Tea House — Pu-erh Tea

Author: Mu Jihong Hu Haoming Hu Bo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: You can imagine: When large-leaf tea from the subtropical rainforest is made into renowned tea shapes and carried by horse teams toward Myanmar, India, and the Tibet and interior regions of China. Amid the slow progress of this horse team, the shouts of the team leader, the jingle of the horse bells, and the sound of hooves blend with the sound of water, wind, and the roars of beasts. What kind of transportation journey is this? Under the influence of sunlight, moisture, and natural energy, the tea from Yunnan undergoes "multiple irregular fermentations" during its long and arduous transportation. Thus, a great invention was born—Pu-erh tea became a fermented tea, marking a revolution in tea processing techniques. This production method allows us to savor the alternative tea known as "the older, the better"—Pu-erh tea.
I love Pu-erh tea; it has a rich color and mellow, sweet leaves. Tibetan friends have a saying about tea: "Tea is blood, tea is meat, tea is life." To understand the history of Pu-erh tea, I once traveled with Mu Jihong to southern Yunnan, following the tea routes, exploring tea mountains, searching for tea trees, and interviewing tea enthusiasts. The ancient tea trees on Nannuo Mountain, the century-old tea houses in Yiwu Town, and the processes of planting, picking, withering, rolling, compressing, packaging, and tasting—all of these broadened my horizons and deepened my love for Pu-erh tea.