Where is Yunnan? 云南

Where tea
began.

Coffee drinkers ask where the beans grew. With tea, the answer that matters most is Yunnan.

First, where is it?

Yunnan is a mountain province in southwest China, on the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. It's about the size of California, and almost all of it is hills.

Kawagebothe highest peak, 6,740 m

Tea grows here1,000 to 2,000 m up

River valleysas low as 76 m

Why tea, and why here?

Tea isn't a crop here. It's the story.

  1. Long, long ago

    Tea started here.

    The tea plant is native to these mountains. Wild tea trees still grow here, some over 1,000 years old.

  2. For centuries

    It built a road.

    Yunnan tea traveled the Tea Horse Road 茶马古道 by mule and on foot, all the way to Tibet, traded for horses.

  3. Along the way

    It named a tea.

    Pu'er is named after Pu'er, the Yunnan town where it was traded. Now the name covers a whole family of teas.

  4. In 2023

    The world noticed.

    The old tea forests of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  5. …and now, all the way to you.

So why does it taste different?

Same plant. Different place.

Like coffee from Ethiopia or Colombia, where tea grows changes how it tastes.

  • Big leaves

    Yunnan grows the big-leaf tea plant. Bigger leaves, bolder flavor, and teas that can age like wine.

  • High up

    Most gardens sit 1,000 to 2,000 m up. Cool nights slow the leaves down, and slow growth means more flavor.

  • In the clouds

    Morning mist shades the leaves like a natural umbrella. Softer light, smoother tea.

Clouds drifting across the lower slopes of a mountain range, above a white house with a tiled roof

Now taste the difference.

Meet the six teas or find yours in 3 taps