from Other Yunnan Teas; varieties are compared in Mengku, Menghai, Fengqing: Yunnan's Three National Large-Leaf Varieties.

Raw pu'er made from Dabai is often described as having a pronounced downy aroma, a sweet, soft liquor, light bitterness and astringency, and an elegant, clean fragrance.

What Sets Kuzhushan Tea Apart?

Kuzhushan (苦竹山) is in the mountains near Jinggu Town, and tea drinkers often call it "Little Jinggu." Its ancient gardens lie at about 1,940 meters (another account says 2,200 meters), with an average annual temperature of about 17.5°C and plentiful rainfall. The common account in the tea world is that during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty, residents of Jinggu Town were already growing tea around Kuzhushan for their own use; its surviving cultivated ancient gardens cover about 1,500 mu (about 100 hectares), one of the most highly regarded ancient gardens of the Little Jinggu area.

Common descriptions of Kuzhushan tea:

• Appearance: Plump buds and long, downy leaves;
• Taste: Bitterness a bit noticeable, astringency weak, sweetness in the liquor, good huigan, and a full liquor;
• Aroma: High and lifting, with wild-mountain character;
• Style: Some tea drinkers say it has a bit of Jingmai's fragrance and a bit of Bulang's strength, and others find its soft sweetness close to Yiwu.

How to Brew Dabai Tea and Kuzhushan

• Dabai raw pu'er: Lots of white down, so water at 90–95°C, 6 grams in a 110 ml gaiwan, and pour off the first few infusions after 10 seconds;
• Kuzhushan raw pu'er: Bitterness is a bit noticeable, so 6–7 grams in a 110 ml gaiwan, with quick pours of 5–8 seconds for the first 3 infusions, and the sweetness will surface quickly.

FAQ

Q: Where is Jinggu?
A: Jinggu Dai and Yi Autonomous County is in the northwest of Pu'er City, Yunnan, within the Wuliang mountain system; anciently called Weiyuan, it was renamed Jinggu in 1914.

Q: What is Yangta Dabai tea?
A: A large-leaf tea tree variety native to Yangta, Dacun, Minle Town, Jinggu County, above 1,700 meters, with more than 200 years of cultivation history, plump buds and leaves, and abundant white down.

Q: Is Jinggu Dabai tea white tea?
A: Dabai is a variety name, not a tea category. Withered and dried, it becomes white tea (such as Moonlight White); processed the pu'er way into sun-dried maocha, it becomes raw pu'er; it can also be made into green or black tea.

Q: What sets Kuzhushan tea apart?
A: Kuzhushan is called "Little Jinggu," with ancient gardens at about 1,940 meters; its tea has a bit of noticeable bitterness, weak astringency, good huigan, and a high, lifting aroma with wild-mountain character.