Seven Cups Tea Origins Tour 2012
THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT! Please contact us to sign up for the 2013 tour.
Tea was first cultivated in Southern China; in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Gui Zhou Provinces. Our Tea Origins Tour will focus on the puer teas and diverse cultures of Yunnan and Sichuan. Yunnan is home to rare, ancient tea trees that are hundreds of years old. Not many of these trees have withstood the pressures of time and agricultural development, which has seen ancient tea gardens razed in favor of rubber and sugar cane. Yunnan’s diverse minorities are fiercely protective of the remaining tea trees. Tea scholars, researchers, masters, and tea lovers around the world owe these minorities a debt of gratitude for safeguarding this precious resource.
For its part, Sichuan is the birthplace of tea culture in China. There are five different Chinese characters for tea, four of which originated in Sichuan. Tea was first mentioned in a book written here some 3,500 years ago, and it was first cultivated in this province 2,000 years ago. Sichuan is also famous for its food — we’ll try that, too!
For general information about our tours, including what you need to do to get ready, take a look at our 2012 China Tea Tour Home Page.
Tour Details
Tour date: May 23 – June 3, 2012 (Exact dates subject to change)
Duration: 12 days in China
Tour cost: $3,500
Single room supplement: Rooms will be shared. Single rooms will require an additional cost of $400.
Minimum deposit: $1,500 (refundable until February 15, 2012)
Tour cost includes: All local travel within China after arrival in Kunming and before departure from Cheng Du, all meals, all hotels, all entry fees to events/museums from May 23 to June 3
Tour cost does not include: Travel to and from China, visas, immunizations, and tips are not included. We’re happy to advise you in booking your flights to China and procuring your visa. Just let us know.
Day-By-Day Itinerary
Day 1 (5/23) Arrival in Kunming
We’ll pick you up at the airport in Kunming (airport code KMG). After your long trip, you’ll be ready for a relaxing break in a local teahouse to ease into puer tea. You’ll meet several well-known puer tea masters who will introduce you to this type of tea. Then we’ll have a welcome dinner prepared especially for you. Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, sits at 6,207 feet. Our first night will help you ease into the altitude and get ready for the flight to Jing Hong the next day.
Day 2 (5/24) Fly from Kunming to Jing Hong
Today we will fly to Jing Hong, and drive to You Le Mountain, one of the six ancient puer tea mountains. We will visit ancient tea trees and you will have a chance to make your own green puer cake in a guided step-by-step process. The host tea master will let us try several teas in his factory.
We’ll have lunch in a local Ji Nuo minority restaurant, where they harvest their unique ingredients from the surrounding mountains.
Day 3 (5/25) Daytrip to Yi Wu
Yi Wu is the most famous of the six puer-producing mountains. The Tea Horse Road started in this area. In the old days, tea was compressed into cakes and transported by horse to markets as far away as Tibet and India. We will visit trees that are several hundred years old, and spend some time in a factory to learn how puer tea is compressed into cakes. Yi Wu Mountain is an amazing place because tea is produced at different elevations, each with its own climate and soil. We’ll taste puers from several different elevations on the same mountain to see how the climate and soil yield different flavors to the tea.
There’s nothing like wild chicken, garden-fresh greens, and fresh vegetables. We’ll have lunch in a local restaurant on the mountain that specializes in this natural food. Zhuping will buy us some special local bananas and other local fruits, like nothing you’ve ever tasted.
Day 4 (5/26) Drive from Jing Hong to Jing Mai
Today we drive from Jing Hong to Jing Mai. It’s very hard to source real Jing Mai tea because it grows deep in the forest and is protected by two local minority groups, the Thai and the Bu Lang. These ancient tea trees have a spiritual significance for the Thai and Bu Lang, so they are very carefully tended.
We’ll climb the mountain to visit these gardens and meet the Bu Lang’s last prince and leader, Su Guo Wen, who will make tea for us and tell us the stories that surround the area. We’ll spend the night in a family-run hotel and have a special Thai meal for dinner. Mr. Su’s wife will treat us to a Bu Lang specialty — tender pickled tea leaves and other pickled vegetables.
Day 5 (5/27) Drive from Jing Mai to Puer City
On the way to Puer City, we’ll take a side trip to Nan Nuo Mountain to visit an 800-year-old tea tree and walk through the rainforest. Nan Nuo is famous because you can still find ancient tea trees there. Many tea trees have been cut down in recent years to clear land for rubber plantations and sugar cane. It’s rare to see these ancient trees, which have been spared from cutting. You’ll have a chance to climb some of these ancient tea trees and pick tea like the local Ha Ni minority people do. The local people will make tea for us in a little family-owned tea house deep in the forest. We’ll enjoy a Ha Ni meal before heading to Puer City.
