Spotlight on Sichuan as center of tea-making heritage

As traditional tea processing techniques and their associated social practices in China were recently included on the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the world is paying more attention to Chinese tea.

Southwest China's Sichuan province has the earliest history of tea growing in China, with one place in particular having great renown: Mengding Mountain in Ya'an. The average annual temperature there is 14.5 degrees, and the year-round mist and rain is beneficial to the forming of nitrogenous substances in tea leaves.

Its superior natural and ecological conditions, along with a highly developed production process, contribute to the quality of Mengshan tea.

Originating in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), the tea has more than 2,000 years of history. Since the year 742 during the reign of the Xuanzong Emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Mengshan tea had been served as a tribute for the royals.

A traditional green tea, it includes five varieties, represented by Mengding Ganlu. Famed as one of the 10 most famous teas in China, the technique for making Mengshan tea was listed as the national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

The process mainly includes picking, cooling, shaqing (enzyme inactivation), rolling, trimming and tipping, and baking.