Taking action

In June, the Standing Committee of the Yunnan Provincial People's Congress launched an enforcement inspection to see how the regulations have been implemented. The inspection team traveled across prefectures and counties, conducting on-site evaluations of the preservation, management, research and utilization of ancient tea trees.

"Since the regulations came into force, relevant departments across the province have coordinated efforts in key tasks such as resource surveys, registration, conservation planning, brand development and culture-tourism integration," said Zi Dengxiong, director of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the provincial people's congress. "These measures have promoted the scientific protection, standardized management and sustainable use of ancient tea tree resources, contributing to higher quality and efficiency in Yunnan's tea industry.”

As the world's first tea-themed World Heritage Site, the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in September 2023, comprises five vast and contiguous ancient tea forests that span 1,200 hectares.

This cultural landscape, developed for tea production by the Blang and Dai people for over 1,000 years, is characterized by their innovative cultivation technique that involves nurturing shade-tolerant shrubs or trees under taller tree canopies, a practice deeply rooted in the region's mountainous ecosystem and subtropical monsoon climate.

A tea farmer is picking tea leaves in the ancient tea plantations of Nanruo Mountain. [Photo provided to npc.gov.cn]

The forests are meticulously managed through a distinctive conservation system, blending government oversight with grassroots autonomy. The thousand-year traditional practices have created a unique cultural landscape where forests and tea thrive in harmony, and people coexist sustainably with the land.

The inspection team found that remarkable progress has been made in cataloging ancient tea resources and designating protected areas. To date, the province has registered approximately 45,000 hectares of ancient tea tree resources, totaling over 20.6 million trees. Preliminary statistics show that nine prefectures and cities have demarcated protection zones for ancient tea gardens and forests, and erected 928 informational signs.

The protection signboard for ancient tea trees in the ancient tea forest of Nanruo Mountain. [Photo provided to npc.gov.cn]

Efforts for technical protection and research have also been advanced. Relevant regions have implemented the Technical Code for the Protection and Management of Ancient Tea Trees, adopting tailored conservation measures by category and class. The province has also established tea germplasm resource nurseries at both national and provincial levels, which collectively preserve nearly 7,000 accessions of tea plant germplasm resources.

"In the past, the tea leaves were much smaller. Now, with greater protection efforts, the leaves have grown broader and the tea forests are lusher than ever," said Ke Aihua, an official from Mangjing village in Huimin town, where the landscape is located.

"Caring for tea trees is like caring for our own eyes — this is an ancestral teaching of Hani people," Ke said.

Ke emphasized that as the regulations have taken root in people's hearts, and as everyone has consciously taken responsibility for safeguarding these ancient tea gardens, the precious heritage will be handed down through generations.

Picking tea is now restricted to only spring and autumn. The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is prohibited, and destructive harvesting is strictly banned — all codified into village administrative regulations.

Beyond community agreements, local people's congresses have also enacted supporting legislation. For example, Pu'er city implemented the Pu'er City Ancient Tea Tree Resources Protection Regulations and the Protection Regulations on the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er, providing a legal foundation for city-wide conservation.

"Today, villagers are much more conscious about protecting ancient tea trees. Both the local ecology and the quality of life have improved significantly," said Yang Zezhong, a deputy to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture People's Congress.