Yunnan’s famous tea harvest combines legend, history, and high-stakes speculation
Like a proud yet worried father, Qu Bo pats the trunk of a tree and pries an unwelcome green vine off a branch, discarding it onto the forest floor with a grimace.
For over a decade, “Old Qu” has tended to 200 semi-wild tea trees on the slopes of Nannuo Mountain in the southern Yunnan province. “These aren’t your father’s father’s trees,” the pepper-haired orchard keeper says of his grove, which are said to have been planted two to three centuries ago. “These are your grandfather’s grandfather’s trees.”
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Pure Pu’er: Inside China’s High-Stakes Tea Harvest is a story from our issue, “High Steaks.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
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