According to the data, there are more than 56 million ancient tea plants in China, about 97% of which are distributed in Yunnan.

There are 31 species and 4 varieties of tea plants in the world, including 23 species and 3 varieties in Yunnan, and 16 species and 2 varieties named after Yunnan tea plants as model specimens.

Yunnan is not only home to tens of millions of ancient tea plants, but also has a particularly rare ancient tea ecosystem - wild tea communities.

As the origin of tea plants in the world, Yunnan is a unique ancient tea kingdom in the world with a large number of wild tea communities, cultivated ancient tea gardens and tens of millions of ancient tea plants.

According to the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Yunnan Province, preliminary resource survey results show that Yunnan has 910,000 mu of ancient tea trees and about 54 million trees, which is the largest preserved area of ancient tea gardens and the largest number of ancient tea plants and wild tea communities in the world.

Ancient tea plants are an important resource base for the development of Yunnan's tea industry. In 2021, the output of ancient tree tea in Yunnan will be about 12,000 tons, with a comprehensive output value of 12 billion yuan. At present, Yunnan's tea industry has become an industry with an annual output value of more than 100 billion yuan and involving nearly 10 million people.

Tens of millions of ancient tea trees.

The tea community has basically formed a consensus, and tea trees that are more than 100 years old can be called ancient tea trees.

Professor Lan Zengquan, deputy director of the Green Development Research Institute of Southwest Forestry University and executive deputy director of the Yunnan Ancient Tea Resources Protection and Utilization Research Center, introduced that there are more than 56 million ancient tea plants in China, about 97% distributed in Yunnan, more than 1.2 million in Guizhou, and a small number in Guangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Fujian, Hainan, etc.

"Yunnan is the origin of tea plants, the center of diversity and the treasure house of germplasm resources, and is a unique ancient tea kingdom in the world." He Qingyuan, director of the Tea Research Institute of the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, introduced that there are 31 species and 4 varieties of tea plants in the world, including 23 species and 3 varieties in Yunnan, and 16 species and 2 varieties named after Yunnan tea plants as model specimens.

He Qingyuan said that in the process of spreading tea plants from the place of origin to other regions, a series of evolutions have occurred from the morphological level to the cellular level to the molecular level, thus forming today's rich and colorful germplasm resources. Yunnan tea plant resources are characterized by a wide range of species, including large-leaved species, medium-leaf species and small-leaved species, and tropical, subtropical, temperate and cold zones. Most tea varieties are mainly distributed locally, and Dali tea varieties and Pu'er tea varieties are widely distributed in the province.

The distribution of ancient tea plants in Yunnan presents two characteristics: first, it is widely distributed, and 13 of the 16 prefectures and cities in the province have ancient tea plants; Second, it is densely distributed in the "two mountain ranges of the first-class region", that is, the Lancang River Basin, the Ailao Mountain Range and the southern end of the Gaoligong Mountain, of which the ancient tea resources in the Lancang River Basin account for more than 90% of the province, concentrated in the Lancang River Basin from Dali to Xishuangbanna.

China has a long history of tea cultivation and drinking. The first surviving work on tea, Lu Yu's "Tea Sutra" in the Tang Dynasty, recorded that tea was drunk, originated from the Shennong clan, and smelled by Lu Zhougong.

Lan Zengquan introduced that several typical ancient tea plants found in Yunnan are representatives of wild-type, transitional and cultivated ancient tea plants, which provide strong evidence to prove that Yunnan is the origin of tea plants in the world. For example, the cultivated ancient tea tree found in 1951 in Nannuo Mountain, Menghai County, has a height of 8.8 meters, a base diameter of 138 cm, and an age of about 800 years. The wild-type ancient tea tree discovered in 1961 in Bada Mountain, Menghai County, has a height of 32 meters, a base diameter of 100.3 cm, and an age of about 1700 years. A photograph of a transitional ancient tea tree found in 1991 in Bangwei Village, Lancang County, with a height of 11.8 meters, a base diameter of 78.9 centimeters, and an age of more than 1,000 years, was later published on Chinese postage stamps.

In addition, an ancient tea tree found in Xiangzhuqi, Fengqing County, Lincang City, with a height of 10.7 meters, a base diameter of 185 cm and a base circumference of 582 cm, is the thickest ancient tea tree in the world known to be, and it takes 4 people to hold hands to fence it. Chen Lijun, party secretary of Fengqing County, said: "At present, the tree is still flourishing and is harvested for conservation every year. ”

A particularly rare community of wild tea plants

Lan Zengquan introduced that Yunnan not only has tens of millions of ancient tea plants, but also has a particularly rare ancient tea ecosystem - wild tea communities, 88 of which have been reported so far.

It is rare for a tea tree to survive for thousands of years, and a wild tea community may last for thousands of years. The existence of a large number of wild tea communities not only provides "living fossils" to prove that Yunnan is the origin of tea plants in the world, but also provides rich and valuable germplasm resources for the development of tea industry.

For example, the wild tea community of Qianjiazhai in Zhenyuan County, located in Ailao Mountain National Nature Reserve, is a typical representative of the wild tea community in the eastern boundary of the distribution of tea species in Dali and Ailao Mountain. According to the resource survey, the tea plant community covers an area of 23,000 mu, with more than 470,000 wild tea trees with a breast diameter of more than 5 cm, 3,411 trees with a breast diameter of more than 30 cm, and 18 trees with a height of more than 30 meters. Its wild tea plant density and large diameter grade tea trees are extremely rare.

The wild tea community of Bangma Daxue Mountain in Mengku Town, Shuangjiang County, was only discovered by local villagers in 1997, with a concentrated distribution area of about 12,700 mu and an altitude of 2,200 meters to 2,750 meters, which is the highest known wild tea community at home and abroad. According to expert research, the tea plant in this community is a Dali tea species, which is relatively primitive in evolution, but has all the shape characteristics and functional components of tea plants, and can be made and drunk.

Coincidentally, the most widely cultivated tea variety in Yunnan today, Mengku Daye Tea (a Pu'er tea species), originates from Icelandic Village and Gonglong Village in the middle and lower parts of the Bangma Daxue Mountains. Experts believe that the Mengku wild tea community is the same mountain as Mengku large-leaf tea, which is of great value for studying the source, evolution, classification and germplasm innovation of tea plants. At the same time, Mengku wild tea plant has strong stress resistance, especially cold resistance, and is an important resource for resistance breeding.

For example, the ancient tea garden of Sleepy Lushan in Ning'er County is a model of fine management of tea cultivation mode, and is an example of tea cultivation from extensive and decentralized to intensive and large-scale. There are 327 ancient tea plants gathered in a small area, including large-leaved species, medium-leaf species and small-leaf species, which is a vivid case of tea germplasm resources and tea culture exchange.

Lan Zengquan said that the Lancang River gave birth to tea civilization, and the ancient Pu people in the Lancang River basin were the first to discover and use tea. In the process of understanding tea, Pu people first realized that tea can "detoxify", so they discovered the medicinal value of tea; Later, it was realized that tea can also relieve greasy and aid digestion, and then discovered the value of tea. After widespread spread, tea eventually swept the world and became the world's three major beverages alongside coffee and cocoa.