The rice dumplings with unidentified meat we had for breakfast were now a distant memory; the mountain road seemed never-ending, and my friend Sun Peipei and I had no clear idea where we were heading.
Fresh tea at the base of Nannuo Mountain
Nannuo Mountain, in the Chinese province of Yunnan, is blessed with some of the most ancient tea trees on Earth, growing on rich rainforest soils. Sun Peipei is a tea expert and native of Hebei, but she had never visited Yunnan. Knowing that the trees had to be somewhere up there, we randomly chose one of the mountain trails, meandering through picturesque villages and thick bamboo forest.
Village home on Nannuo Mountain
So… as the memories of rice dumplings faded, we saw one of the local villagers heading down the road; with big eyes, dark skin and kind smile this man looked amazingly similar to the Huasteco people in Mexico. Stopping a few meters away, he greeted us in the traditional Chinese way: ”have you eaten?”
Tea Master Yang Si
“Hello. No, not yet.”
“Then come with me; we’ll pick some vegetables and go to my house; it’s very simple food.”
Very simple food… we stopped by a small garden that belongs to the village, picked a beautiful giant cabbage with some healthy bug bites on one side, carrots and chili peppers. These ingredients, cooked over firewood with bits of fresh bacon and washed down with local baijiu (moonshine) and tea brewed with spring water made the most amazing meal.
Tea master Yang Si's home... the sounds of fire, birds and wind make it one of the most comfortable places on Earth.
Our new friend, Yang Si, turned out to be a tea farmer from the Aini ethnic minority. His people live in the mountain areas of northern Thailand, Myanmar and southern China, and have been devoted to the production of tea for many generations. Their homes are built with wood and are permanently perfumed by the rainforest, tea trees, and a small bonfire that is lit 24/7 inside the house. Their chickens are free range (free to range in the kitchen, the bedroom…); their vegetables have a flavour that mass produced crops cannot match. And their tea, produced in small batches, over a fire in a small shack, is amazing; just like wines from small vineyards, every batch is unique.
Yang Si at work
Yang Si then invited us for dinner… and the following day for breakfast, then lunch, and then dinner again. Sitting by the fire while sharing a meal can easily become a habit, just like picking fresh tea leaves and brewing them with mountain water.
Tea, Nannuo Mountain style
Three months later, in April ‘09, I returned to Yang Si’s home, this time to buy some of his amazing Pu Er tea to the West; it is the first time he shares tea beyond China.
Yang Si’s tea is available at www.daotea.ca/web2010/daotea_ancient_tree.php
Praise for Yang Si’s tea: www.teareviewblog.com/?p=8546
