The ancient tea trees, which are several hundreds years old, grow on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range at an altitude of about 2,000 metres above sea level. (Photo: VNA) LaiChau (VNS/VNA) - Phong Tho, a border district with China inthe northwestern province of Lai Chau, is home to over 8,000ancient tea trees, the largest numberof such trees in the region.
The ancient trees areconcentrated mainly in six communes - Mo Si San, Si Lo Lau, Pa Vay Su, Tung QuaLin, Sin Suoi, Ho, and Hoang Then.
Mo Si San commune,about 80km from Lai Chau city and over 2,000m above sea level, has more than1,700 trees, some of which are up to 900 years old.
The unique climate andsoil conditions of the commune gives the drink made from these ancient teatrees a distinctive flavour.
In Mo Si San, villagers harvest tea only once a year, from lateFebruary to April, when the ancient trees yield the best quality leaves.Additionally, due to the year-round cloud cover and low temperature at highaltitudes, the trees here can only produce new leaves during this time of theyear.
A specialty of theregion is the wild Shan Tuyet tea that grows at altitudes from 2,000-2,500mabove sea level. These trees are considered treasures and have been nurtured bythe Dao ethnic community in Mo Si San.
The leaves of Shan Tuyettea always have a fine and thick layer of hair, which when dried turns white,resembling a layer of snow.
Phong Tho district has boasted four tea products - white, black,yellow and green tea. Among them three are ancient tea products - Shan Mo SiSan black, yellow and green tea have been recognised as a high qualityspecialty of Lai Chau province.
With prices rangingfrom 2-3 million VND (81-122 USD) per kilogramme, the dried wild tea leaves have brought significant income tolocal farmers.
According to Nguyen Canh Duc, deputyhead of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Phong Tho district,a project for the development and protection of ancient tea trees has beenimplemented in the region.
The district hassuccessfully planted 25 hectares of new tea trees of ancient varieties in Hoang Then commune, whilecontinuing to preserve the existing 8,000 ancient tea trees./.
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