Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er

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Preserving Ancient Practices in the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er

The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023, offers a unique insight into the rich cultural heritage and sustainable practices of the Blang and Dai peoples of southwestern China. This cultural landscape, situated on the Jingmai Mountain, has been developed over a millennium, with its origins dating back to the 10th century.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Located on Jingmai Mountain in southwestern China, this cultural landscape was developed over a thousand years by the Blang and Dai peoples following practices that began in the 10th century. The property is a tea production area comprised of traditional villages within old tea groves surrounded by forests and tea plantations. The traditional understorey cultivation of old tea trees is a method that responds to the specific conditions of the mountain’s ecosystem and subtropical monsoon climate, combined with a governance system maintained by the local Indigenous communities. Traditional ceremonies and festivities relate to the Tea Ancestor belief that spirits live in the tea plantations and in the local fauna and flora, a belief that is at the core of this cultural tradition.

Encyclopedia Record: Pu'er City

Pu'er is a prefecture-level city in southern Yunnan Province, China. Pu'er City governs 9 counties, 1 district, 103 townships (towns), and a total population of 2.65 million. The urban administrative center of Pu'er is Simao District, which is also the former name of the prefecture-level city itself. A major downturn in the price of tea in 2007 caused severe economic distress in the area. Tea prices have since recovered, and Pu'er tea, a type of dark tea, still contributes much to the income of the area.

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