---
title: "Měngkù dàyèzhǒng chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/mengku-dayezhong-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Měngkù dàyèzhǒng chá (勐库大叶种茶)

*Měngkù dàyèzhǒng chá* (勐库大[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu)茶) is “tea of the Mengku large-leaf variety” from Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous County (双江拉祜族佤族布朗族傣族自治县) of Lincang prefecture-level city, Yunnan Province. The name designates not a product but the raw material: Mengku large-leaf is a tree-type variety that in 1984 entered the first list of national tea varieties of China and that Chinese tea scientists call the model of Yunnan large-leaf tea. The protection requirements describe the appearance and technology of four products at once — sun-dried raw tea, green tea, red tea and pu-erh — so this is an umbrella over the raw material, not a single tea. The name is protected twice: as an agricultural product geographical indication of the Ministry of Agriculture (2015) and as a geographical indication product under CNIPA announcement No. 646 (2025).

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Not tied to a single class. The protection requirements name four products from this leaf: sun-dried raw tea ([晒青](https://thetea.app/article/shai-qing)毛茶, *shàiqīng máochá*), green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*), red tea (红茶, *hóngchá*) and pressed pu-erh ([普洱茶](https://thetea.app/article/pu-ercha), *pǔ'ěrchá*).
* **Category:** Tea of a national variety; agricultural product geographical indication (AGI01772, 2015) and CNIPA geographical indication product (2025).
* **Origin:** China, Yunnan Province (云南, *Yúnnán*), Lincang prefecture-level city ([临沧](https://thetea.app/article/lincang), *Líncāng*), Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous County (双江, *Shuāngjiāng*). The source of the variety is Mengku Town (勐库镇, *Měngkù Zhèn*) and Bingdao village ([冰岛](https://thetea.app/article/bing-dao), *Bīngdǎo*).
* **Legal zone:** The whole of Shuangjiang County — six townships and towns: Dawen (大文), Mangnuo (忙糯), Bangbing (邦丙), Shahe (沙河), Mengmeng (勐勐) and Mengku (勐库) — and two farms: the Mengku overseas Chinese administration (勐库华侨管理区) and the management committee of the Shuangjiang state farm (双江农场管理委员会). The zone is drawn by production units, not only by the administrative grid.
* **Geographic coordinates:** The zone — 99°35′–100°09′ E, 23°11′–23°48′ N; Mengku Town — about 23.6° N and 99.9° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The legend of two hundred seeds.** A local history retold by *Pu'er* magazine says: in 1485, under the Ming emperor Chenghua (成化), a resident of Bingdao named Li San went to trade in Xishuangbanna; the second time, he and four others were sent there for seeds. They brought back more than two hundred seeds, and more than a hundred and fifty bushes took root in Bingdao. Another reference description dates the introduction to 1484 and names Myanmar as the source of the seeds. I have not resolved the discrepancy; this is a local history, not a document. The same magazine notes that the version has opponents and that tea science has no generally accepted answer on the origin of the variety.
    * **Spread.** Under the Qing and in the early Republic, the variety spread from Bingdao to neighboring villages and to the towns of Mengku and Mengmeng.
    * **1984.** The variety entered the first list of national tea varieties. In reference books it is listed as 华茶12号 (*Huáchá 12*) with the number GS13012-1985; this is why the year of recognition is given as either 1984 or 1985.
    * **1985.** In the journal *Zhongguo Chaye* (《中国茶叶》) it was written that Mengku large-leaf tea should be considered the “true” (正宗) Yunnan large-leaf tea.
    * **2015.** On 5 November the Ministry of Agriculture registered “勐库大叶种茶” as an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI01772).
    * **2025.** By CNIPA announcement No. 646, the name was recognized as a geographical indication product; the applicant was the Shuangjiang county center for the development of local industries. The protection requirements are attached to the announcement: the zone, growing conditions, technology and composition thresholds.
* **Name:**
    * “Mengku” (勐库) is the name of the town.
    * “Dayezhong” (大叶种, *dàyèzhǒng*) means “large-leaf variety”.
    * “Cha” (茶) means tea.
* **Cultural significance:** In Chinese tea literature the variety has acquired the epithets “representative”, “hero” and “true” of Yunnan large-leaf tea (云南大叶种茶的代表、英豪、正宗). From Yunnan it was introduced to Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Hunan.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Variety / Cultivar:** Mengku large-leaf (勐库大叶茶, *Měngkù dàyèchá*; 华茶12号). Tree-type (乔木型), with a pronounced main trunk; large-leaf; early.
* **Leaf:** Long-elliptic or elliptic, horizontal or drooping. According to the protection requirements — about 17 × 6 cm; *Pu'er* magazine gives a maximum length of 20.6 cm. The surface is markedly convex, the leaf flesh thick and soft, the leaf leathery, dark green, the margin rolled toward the underside of the leaf.
* **Buds:** Densely pubescent. One bud with two leaves weighs 0.62 g on average.
* **Forms:** By leaf, five types are distinguished within the variety: black large leaf (黑大叶), ovate large leaf (卵形大叶), tubular large leaf (筒状大叶), black narrow long leaf (黑细长叶) and long large leaf (长大叶).
* **Suitability:** According to reference books — for red tea, green tea and pu-erh.
* **Harvest:** According to the protection requirements — spring tea from March to May, summer tea from July to August, autumn tea from September to October. The fresh leaf is fresh, whole, clean, without fruits, old leaves or foreign matter.
* **Harvest standard:** The requirements do not specify how many leaves are to be picked with the bud.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Western Yunnan, Shuangjiang County of Lincang prefecture-level city; the variety grew up in the mountains around Mengku Town.
* **Growing altitude:** Protection requirements — **1000–2000 m**, mountain and semi-mountain plots with good sun. The wild tea tree population on Mengku Daxueshan (勐库[大雪山](https://thetea.app/article/da-xue-shan)), according to a reference description, occupies about 12,700 mu (about 850 ha) at an altitude of **2200–2750 m**.
* **Old gardens:** According to the same description, the county has more than 19,800 mu of cultivated gardens older than a hundred years, and Bingdao village has 4954 cultivated trees older than five hundred years.
* **Soils:** According to the protection requirements — red, purple and yellow, slightly acidic, loose, with good drainage.
* **Cultivation:** The requirements allow seed and vegetative propagation. In old gardens, chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides are prohibited.
* **Climate:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection requirements describe four schemes; below are their main operations and parameters.

