The Banzhang tea-growing area lies in the southwest of China’s Yunnan Province, not far from the border with Myanmar. The entire region is framed by a series of mountain ranges covered with both ancient and younger tea trees. Tea villages are scattered throughout the area, and life here revolves almost entirely around Pu Erh tea.
The area is also home to the most expensive Pu Erh tea currently on the market, Lao Banzhang.
Storage
This tea was produced in 2012 and stored for maturation in Guang Zhou, China until 2018. Since 2018 the tea has continued to age under controlled conditions in the Yoshi en Pu Erh storage facility.
Centuries-Old Pu Erh Trees
The tea plants used for Pu Erh are indigenous, large-leaf varieties that are traditionally cultivated in a semi-wild manner. Unlike the conventional tea plants most widely grown around the world, the Pu Erh cultivar does not develop as a low shrub but grows into a tree, capable of living for several thousand years. Scientific study suggests that this cultivar is the common ancestor of all other types of tea. It is native to the four-border region of China, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, with the Chinese part located in Yunnan province. As the earliest attempts at cultivating tea are most closely associated with Yunnan’s history, the people of Yunnan fondly refer to their homeland as the “cradle of all tea”. In Yunnan’s tea forests, no two tea trees are alike. Each develops its own individual growth pattern and is covered with distinct mosses and fungal cultures, meaning that every tree produces its "own" unique tea. The older the tree, the deeper its roots extend into the earth and into deep layers of rock and stone, allowing it to absorb minerals and trace elements that are then passed on to the leaves and buds. For this reason, teas from these wild-growing ancient tea trees are considered especially precious and are highly sought after.
