Property: Changes in the Ownership of the Ancient Tea Trees in Mangjing

Abstract

Along the route to Lincai’s factory, most of the tea plantations were still terrace tea. These types of plantations were also much more commonly seen in Yunnan and other tea-production areas in China. Lincai pointed to the landscape of terrace tea alongside the road that meandered in the tea mountain and told me that many of the terrace tea gardens were originally the ancient tea forest. Tea planters clear-cut the ancient tea forest and changed it into terrace tea gardens. Lincai recalled that he was so excited to see so many ancient tea trees alive when he visited Jingmai Mountain for the first time in 2003. However, he was also appalled by the local villagers’ reckless removal of the trees. Before 2003, Lincai said, the ancient tree tea of Jingmai Mountain was valued much less than was terrace tea in the market. According to Lincai, local people, including local officials, in the villages of Jingmai and Mangjing¹ didn’t realize the value of ancient tea trees before he started his tea factory to produce the ancient tree tea. Nowadays the name “Jingmai,” Lincai claimed with self-confidence, referred to not only a place but also a brand renowned as one of the best ancient tree teas in the market.