The Ancient Tea Plantation in Huazhu Liangzi Mountain, Xishuangbanna
Chinese Name: 勐海县滑竹梁子古树茶
English Name: The Ancient Tea Plantation in Huazhu Liangzi Mountain, XishuangBanna
ADD:西双版纳勐海县勐海县勐宋乡滑竹梁子山
Huazhu Liangzi is the highest mountain with elevation of 2429 meters , known as the mountain peak of Banna. It is located in Mengsong township(勐宋乡), Menghai County(勐海县), the national nature reserve of Banna river basin where belongs to the south
subtropical climate.
The bamboo called “Huazhu”( 滑 竹 ) by local people, derive from many wild bamboos (different from dendrocalamus giganteus and dendrocal brandisii) that thin and tall with long and smooth joint in the mountain. The acreage of some Huazhu forests reach up to twenty acres more. Good tea grows up in beautiful place Thanks to its stunning scenery and its reputation as “the mountain peak of Banna”, it has been turned into a tourist attraction.
Although the mountain is high, but there is a road up to half of the mountain which is about 1200 meters above sea level. The pavement leads to the top of the mountain. From Jinghong(景洪), driving along the kunluo road(昆洛公 路 ) westwards, passing xishuangbanna binfang power station(西双版纳宾房电站) ,and go through the northern road into Mengsong township(勐宋乡), then the government resident. Afterwards, you drive along the country road to Damanlv(大曼吕)then go north , get off in the middle of the mountain and you can reach the peak after about one- hour-walking.
As the saying goes, “Good tea grows in misty -high mountain”. So the quality of tea is first class here. The wild ancient tea trees distributed widely in the mountain. There are also several large wild tea trees grow at an elevation of about 2350 meters where is near the mountain peak.
Nevertheless, the ancient tea plantation is located in the middle of the Huazhu Lingzi, with an elevation of 1,600 meters to 1,950 meters.
There are forests, grasses, mosses and other epiphytes constitute a very harmonious ecological system in the ancient tea plantation.
The Huazhu Liangzi mountain consists of many villages,including Bameng( 坝 檬 ), Bonglong(蚌龙), Manxiliang(曼西良), Nanben laozhai(南本老寨), Baotang jiuzhai(保塘旧寨), Baotang laozhai(保塘老寨), Damanlv(大曼吕), Naka(那卡) and other multi-ethnic villages.
The ancient tea trees are tall in the dense forest. The trunk of the largest ancient tea tree is divided into three branches. The tree is more than 10 meters high, with a circumference of 2.55 meters and a diameter of 0.8 meters at the root. These ancient tea tree have been growing in the mountains for hundreds of years, accompanied by mosses, lichens, dendrobe and other parasitic plants, as well as generations of the Bulang(布朗族), Lahu(拉祜族) and Hani(哈尼族) mountain people who have both relied on and changed the ancient tea tree. Today, it is not clear whether the old village or the ancient tea garden came first, both of them have been closely linked and inseparable.
Translated By Daisy Sofronie/赵晓娇
The Location Map of The Ancient Tea Plantation in Huazhu Liangzi Mountain, XishuangBanna