China's Yunnan to implement regulations on ancient tea tree protection

KUNMING -- Southwest China's Yunnan has recently introduced a series of regulations aimed at safeguarding its ancient tea trees that will come into force starting from March 1, as per the announcement made by the local authorities.

A total of 30 regulations have been enacted that focus on addressing various issues concerning the protection, management, research and utilization of wild tea trees and cultivated tea trees over 100 years old, according to a press conference held by the Standing Committee of Yunnan Provincial People's Congress on Monday.

The regulations make provisions for the full-cycle scientific protection of ancient tea germplasm resources, growth management, environmental protection, transplantation, utilization and disposal.

Yunnan, being a significant tea-producing region, possesses a wealth of ancient tea tree resources. A preliminary survey indicates that there are approximately 20 million ancient tea trees spread throughout the province.

Tea has been an integral part of Chinese culture since ancient times, with the people cultivating, harvesting, processing and savoring its flavors through the ages.

China is home to six distinct categories of tea, namely, green, yellow, dark, white, oolong, and black teas. There are over 2,000 tea products in China, including reprocessed tea varieties such as flower-scented teas.

In 2022, traditional Chinese tea-making techniques were included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.