Zhènkāng Mǎ'ānshān chá

Zhènkāng Mǎ’ānshān chá (镇康马鞍山茶) is the tea of the old gardens of Ma’anshan village (马鞍山村), Mangbing Township (忙丙乡), Zhenkang County (镇康县), Lincang prefecture-level city, Yunnan Province. The mountain got its name for its resemblance to a saddle. The gardens here are neither wild nor ancient: according to descriptions, in 1913 the large-leaf Mengku variety was brought to the village from neighboring Shuangjiang, and the old trees are about a hundred years old. Together with neighboring Yanzitou and Jianshan, Ma’anshan forms almost twenty thousand mu of continuous cultivated old gardens — an expanse rare for the prefecture. Ma’anshan is the first old-tree tea in Lincang to receive a geographical indication certification mark; later it entered the national catalog “名特优新”. The product class is not fixed by the mark.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Not fixed by the mark document. The description of the village lists its produce as sun-dried raw material (晒青茶, shàiqīngchá), that is, raw material of the pu-erh type.
Category: Tea of the cultivated old gardens of Lincang; geographical indication certification mark; national catalog “名特优新” (third edition).
Origin: China, Yunnan Province (云南, Yúnnán), Lincang prefecture-level city (临沧, Líncāng), Zhenkang County (镇康县, Zhènkāng Xiàn), Mangbing Township (忙丙乡, Mángbǐng Xiāng), Ma’anshan village.
Protection zone: The provincial list gives Zhenkang County as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone.
Geographic coordinates: Mangbing Township — about 23.9° N and 99.2° E.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- 1913. According to descriptions, the Mengku large-leaf variety (勐库大叶种) was brought to Ma’anshan from Shuangjiang County. The trees of the local old gardens are reportedly the same age as the gardens of Mangfei village (忙肺) in neighboring Yongde County; the age of the old trees is about a hundred years.
- 2019. “镇康马鞍山茶” is on the provincial list of geographical indication marks of Yunnan as of 28 December 2019.
- First in Lincang. Press reports from 2024 call Ma’anshan the first old-tree tea in Lincang prefecture to receive a state geographical indication certification mark.
- “名特优新”. The tea entered the third edition of the national catalog of famous, special, high-quality and new agricultural products.
- 2024. In April “镇康马鞍山茶” was presented in Beijing, at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center, at a showcase of spring teas with geographical indications; according to the news service of China Agricultural University, it was the only tea brand from Yunnan Province.
- The number of the mark, the holder and the year of registration are not found in the sources consulted.
Name:
- “Zhenkang” (镇康) is the name of the county.
- “Ma’an” (马鞍) means “saddle”; “shan” (山) means “mountain”. The mountain was named for its shape, which resembles a saddle.
Cultural significance: A local saying places Ma’anshan tea next to ashuse (阿数瑟): Zhenkang tea is fragrant, and the best of it grows on Ma’anshan; nothing is more pleasant to the ear than ashuse, and nothing is more delicious than tea from Ma’anshan (镇康茶叶香又香，好茶种在马鞍山，好听不过阿数瑟，好喝不过鞍山茶). In a county where, according to the description, two thirds of the 76,000 mu of gardens are old, it was Ma’anshan that first received a mark for old-tree tea.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: Mengku large-leaf (勐库大叶种, Měngkù dàyèzhǒng), brought in 1913.
Tree: According to the description, the crown is spreading and the growth vigorous. The leaf is elliptic, folded inward, held horizontally, green, with a bulging surface, soft, with a slightly wavy edge. The buds are green, large and densely pubescent; there are many shoots, and they stay tender for a long time, so the leaf is easy to pick.
Raw material: Leaf of cultivated old trees about a hundred years old.
Harvest and harvest standard: Not given in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The west of Lincang prefecture, the mountains of Zhenkang County.
Growing altitude: On average about 1400 m, according to the description of the village.
Climate: According to the description of the village, an average annual temperature of about 18 °C, precipitation of about 1560 mm a year, about 2500 hours of sunshine a year, relative humidity of about 85%.
Soils: According to the same description, pH 5.6–6.5.
Area (according to the description of the village, 2017): Tea gardens — 5020 mu, of which old ones — 3500 mu (about 230 ha); the core is the Dabaobao plot (大包包茶地), 380 mu. Together with neighboring Yanzitou (岩子头) and Jianshan (尖山) — almost 20,000 mu of continuous cultivated old gardens, according to 2024 press reports.
Residents: According to the description, Han and Wa people live in the village.

