Měnghǎi Pàshā chá

Měnghǎi Pàshā chá (勐海帕沙茶) is a geographical mark for the tea of the mountain and village committee of Pasha (帕沙) in Gelanghe Township of Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Pasha lies between Nannuoshan and Bulangshan, and tea publications describe its tea as a middle ground between them: the strength of Banzhang, softened by sweetness. The document of the mark does not name the class of the product; descriptions speak of pu-erh, but part of the leaf also goes into red tea.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Not established: the document of the mark does not name the class. Tea publications describe Pasha tea above all as sheng pu-erh (生普, shēngpǔ). According to one description, local farmers use the leaf of the “sweet” trees for sun-dried red tea (晒红, shàihóng), and the bitterish leaf for pu-erh maocha (晒青, shàiqīng).
Category: Tea of the old gardens of Menghai; geographical mark. The list does not specify its kind, and the press calls the county’s marks certification marks (证明商标).
Origin: China, Yunnan Province (云南, Yúnnán), Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture (西双版纳, Xīshuāngbǎnnà), Menghai County (勐海县, Měnghǎi Xiàn), Gelanghe Township (格朗和哈尼族乡, Gélǎnghé), Pasha village committee — according to descriptions, in the southwest of the township, 6 km from the township center.
Neighbors: According to descriptions, to the east lies the Pazhen village committee (帕真). Nannuoshan, although it is in the same township, is more than 30 km away.
Protection zone: The list gives Menghai County as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone.
Geographic coordinates: Exact coordinates are not found in the sources consulted. Menghai County lies between 21°28′ and 22°28′ N and between 99°56′ and 100°41′ E.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Hani villages. Tea publications name five villages of the Hani people: Pasha Laozhai (帕沙老寨, “old”), Xinzhai (“new”), Zhongzhai (“middle”), Nangan (南干) and Laoduan (老端). According to local custom, when a village grows beyond a hundred households, some of the families found a new one; descriptions derive the other villages from Laozhai (Laoduan — via Xinzhai). Some descriptions put the age of Laozhai at no less than five hundred years, others at six to seven hundred.
- The Banzhang legend. It is said that some hundred and thirty years ago people from Pasha founded the present village of Lao Banzhang, and this is why Pasha tea is called “one of the original lines” of Banzhang tea. There is no documentary confirmation.
- Age of the gardens. Descriptions put the age of the old trees at 200–500 years. The claim that the gardens go back to the Tang era is not supported by anything in the sources consulted.
- The Menghai marks. The umbrella mark “勐海茶” was filed in 2012 by the county tea center, registered in 2014 and put into use in 2016. In the list of Yunnan GI marks as of the end of 2019 it is followed by fifteen marks for mountains and villages, among them “勐海帕沙茶”. The press in 2022 speaks of sixteen marks of the county — the same number of tea marks Menghai has in the list if the umbrella mark is counted too.
Name: Descriptions interpret the meaning of the name in different ways. One publication writes that “Pasha” means “post station”: merchants rested here on the way between the Menghun and Damenglong basins. Another, that in the Hani language it means “slender mountain forest”.
Cultural significance: According to descriptions, the Hani of Pasha preserve their way of life: wooden houses on stilts, traditional dress, their own language. Villages and gardens are intertwined: “tea in the village, village in the tea” (寨中有茶，茶中有寨).

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: Local large-leaf tea of old gardens; the variety is not named in the sources consulted. The fresh leaf is described as long and fleshy, with noticeable white down (叶长肥硕，白毫显著).
Old tree: One of the descriptions cites Pasha’s “tree No. 1”: height 7.1 m, girth at the base 197 cm. Another writes that the king tree of Laozhai, named “Pasha No. 1” by the Yunnan Institute of Tea, reaches 2.1 m in girth; I have not resolved the discrepancy.
Harvest: Timing is not given in the sources consulted. Descriptions speak of an early start of the growing season and a long harvest season.
Harvest standard: Not given in the sources consulted.
Raw material requirements: I have not seen the requirements of the mark.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: A mountain system in the southwest of Gelanghe Township, between Nannuoshan and Bulangshan.
Growing altitude: According to descriptions, 1500–1800 m; the highest point of the mountain is 1850 m, the average altitude about 1700 m. Other figures also occur: a highest point of 1950 m, a range of 1200–2000 m.
Area: Estimates of the old gardens diverge: “no less than 2000 mu”, about 2900 mu, more than 3000 mu.
Climate: According to descriptions — fog and abundant rain all year round, an average annual temperature of about 22 °C, about 1500 mm of precipitation a year.
Soils: Described as fertile and loose, rich in forest humus; the soil type is not named in the sources consulted.

