Shanghai

We welcome you to Shanghai from your country of departure: we arrange for a private pick-up for every traveller, greeting you in a gracious setting that will enable you to get the rest you need while sipping your first cup of tea in China.

It will be our first encounter with tea: it is time to just sip, and get ready for the next morning trip to Yixing.

Yixing

We leave in the morning from Shanghai heading south, towards Yixing and its precious clays. We visit local studios in the afternoon and make our first encounters with the artists and masters whose pieces are already owned by many of you.

The ancient ceramic production district is the vibrant heart of Yixing: artists, students, artisans and museums, with one of the liveliest food cultures on the East coast.

Gallery

Yixing

We divide our time between the work of Yixing master Yuan Weixin and the historical landmarks of the area. Together with the masters Yuan Wexin and Lian Meiping, we discover - and touch - the different clays extracted in the famous mine No.4, right in front of their studio. We explore different shapes of teapots, and we follow them in their craft, to learn how a Yixing teapot is created.

During the day we visit several kilns, including a still active dragon kiln, observing all phases of the production process.

Yixing

We start the day with a visit to the Yixing Museum, which features precious artifacts that chronicle the neighborhood's history across the ages and the Chinese dynasties that gave rise to clay culture.
Our guide is Lian Meiping, whose work was once hosted in the same museum.

In the afternoon it is time to put our ceramist skills to test: Yuan Weixin will guide us through the making of our own tea cup, following the traditional Yixing craft. We use his precious Benshan Lvni, the rare green clay, and the cup will be fired while our travel continues.

Wuyishan

In the morning we will leave Yixing and take a train to northern Fujian, towards the long-awaited mountainous region of Wuyishan. In the late afternoon we will have a first broad taste of the surrounding landscape that frames our sunset, in a first overview of flavours, cultivars and colours.

Our guide in the "rock rhyme" is Pengbao, a farmer who owns a land in the core Zhengyan area right under the historically celebrated Yingzui 鹰嘴 peak, named after its resemblance to an eagle's beak.

Gallery

Wuyishan

Early in the morning we begin our journey among the rocks: thanks to Pengbao we have privileged access to the heart of Wuyi park. We cover all the most important areas, observing the cultivars, rock formations and having tea and lunch at two temples and a pagoda.

It is a day with a great variety of trees and different micro-environments: we will feel on our skin the variations in temperature and humidity, and we will have a complete horizontal tasting of the area's productions.

Tongmuguan

We head towards the gorgeous peaks of the northwest, following the Jiuqu River upstream through canyons and waterfalls, to the ancient village of Tongumuguan where the origin of red tea is preserved.

In this breathtaking landscape surrounded by unspoiled nature, green bamboo and bees working on their flowers, we taste different cultivars of Zhengshan Xiaozhong, including a couple of samples smoked by master Wu Chongfa.

We visit the original production facility on the Jiuqu River and before leaving the mountain we taste an exceptional meal cooked with local raw materials and herbs.

Gallery

Jianyang

In the morning we move in a south-east direction, towards the ancient Fujianese city of Jianyang, where Jianzhan pottery technique, today also popular in Japan with the name "Tenmoku", was crafted over 1,500 years ago, reaching its maximum popularity during the Song dynasty.

We visit a master's workshop, witness and understand the process of his craft. We will compare the original Song Dynasty cups with today's ones using an electronic enlarger, visit a dragon kiln, and try to glaze our own cups.
The meal is served in an old Fujianese courtyard.

Gallery

Fuzhou

In the morning we head to Fuzhou, on the estuary of the Min River, where we visit the most important district for the production of flower tea: we see how loose tea leaves are repeatedly perfumed with fresh flowers, in a fascinating atmosphere.

Depending on the weather, we may have the option to join the production directly. We will then have an extensive tea tasting featuring traditional and experimental teas from the area.

Gallery

Kunming

We fly to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, located at 2,100 meters above sea level between the tropical south and the Himalayan north.