5. Production Technology

I have not seen the technology in the documents of the mark. The description of the village lists its produce as sun-dried raw material (晒青茶). For such raw material the usual sequence is as follows:

Light withering (摊晾, tānliàng): The fresh leaf is spread in a thin layer.
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): The leaf is heated in a pan to stop oxidation.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
Sun drying (晒干, shàigān).

This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Ma’anshan tea.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The descriptions below come from essays about the village and from the press, not from the mark document; the product class is not named in them.

Dry leaf appearance: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Lasting, rich and high (香气持久馥郁高扬), with a clean fresh note (清香).
Taste: Full and harmonious, rich and fresh, sweet and smooth; the bitterness is light, the astringency weak; saliva rises under the tongue, in the throat there is a long sweetness, and the sweet return lasts a long time. An essay also describes the first impression: at the first sip the tea seems simple, and then a cool tea taste fills the whole mouth.
Liquor color: Clear, deep yellow and bright (汤色清澈黄浓明亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): No descriptions in the sources consulted.

7. Chemical Composition

An analysis of the raw material, which the description of the village attributes to a tea research institute (one bud with two leaves, the sample fixed with steam):

Tea polyphenols: 30.19%.
Catechins (total): 134.19 mg/g.
Amino acids: 2.90%.
Caffeine: 3.56%.
Water-soluble substances: 45.83%.

This is a characteristic of a raw material sample, not of finished tea.

8. Brewing

Class practice. The product class is not fixed by the mark; below are guidelines for sun-dried raw material and sheng pu-erh.

Water temperature: 90–100 °C.
Tea amount: 5–7 g per 100–120 ml.
Teaware: A gaiwan or a small clay teapot.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Put in the tea.
3. Briefly rinse the leaf with hot water and pour it off.
4. The first infusions — 10–20 seconds.
5. Pour into a chahai, then into the cups.
6. Repeat infusions, gradually adding time.

9. Storage

Class practice for sheng pu-erh. In a dry, clean place without light or foreign odors, in tight but not airtight packaging, without sharp swings in humidity. Sheng pu-erh allows aging.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Prices: According to the description of the village, in spring 2014 the tea sold for 100–200 yuan per kilogram. Press reports from spring 2024 give a price for fresh leaf of about 120 yuan per kilogram. Current prices for finished tea are not found in the sources consulted.
How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the mark “镇康马鞍山茶”.
- Check that the producer is from Zhenkang County.
- The leaf of old trees is large, with densely pubescent buds; small plantation leaf is not the same product.
- The name of the village on the packaging does not by itself prove the origin: the neighboring old gardens give similar raw material.

11. Interesting Facts

The mountain is named for its resemblance to a saddle.
The gardens of Ma’anshan are not wild: the Mengku variety was brought here in 1913, and the old trees are about a hundred years old.
This is the first old-tree tea in Lincang with a state certification mark.
In 2024, at the Beijing presentation, Ma’anshan was the only tea brand from Yunnan.

12. Comparison with Neighboring Teas

Yongde (永德): The tea of the neighboring county; the old gardens of Mangfei village, according to descriptions, were planted at the same time as those of Ma’anshan.
Bingdao (冰岛): A village in Mengku to which the history of the large-leaf variety brought to Ma’anshan is traced.
Mengku Dayezhong Cha (勐库大叶种茶): A geographical indication for the variety itself in Shuangjiang County.
Lincang (临沧): An overview of the prefecture to which Zhenkang belongs.

In Conclusion:

Zhenkang Ma’anshan Cha is the tea of century-old cultivated gardens, not of an ancient forest: trees of the Mengku variety, brought in 1913, grow on a saddle-shaped mountain at an altitude of about 1400 m, in an expanse of almost twenty thousand mu together with its neighbors. The mark does not fix the class; essays about the village write of a lasting high aroma, a clear yellow liquor, light bitterness and a long sweet return.