5. Production Technology

The technology of the tea under the mark is not described in the sources consulted. For sheng pu-erh from old trees the usual sequence is as follows:

Plucking (采摘, cǎizhāi).
Cooling the leaf (摊晾, tānliàng).
Fixation in a pan (杀青, shāqīng).
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
Sun drying (晒干, shàigān): The result is loose maocha (晒青毛茶, shàiqīng máochá).
Pressing (紧压, jǐnyā): Optional.

This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Měnghǎi Pàshā chá.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The descriptions below are given by tea publications and sellers for sheng pu-erh from the old trees of Pasha. No one has officially linked them to the product under the mark.

Dry leaf appearance: In one producer’s description of pressed tea — large, tightly twisted, with fleshy downy buds (条索粗壮紧结，芽头肥壮显毫).
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Deep and rich (香沉而浓郁) or high (香气高扬); sellers call Pasha “the first aroma of Menghai” (勐海第一香).
Taste: The main feature is a clean sweetness (清甜). Bitterness is noticeable, astringency weak, the liquor soft and full; the bitterness quickly turns into a sweet return, salivation is noticeable (回甘生津); descriptions call it a tea “with flesh and with bone” (有肉有骨). The sellers’ stock formula is “seven parts the strength of Banzhang, three parts the sweetness of Bingdao” (七分班章气，三分冰岛甜).
Liquor color: Varies by description: for young maocha — greenish (青绿色), for pressed tea — yellow, bright and clear (黄亮透亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): No descriptions in the sources consulted.

7. Chemical Composition

Physicochemical data are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

Class practice. The mark does not name the class; the guidelines below are for sheng pu-erh, which is how tea publications describe Pasha tea.

Water temperature: 95–100 °C.
Tea amount: 5–8 g per 110–150 ml.
Teaware: Gaiwan or a clay teapot.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Add the tea; break pressed tea apart carefully, without crumbling the leaf.
3. Briefly rinse the leaf with boiling water and pour it off.
4. First infusions — 10–15 seconds.
5. Pour out the liquor completely.
6. Lengthen the time with each infusion; one of the descriptions follows the taste up to the twentieth infusion.

9. Storage

Class practice. Sheng pu-erh is stored in a dry, clean, ventilated place away from light and foreign odors, in breathable packaging. Sellers call Pasha tea suitable for aging.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted. Sellers write that Pasha is less well known than Banzhang or Bingdao and is better value than other old gardens of Menghai. One author specifies that before 2010 Pasha cost less than Nannuoshan, and now it leads Gelanghe Township on price.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the mark “勐海帕沙茶” and check that the producer is from Menghai County.
- Remember the neighbor: according to a tea publication, tea from neighboring Pazhen, where the gardens are lower, is often sold under the name of Pasha.
- Do not confuse Pasha with Nannuoshan: one of the descriptions writes that Pasha was long counted as part of Nannuoshan.

11. Interesting Facts

According to legend, the village of Lao Banzhang was founded by people from Pasha.
The name of the mountain is interpreted both as “post station” and as “slender mountain forest”.
In the reference book of famous villages on which our encyclopedia relies, Pasha is assigned to the soft, aromatic line of Menghai: “soft and sweet, with a floral note” (柔甜花香).

12. Comparison with Neighboring Teas

Nannuoshan (南糯山): A neighboring mountain of the same township, soft and aromatic; descriptions place Pasha next to it.
Lao Banzhang (老班章): A powerful Bulangshan tea; according to legend, its village was founded by people from Pasha.
Lao Man’e (老曼峨): A bitter Bulangshan tea; descriptions stress that the bitterness of Pasha does not reach its level.
Bingdao (冰岛): A sweet tea of Lincang, with which the sellers’ saying compares Pasha.

In Conclusion:

Měnghǎi Pàshā chá is the mark of a mountain between the two poles of Menghai, which, according to descriptions, takes from both: the strength of the Bulangshan teas and the sweetness of the Nannuoshan teas. Five Hani villages among the gardens, altitudes of about 1700 m and the legend of kinship with Banzhang — this is what is known about it. Apart from a line in the provincial list, I have not found any documents about the mark itself.