* **Sun-dried raw tea (晒青毛茶, *shàiqīng máochá*):** fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*) → cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*) → rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*) → sun-drying (晒干, *shàigān*). Fixation is done in an iron pan at 180–230 °C for 13–15 minutes or in a drum at 230–280 °C for 4–6 minutes. In the sun the leaf is dried in a layer 1–2 cm thick for 5–8 hours, to a moisture content of 8–10%.
* **Red tea:** withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*) at 20–25 °C, 6–12 hours depending on the grade of the raw material → rolling → fermentation (发酵, *fājiào*) at 25–28 °C and humidity above 90%: in spring 4–6 hours, in summer and autumn 3–5 hours → drying to a moisture content of no more than 6%.
* **Green tea:** fixation (in a pan at 200–260 °C for 8–10 minutes or in a drum at 260–300 °C for 4–6 minutes) → cooling → rolling → hot-air drying in two stages (毛火 and 足火, *máohuǒ* and *zúhuǒ*) to a moisture content of 4–6%.
* **Pressed pu-erh:** loose sun-dried raw tea → wet pile fermentation ([渥堆](https://thetea.app/article/wodui), *wòduī*) in piles of 8–10 t at 45–55 °C, 38–42 days → drying → sorting → steaming and pressing → drying at 35–40 °C for 36–48 hours.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The protection requirements give the appearance by product.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Sun-dried raw tea — the rolled leaf is large, with conspicuous white down, oily-lustrous (条索肥壮，显白毫，油润). Green tea — the white down is conspicuous, the leaf is tightly rolled and heavy, green with an oily sheen (白毫显露，条索紧结重实，色泽绿而油润). Red — oily-lustrous, with golden buds (色泽油润，金黄显毫). Pu-erh — black and glossy, with abundant buds (乌润多毫).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Sun-dried raw tea — clean and lasting (清香持久). Green — clean and high (香气清高). Red — high and fresh (香气高鲜).
* **Taste:** Sun-dried raw tea — fresh, strong, with a sweet return (鲜爽、浓烈、回甘); withstands many infusions. Green — mellow and full (滋味醇厚). Red — strong (滋味浓烈). Pu-erh — mellow and full (滋味醇厚).
* **Liquor color:** Sun-dried raw tea — yellow-green and bright (汤色黄绿明亮). Red — rich and bright (汤色浓艳).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Sun-dried raw tea — tender, even, whole (叶底嫩匀完整). Green — green and bright (叶底绿而明亮). Red — red and bright (叶底红亮).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The protection requirements set lower thresholds:

* **Water-soluble substances (水浸出物):** at least **31.5%**.
* **Tea polyphenols (茶多酚):** at least **19%**.
* **Free amino acids (游离氨基酸):** at least **2.5%**.
* **Caffeine (咖啡碱):** at least **2.0%**.
* **Catechins (儿茶素):** at least **3.0%**.

*Pu'er* magazine writes that the content of water-soluble substances in the leaf of this variety reaches **52.1%**, and calls this unique among the world's tea resources.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice. The class depends on the product; guidelines:

* **Water temperature:** Green — 80–85 °C; red — 90–95 °C; pu-erh — 95–100 °C.
* **Tea amount:** Green — 3 g per 150 ml; red — 3–5 g per 150 ml; pu-erh — 5–7 g per 100–120 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a gaiwan for green; a gaiwan or a porcelain teapot for red; a gaiwan or a clay teapot for pu-erh.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea.
    3. Briefly rinse pu-erh and discard the water; green and red are not rinsed.
    4. First infusion: green — 40–60 seconds; red in a gaiwan — 15–20 seconds; pu-erh — 10–20 seconds.
    5. Pour out.
    6. Further infusions with increasing time.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. Green — in airtight packaging in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, drink within a year. Red — in tight packaging in a dry, cool, dark place. Pu-erh — in a dry, clean place without foreign odors, in breathable packaging; sheng pu-erh can be aged.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted; the price depends on the product and on the place of harvest.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication mark; the registration number of the agricultural indication is AGI01772.
    * Check that the producer is from Shuangjiang County — from the six townships and two farms of the zone.
    * The words “大叶种” on the packaging mean only “large-leaf”: large-leaf tea grows throughout southern Yunnan, and that by itself does not make it Mengku.
    * The requirements describe the Mengku leaf as large (about 17 × 6 cm), thick, with densely pubescent buds; it is worth checking a purchase against this appearance, but the appearance alone does not prove origin.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The name of the indication designates a bush variety, not a product.
* The protection zone includes, on a par with the townships, two farms — the overseas Chinese administration and the state farm.
* According to local history, the variety originates from seeds brought to Bingdao in the 1480s: according to one version there were more than two hundred of them, and more than a hundred and fifty bushes took root.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Bingdao (冰岛):** The famous pu-erh village of Mengku where, according to local history, the variety began.
* **Mengku Chunjian ([勐库春尖](https://thetea.app/article/meng-ku-chun-jian)):** Spring sheng pu-erh of Mengku from the leaf of this variety — one of the products under the umbrella.
* **Mengku Guhua Cha ([勐库谷花茶](https://thetea.app/article/meng-ku-gu-hua-cha)):** Autumn pu-erh raw material from the same area and the same variety.
* **Dian Hong Gongfu ([滇红工夫](https://thetea.app/article/dianhong-gongfu)):** Yunnan red tea from large-leaf raw material — a class for which the variety is also suitable.
* **Lincang (临沧):** An overview of the prefecture to which Shuangjiang belongs.

**In Conclusion:**

*Měngkù dàyèzhǒng chá* is a geographical indication for a variety, not for a single tea. A tree-type large-leaf bush from the mountains around Mengku, according to legend grown from two hundred seeds, became a national variety, the benchmark of Yunnan large-leaf tea and the raw material for green tea, red tea and pu-erh. The protection documents are precise about boundaries, technology and composition thresholds, but they do not name a single product: under this name lives a whole family of Mengku teas.