We cross southern China from east to west, moving from the South China Sea to the heights of Yunnan, from the hot humid climate of Fujian to the freshness of Spring City, the capital of pu'er tea, where 25 cultural groups still live and thrive.

Gallery

Kunming

We meet Li Haibo, master and top teacher, for an in-depth seminar on the gongfucha practise and ceremony: we study technique and movements to brew Chinese teas properly, preparing some leaves from his impressive collections. 

After a lunch with his private chef, he prepares several teas using different Yixing pieces from his collection, studying their history and most important shapes.

Kunming - Xishuangbanna

We cross Cuihu Lake towards the old city, where we meet one of the most important figures in the contemporary history of pu'er tea: Mr. Hu, who in 2005 walked with a caravan of 120 horses loaded with pu'er tea from the city of Pu'er in southwest Yunnan to Beijing - about 3000 km to the northeast. We taste the original 2005 teas from the caravan. 

In the afternoon we head south towards the ancient Dai kingdom of Xishuangbanna, where most of the premium pu'er tea is produced and enjoyed.
We have been producing our teas here since 2014 and we will be honored to host you in the land we love so much.

Nannuo

We wake up surrounded by pu'er tea mountains, and we begin our itinerary heading towards Mount Nannuo: we pay homage to the oldest 800-year-old tree, and we immerse ourselves in the Eastern Leaves forest. If the weather is favourable, we hike into the highest forest and have a picnic surrounded by its magnificence. 

In the late afternoon we visit a lush tropical garden, which houses the ceramic workshop of an innovative Dai culture pottery master that we admire: Qiu Laoshi.

Galleries: Nannuo mtn., Qiu Laoshi

Laobanzhang

In the morning we head to Mengkun, to visit the mountain retreat of a local artist who is the living representative of his ethnic minority, the Hani-Akha: his name is Shuosan, and he has built a very personal museum in his native village, with ancient fabrics and cultural relics.

After lunch we climb the most famous mountain in the area, a symbol of the skyrocketing prices of pu'er tea: Laobanzhang, with its historic trees, evidence of ancient domestication, and the maximum security village that protects its treasure. We have a direct relationship to three different families and taste their 2024 tea production.
We also visit the neighbouring micro-valley of Hekai.

Galleries: Laobanzhang, Shuosan

Yiwu, Mengla

We head southeast toward the border with Laos, with the Yiwu peaks as our destination. They are home to a diverse range of tastes, landscapes, and producers.

We tour the most historically significant homes and lanes, the square where pu'er tea was loaded and traded for generations, and the local museum, which is located at the first stop of the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Yiwu, Mengla

After having familiarized ourselves in the previous days with the heart of such an important area, we go up to Guafengzhai and Bohetang, two of the most refined and expensive villages for pu'er tea.

We taste their tea together with the farmers who produce it, understand the history, the trees and the old and new flavors.

Gallery

Yiwu, Mengla

We wake up surrounded by the peaks and scents of Yiwu, and start our day with a horizontal tasting of different microvalleys. Then we visit two different tea villages and forests in Luoshuidong and Mahei, exploring the cultivars, soils and meeting the farmers.

In mid-afternoon we begin our journey back to Xishuangbanna, driving slowly through the tropical hills of Mengla.

Menghai

Menghai is the center of the most renowned - and busiest - area for the production of pu'er tea: it is surrounded by the Bulang area with Laobanzhang and Laoman'e, Pasha, Nannuo, Naka and many others, and brings together all the best professionals and factories. We visit a pu'er tea refining workshop and explore the local economy while dedicating our day to sampling the greatest teas.

In the afternoon we go to the outskirts of Jinghong, north of the Mekong River, to visit the traditional pottery workshop of Ms. Zhang Laoshi. She fully represents her Dai ethnic ceramic tradition by working with three different kilns: gas, wood and dragon kiln, and teaching to classes of students every year.

Galleries: Menghai, Zhang Laoshi