Bulang Mountain — Banpen Village is located in Menghun District, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, at an altitude of 1,760 meters, overlooking the old Hekai tea grove. Banpen has an altitude, climate, soil, ecological environment and age of tea plantations comparable to Lao Banzhang, only the average altitude is 100 meters lower. Banpen is a nature village under the administration of the Hekai Village Committee, 19 kilometers away from the Village Committee headquarters. It borders Banzhang to the west. Banpen village has 624 inhabitants in 123 households, it is a village of Lahu ethnicity. The main cash crop is tea. Banpen has over 133ha of old tea trees and several decades of organic tea gardens. The altitude of Banpen village is between 1,600 and 1,750 meters, with frequent fog and plenty of rainfall, creating unique conditions for the natural growth of ancient tea trees. Old Banpen (also called Bangpen Lao Zhai, both are phonetic translations) is located on the border between Menghun and Bulang areas, it is a village of the Lahu ethnic group. Administratively, it falls under the Hekai Village Committee, but is separated by one mountain ridge from the old Hekai Tea Grove and is closely adjacent to the Lao Banzhang Tea Grove, only about 2 kilometers away, thus belonging to the Bulang Tea Area. The Banpen Gushu gardens are spread out on the slopes at an altitude of around 1760m and have an area of just over 66ha. The soil in the tea garden is yellow-brown, the natural ecological environment is excellent, the forest shade is suitable, no fertilizers or pesticides are used, it is purely organic tea. According to local residents, before the arrival of Lao Banzhang village, the ancestors of the Lahu ethnic group had already settled here and cultivated tea.
The trunks of the Banpen tea trees are strong and there are many epiphytes growing on the tea trees, indicating their long history. Due to the great age, high altitude and long sunshine, the teas from Banpen have a lively taste, the alpine note penetrates directly into the throat. Drinking this tea will make you feel very interesting, the taste is soft and refreshing. Banpen tea has similar characteristics to Lao Banzhang tea, the basic tea structure is a little less pronounced than Lao Banzhang, but the overall quality is good.
The tea has a thick infusion, a clean intense aroma, a slightly bitter taste, which, however, quickly turns into sweetness within 2 seconds, the throat is refreshed and without dryness, a long sweet aftertaste can be felt on the tongue and an intense production of saliva that lasts up to two hours after drinking. The tea has no smoky or other unpleasant smell. Overall, this tea has a sweet and delicate taste, fresh aroma, shiny and large leaves, strong energy. After several years of storage, the color of the pickle changes from orange-yellow to orange-red, and the aroma becomes more pronounced.
