Why was Pu'er named 'Tea Source of the World'?

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Why was Pu'er named 'Tea Source of the World'?

(People's Daily Online) 15:38, November 03, 2013

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(Provided to People's Daily Online/Su Yun)

The question as to where the real birthplace of tea is has been a hot issue within the tea circle throughout the world. From May 25 to 27, 2013 and under witness of more than 1,000 Chinese and foreign guests from 32 countries and regions worldwide, the International Tea Committee granted the honorary title of the "Tea Source of the World" to Pu'er City, making clear Pu'er as the birthplace of tea of the world and putting an end to disputes over this issue at the same time. What are the reasons for Pu'er to gain this honorary reputation? With this question in mind, the reporter interviewed Huang Guishu, former Head and Researcher of Administrative Institute of the Historic Relic, Pu'er.

Reporter: Why was the honorary title of the "Tea Source of the World" granted to Pu'er City? What are the main reasons for this?

Huang Guishu: China is the motherland of tea trees throughout the world, and Pu'er City in Yunnan Province is the birthplace of tea trees. Pu'er City is the "Tea Source of the World" with "five generations of tea trees alive at the same time". In other words, physical evidences for the development of five significant series of world tea trees can all be found in Pu'er, which is the finding of years' investigation and research by Chinese and international experts and scholars instead of a groundless rumor.

Reporter: What do the physical evidences for the development of five significant series of tea trees refer to?

Huang Guishu: The first series is the Jinggu wide-leaf magnolia (new species) fossil, which can be dated back to the Oligocene of the Tertiary period about 35.4 million years ago. The fossil, co-discovered by the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing) and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at Mangxian Village in the Jinggu Basin of Jinggu County in 1978, is currently kept at the Pu'er City Museum.

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