Dehong, Wenshan, Dali, Honghe, Yuxi: Other Tea Areas in the Protected Zone

Pu'er's geographical indication protected area covers 11 prefectures and cities, 75 counties and districts, and 639 townships and subdistricts in Yunnan. Xishuangbanna, Pu'er, and Lincang are the three main regions, and Baoshan has its own article (Baoshan: Changning, Tengchong, and the Gaoligong Mountains). The remaining seven prefectures and cities are less famous, but each has its own story.

Which Counties and Districts Are in Each of the Seven?

As listed in the 2008 announcement by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the technical specification the Yunnan provincial government submitted for EU registration (place names as of the announcement):

Many counties have only some townships included; for example, Yao'an has only Dongchuan Town. The full list is in The Geographical Indication Protected Area: 11 Prefectures, 75 Counties.

Dali: Nanjian and Xiaguan Tuocha

What tea does Nanjian in Dali grow? Nanjian Yi Autonomous County is at the southern tip of Dali Prefecture, with the northern section of Wuliangshan within the county; the protected area includes eight of its townships, such as Nanjian, Xiaowan East, Gonglang, and Baohua, and one township is even called Wuliang Township. Nanjian produces sun-dried tea, green tea, and black tea, and also has a tuocha tradition: at the end of 1983, Lin Xingyun, former director of the Xiaguan Tea Factory, founded a tea factory in Nanjian, which began producing tuocha in 1985 and registered the "Tulin" Phoenix trademark in 1987. Wuliangshan tea is covered in Jingdong and Wuliangshan.

Where does Xiaguan tuocha's raw material come from? Tuocha was created in Xiaguan in 1902 by "Yongchangxiang," a merchant house of the Xizhou merchant guild; in 1941 the Kangzang Tea Factory was founded in Xiaguan, later becoming the Xiaguan Tea Factory, famous for tuocha and jincha, and in 2011 the "Xiaguan Tuocha Making Technique" was added to the national intangible cultural heritage list. Xiaguan itself isn't a major tea area; the factory has always bought maocha from tea-producing counties across western Yunnan, and the sources of raw material the tea world often mentions are Lincang (especially the Fengqing and Shuangjiang area), Pu'er, Baoshan, and Nanjian in Dali. Further reading: Tuocha: Bowl-Shaped Pu'er and Xiaguan, Xiaguan Tea Factory.

Do Honghe and Yuxi Grow Pu'er?

Yes, and both are linked to the Ailao Mountains. The Ailao Mountains extend southeast from southern Dali all the way to southern Honghe Prefecture, with the highest peak in Xinping County, Yuxi.

• Yuxi: The Ailao Mountain areas around Xinping and Yuanjiang have tea gardens, and Xinping also preserves Tea Horse Road sites at Ailaoshan and Yinggepo.
• Honghe: Lüchun, Yuanyang, Honghe, Jinping, and other counties lie on the southern section of the Ailao Mountains, the ancestral home of the Hani, famous for rice terraces; tea is grown in the mountains too.

Tea from these two areas is rarely labeled by its own place of origin in Taiwan; it mostly enters blends as sun-dried maocha.

Why Are Kunming and Chuxiong in the Protected Area?

The national standard's definition of pu'er requires not only that raw material be grown within the area, but also that it be processed within the area. Kunming, Yunnan's provincial capital, has long been a center for tea processing, storage, and distribution, and the Kunming Tea Factory was one of the key places where ripe tea processing developed, so many subdistricts of Kunming's main urban area are included too. Chuxiong lies on the northern section of the Ailao Mountains, with tea gardens in places like Shuangbai and Nanhua. Further reading: Kunming Tea Factory and Other Old State Factories, The Birth of Ripe Pu'er Processing.

Dehong: The Tea of the De'ang

What tea does Dehong grow? Dehong is at the far western edge of Yunnan, bordered by Myanmar on three sides. Tea is a traditional local industry: taking Mangshi as an example, in 2019 it had about 135,000 mu of tea gardens and output of about 9,668.8 tonnes, with annual exports of over 5,000 tonnes, more than half of Yunnan Province's tea exports. Dehong produces black and green tea, as well as sun-dried tea and pu'er.

How does Dehong tea relate to pu'er's geographical indication? All five of Dehong Prefecture's counties and cities are in the protected area, so pu'er made in Dehong using the specified processing is a geographical indication product. Separately, there's a botanical tea variety actually named "Dehong tea" (Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis); that's a variety name and has nothing to do with the geographical indication.

Dehong's ancient tea trees? Dehong's De'ang people have grown tea for generations and are often called "the ancient tea farmers"; their creation epic, Dagudaleng Gelaibiao, tells of the tea ancestor creating all things. The mountains of Mangshi, Lianghe, Yingjiang, and elsewhere have old gardens and large tea trees, and the tea world's impression of Dehong ancient-tree tea is a soft liquor, sweet smoothness, and low bitterness and astringency.

Does Wenshan Grow Pu'er?

Wenshan Prefecture is in southeastern Yunnan, bordering Vietnam to the south, and seven of its counties and cities are in the protected area, so tea produced there according to the rules can be pu'er. However, Wenshan has little reputation in the pu'er market; local tea is more commonly green or black tea, and few products circulate under the name "Wenshan pu'er."

FAQ

Q: What tea does Nanjian in Dali grow?
A: Nanjian is on the northern section of Wuliangshan and produces sun-dried, green, and black tea; it also has a tuocha tradition, with a factory producing tuocha here since the end of 1983.

Q: Where does Xiaguan tuocha's raw material come from?
A: The Xiaguan Tea Factory has always bought maocha from tea-producing counties across western Yunnan; the tea world often mentions Lincang, Pu'er, Baoshan, and Nanjian in Dali.

Q: Why are Kunming and Chuxiong in the protected area?
A: The national standard requires both raw material and processing to be within the area; Kunming is a traditional center of processing, storage, and distribution, and Chuxiong grows tea on the northern section of the Ailao Mountains.

Q: Do Dehong and Wenshan grow pu'er?
A: Both are in the protected area. Dehong has a large tea industry with significant exports and a De'ang tea-growing history going back a long way; Wenshan more commonly produces green and black tea, and its pu'er isn't well known.