Day 6 (5/28) Drive from Puer City to Jing Gu
Today we’ll drive to Jing Gu, another place where ancient tea trees have been preserved. We’ll visit Cha Ma Si, one of our puer tea producers, which invested in an old Chinese government puer tea factory and maintains a strict, traditional way of making puer. Cha Ma Si has access to local Wa Minority tea farms, which control the ancient Yang Ta Da Bai Hao trees used to make Cha Ma Si’s mao cha. These trees are special for their large, rich, aromatic, fuzzy tea buds. We’ll visit the Wa people and drink tea their way, which is roasted and cooked.
Cha Ma Si’s tea masters, Mr. Wang Xi Qun and Mr. Hu Hao Ming, will give us a tour of their factory to see how their tea is produced and stored. We’ll see cakes of all shapes and sizes — square bricks, round cakes, and tuo cha bowls. The tea masters will help you make your own cake as a souvenir, and sign the piece of paper that goes inside.
Day 7 (5/29) Jing Gu to Chongqing
On the way to Chongqing we’ll stop in Old Puer City, which was center for the tea trade in the old days. We’ll visit a Bai Minority poet in her teahouse — she will make a special tea for us from the Zi Juan (Purple) tea bush. We’ll also visit the building that used to house the tea trading department, which now serves as a museum and tea training center. Then we’ll have dinner and head to the airport for the short flight to Chongqing for the next stage of our tour.
Day 8 (5/30) Daytrip around Chongqing
Chongqing is the largest city in China and the gateway to the Three Gorges Dam and the Yangtze River. We’ll visit the Three Gorges Museum, which houses many antiques that were moved when the dam was constructed.
After the museum, we’ll cross the Yangtze River and have a countryside-style lunch on the top of Nan Shan Mountain. After lunch we’ll visit a 700-year-old Taoist temple and have tea with the hosts. On the outskirts of town, there is a 1,000-year-old town along the river with beautiful shopping streets built in the old style. We’ll shop and snack our way through these streets. Save room for dinner! Tonight we’ll have Chongqing-style hot pan feast with Zhuping’s friends to celebrate her birthday.
Day 9 (5/31) Daytrip around Chongqing county
There are two major research institutes devoted to tea in China, and one is near Chongqing. We’ll visit the Sichuan Institute and see tea bushes that have been cultivated since the 1950s. There are rows of experimental tea bushes, some more than 2 or 3 meters tall, that researchers study, hybridize, and compare in an ongoing effort to learn about tea. We studied tea trees in Yunnan; here is a great place to study tea bushes.
After the Institute we’ll drive to see the Dazu Rock Carvings, a World Heritage Site which dates from 885 to 1272 AD.
Day 10 (6/1) Drive to Cheng Du
Today we will drive to Cheng Du, the capital of Sichuan Province. We’ll visit a traditional restaurant and sample Sichuan-style Dim Sum. Sichuan neighbors Tibet, and many Tibetans travel and settle in Cheng Du. As a result there is a strong Tibetan culture in the city. We’ll visit a Tibetan neighborhood and shop in an open-air market. Cheng Du is famous for its relaxed atmosphere. Almost every street has a teahouse. We’ll relax Chinese-style, in a local teahouse that specializes in long-spout tea service and China’s classic tea cup, the gaiwan.
Day 11 (6/2) Daytrip to Meng Ding Mountain (Ya An)
Today we’ll see where man first cultivated tea — Meng Ding Mountain. We’ll spend time in a museum devoted to the evolution of Chinese tea, and ride a cable car up to the top of Meng Ding Mountain. Our destination is Gan Lu Si (Sweet Dew) Temple, where there is a memorial tea garden to Wu Li Zhen, the first person to cultivate tea more than 2,000 years ago. Of course, we’ll taste tea made by the monks who live in the temple.
Day 12 (6/3) Daytrip around Cheng Du
In the morning we’ll visit Cheng Du’s Wild Panda Institute. The institute is focused on ensuring the survival of wild pandas. We’ll see baby pandas and watch them play. Our visit will help fund the Institute and its research.
After the pandas, we’ll drive to a museum built on the ruins of old Cheng Du. The museum shows what the city looked like 3,000 years ago. Finally, we’ll visit a young tea master who makes handcrafted green tea. He will show us how to make and brew tea, and judge its quality. There are many shops in the area, so it’s a good place to buy gifts for friends back home.
Day 13 (6/4) Fly home from Cheng Du
Zhuping will help you get to the airport to make your flight home. Please schedule your departure tickets for this day, from Cheng Du Airport (airport code CTU).
Be Prepared
Touring the Chinese countryside is physically demanding. On this tour, be prepared to walk, hike, and travel by van and bus.
The days will be long, because we want to make sure you see as much as possible. We usually start our day around 8:00am, and get back to the hotel after 8:00pm.
Be Flexible
Over the past several years we have learned that plans in China are always subject to change. Flexibility is key, especially in the countryside where few foreigners have ventured. We appreciate your flexibility, and will do everything possible to ensure that this tour exceeds your wildest expectations. Prepare to have your socks knocked off!
