A tasty treat from the primeval forested slopes just below the highest mountain in Xishuangbanna, the peak Huazhuliangzi. An ideal representative for Mengsong Mountain / Northern Menghai terroir profile as well as an entertaining gushu sipper with good energy.

While harvested by Hani farmer Xian Da, the owner of these gardens, these leaves were processed by his and our good friend Dá É of Nannuo, saving them from their usual machine-processed fate, and given Dá É's hand-wok'd treatment in her classic less-than-green manner, a style that that yields a deep, rich olive oil hue by the mid session.  While still behaving like a Menghai when pushed, its aspects of soft mossiness and mineral textured sweetness in the mouth can be fun to court with a gentler touch throughout the session.

滑竹梁子 Huázhúliángzi (literally "slippery bamboo ridge") in the greater Mengsong Mountains of northern Menghai County is the highest peak in Xishuangbanna prefecture, topping out at an astounding 2430 meters (7972 feet), earning the tea arbors on its slope as some of the highest tea gardens in the world, alongside select world-famous areas in Taiwan and Darjeeling.  

A few years ago, our long-time collaborator from Nannuo Mountain Dá É introduced us to her friend Xian Da from 坝檬 Bàméng, the village directly below Huazhuliangzi.  Xian Da's family ancient arbors are just above 2000 meters, between the slopes from his home in Bameng up to the peak.

While some old folks around Bameng say these gardens date back as much as 400-500 years, it seems next to impossible to determine any truly ancient tea garden's age, and Xian Da's arbors are no different.  This much is evident: mature, ecologically-pristine, moss-laden trees with thick trunks root deep into these steep slopes, their shapes and size gnarled and stunted by the decelerated growth that adapting to loftier, cloudier, and chillier elements forces.

Xian Da's ancient tree arbors are at a ridiculously pristine 2060 meters