Jingmai Mountain: A Thousand-Year-Old Tea Garden Under the Forest

In September 2023, at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the "Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er" was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the first world cultural heritage site anywhere dedicated to tea.

Where Is Jingmai Mountain?

Jingmai Mountain (景邁山) lies in Huimin Township, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, and includes two areas: Jingmai and Mangjing. The Blang and Dai peoples have lived here for generations, along with Lahu, Wa, and other ethnic groups, and tea sits at the center of their lives.

Growing Tea Under the Forest: Wisdom from a Thousand Years Ago

Around the 10th century, people settled on Jingmai Mountain. Instead of clearing the forest to make tea gardens, they thinned out some of the trees and planted tea in the shade of the tall canopy, creating a way of cultivation known as "under-forest tea."

This approach has many advantages:

• Shade from large trees: The tea plants grow in diffused light, so the leaves stay tender and rich in aromatic compounds.
• Ecological balance: The birds, insects, and plants of the forest keep one another in natural balance.
• Soil and water conservation: Tree roots and the layer of fallen leaves protect the soil and hold water.

More than a thousand years of care and continuity have produced today's landscape of "forest and tea living together." Jingmai's old tea forests cover a large area; the heritage zone includes 5 old tea forests, 3 separating protective forests, and 9 traditional villages.

The Blang People and Tea

The Blang people of Jingmai tell the story of their ancestor Pa Aileng, who led his people in planting tea. What he left his descendants was not gold or silver but tea trees, so that generation after generation could live by tea. To this day, villagers still make offerings to the tea ancestor and guard the "tea soul tree." Tea is not just a crop here; it is also belief and culture.

The Flavor of Jingmai Tea

Jingmai tea is best known for its orchid aroma:

• Aroma: A lifted floral fragrance that tea drinkers often compare to orchids, with a long-lasting scent in the empty cup.
• Taste: Low bitterness and astringency, clean and sweet in the mouth.
• Mouthwatering: A pronounced mouthwatering effect that leaves the mouth feeling fresh.
• Liquor color: Bright, clear yellow when young.

Most of Jingmai's old tea trees are not especially large because they grow beneath the forest canopy, and tea drinkers like to say Jingmai tea has a certain "wild mountain" character.

How to Brew Out the Orchid Aroma

• Use water at 95–100°C so the aroma can fully open up.
• Brew in a gaiwan, and after pouring, smell the lid first.
• Pour off the first few infusions a little quicker to keep the clean sweetness.
• When you finish, smell the bottom of the cup; that is often when the orchid note is clearest.

What a Mountain Can Teach Us

Jingmai Mountain reminds us that good tea comes not only from good cultivars and craftsmanship, but also from how people live with the land. The next time you pick up a cup of pu'er, take a moment to think about the tea trees that have been growing in the forest for hundreds of years.

Jingmai and Mangjing

Jingmai Mountain's old tea forests are spread mainly across two areas:

• Jingmai: Mostly Dai villages, such as Jingmai Dazhai, Mengben, and Manggeng.
• Mangjing: Mostly Blang villages, such as Upper Mangjing, Lower Mangjing, Wengji, and Wengwa. Wengji Old Village preserves traditional stilted wooden houses and is a must-see for many travelers to Jingmai Mountain.

The teas of different villages differ slightly in style, but the orchid aroma and clean sweetness are the shared impression.

Daily Life in an Ecological Tea Garden

On Jingmai Mountain, tea trees and forest live together. Farmers don't need to apply much fertilizer, and fallen leaves return naturally to the soil. Big trees shade the tea, while birds and insects keep things in natural balance. This ecological way of managing tea gardens is one of the key reasons Jingmai Mountain was inscribed as a World Heritage Site.

Visiting Jingmai Mountain

Jingmai Mountain has become a popular tea travel destination. Go during the spring tea season (March to May) and you can watch tea being picked and processed; at other times of year you can still walk through the old tea forests and traditional villages and get a feel for life among the under-forest tea gardens.

Five Old Tea Forests and Nine Villages in the World Heritage Site

On September 17, 2023, the "Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er" was inscribed at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, becoming the world's first world cultural heritage site dedicated to tea. The heritage property covers 7,167.89 hectares, with an additional buffer zone of 11,927.85 hectares, and includes:

• 5 old tea forests: About 1,180 hectares of old tea forest, where tea trees and forest grow together;
• 3 separating protective forests: These keep natural barriers between the old tea forests and reduce the spread of pests and diseases;
• 9 traditional villages: Dai villages in Jingmai Village, such as Jingmai Dazhai, Nuogang, Mengben, and Manggeng; and Blang villages in Mangjing Village, such as Upper Mangjing, Lower Mangjing, Wengji, and Wengwa.

This complete "forest, tea forest, village" system is exactly why the world took notice: a thousand years ago, people already knew not to clear the forest, and let their tea trees grow beneath it.

Pa Aileng's Ancestral Teaching

The Blang people of Jingmai honor Pa Aileng as their tea ancestor. Legend has it that his final teaching went roughly like this: leave gold and silver, and one day it will be spent; leave cattle and horses, and one day they will die; only by leaving tea trees will your descendants never run out. To this day, the Blang people of Mangjing still hold a ceremony for the tea ancestor every year, and this reverence for tea trees is one of the reasons the old tea forests have survived for a thousand years.

Jingmai Tea and the Forest Ecosystem

Tea trees under the forest live alongside the surrounding plants; fallen leaves become fertilizer, and birds and insects of many kinds fill the woods. Tea drinkers often say Jingmai tea has an "orchid aroma," with a lifted fragrance and a texture that is soft yet strong. World Heritage protection has also given this tea forest clear rules, a gift from one mountain to the next generation.

Brewing Jingmai Tea

Jingmai tea has a lifted aroma, and quick infusions with boiling water in a gaiwan show off its orchid note best: use 6–7 g in a 110 ml gaiwan, pour off the first 3 infusions after 8–10 seconds, smell the lid right after pouring, then take your first sip while it's hot.

FAQ

Is Jingmai tea good for beginners? Jingmai tea is low in bitterness and astringency with a lovely aroma, which makes it a great choice for people just starting with raw (sheng) pu'er.

What is most distinctive about Jingmai tea? The orchid aroma comes up most often, along with the fresh, mouthwatering feeling it leaves after you drink it.

What is the full name of Jingmai Mountain's World Heritage Site? The "Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er," inscribed on the World Heritage List on September 17, 2023.