• handmade item

• materials: big-leaved arbor tea leaves from the village of Guafeng Zhai

• shape: cake

• dimension: diameter 14 cm / 5.51 in

• weight: 200 g / 7.05 oz

Guafeng Zhai, nestled in the Yiwu mountain of Mengla County, is a place of wonder. This stockade village, home to nearly 1000 residents of the Yao and Miao ethnic groups, is a mere 4 kilometers from the China-Laos border. The surrounding primeval forests, spanning around 50 sqkm, are dotted with ancient tea trees. These trees, with their thick canopy, grow at a leisurely pace, basking in the unique climate that nurtures a tea with a solid chaqi, a soft, sweet aftertaste that evokes memories of the tea mountains and fields.

Yiwu Tea Mountain is next to the China-Laos borders. With an area of 750 sqkm, it is the largest of the Six Great Ancient Tea Mountains. "Yiwu" is derived from the local Dai language, meaning "where the beauty snake lives", as there was once a place named "cave of the speckled snake."

Because of its vast area, Yiwu is also called the Yiwu Tea Region. Yiwu's Zhengshan Mountain, Mansa Mountain, and Manla Tea Mountain constitute the Yiwu Tea Region. Tea cultivation in this region started as early as the Tang dynasty  (618–907 AD) by the ethnic groups of Bulang, Wa, and Hani. The Mansa Mountain preserves the oldest cultivated tea garden of the entire Six Great Ancient Tea Mountains, located at Yishanmo. The ancient cultivated tea trees measure 150cm in circumference, reaching over 20 meters tall.