Mother Tea Trees of All Da Hong Pao Chinese Tea

Oct, 2007, an unusual donation was given to the National Museum of China. Only this time, it wasn’t antique porcelain, or a painting, or artifacts. It was a small batch of 20 grams of Da Hong Pao – the finest oolong Chinese  tea.

In its 50 years of history, this was the first time that China’s most respected museum included a food into its treasured collections.

The reason: the tea is no match for other teas in significance. The tea came from 6 sacred tea trees believed to be the mother of all  Da Hong Pao Chinese tea. The trees are all over 500 years old, and live half way up some stiff cliffs that men can barely reach.

It’s no coincidence that the trees thrive here over the centuries and quietly observe the coming and going of seasons at the heart of the famous Wu Yi Mountain in southern China.

There around the basin the tea trees enjoy foggy days throughout the year thanks to the surrounding ridges that stop the cold air coming from the north. That allows nutrients to build up in the tea leaves, making Da Hong Pao Chinese tea very healthy.

Also, the porous, acidic red sandstone soil is rich in minerals, which are absorbed by the tea trees to give the tea its signature deep and crisp flavor. And thanks to the streams trickling by, the mother tea trees grow the admired large and juicy tea leaves.

No wonder that in the Wu Yi Mountain, there grow up to 300 sub-varieties of oolong Chinese teas!

However, these 6 ‘mother’  tea trees only produce a total of 500 grams of Da Hong Pao tea leaves each year. They are so rare in the market that in the year of 2005, a small batch of 20 grams was sold at a record high price of 40,000 US dollars.

Yet, despite all the financial benefits, the local authorities decided to stop harvesting the ‘mother’ tea trees so they can be better protected. In other words, the 20 grams given to China National Museum was the very last batch picked from the mother tea trees.

Today, the sacred ‘mother’ trees grow without disturbance like it had once been for hundreds of years. Each year, over a million visitors come to the Wu Yi Mountain to taste the delectable Da Hong Pao, and revere its legendary ‘mother’ trees.