Pu'er from the Hudong region (Mengku)

22 June 2018 19:43

Until 1990, any tea expert, even those who had never been to Shuangjiang County, knew two famous teas: from Bindao and Manbo. The Bindao trademark could not be registered because of its common name with the state of Iceland, Manbo was registered in 1995. Both brands are inextricably linked with the history of the Dai people's ownership of the territories along the Shuangjiang River.

Hudong Village Committee (Chinese: 护东, pinyin: hùdōng) is located on a flat mountainous terrain, with an area of 15.96 square kilometers, at an altitude of 1150 meters above sea level, with an average annual temperature of 25 degrees and precipitation of 1600 mm. The climate is ideal for growing sugar cane, tea and other crops. Arable land is 3162 mu, forest area is 13875 mu. Hudong is formed by 12 small villages, 645 households, with 1735 people employed in the agricultural sector. The main income is from the production of tea and sugar cane.

The Hudong Committee includes the village of Mangbo (Chinese: 忙波, pinyin: Mángbō). It is one of two villages inhabited by the Dai people (the other is Bingdao ). The name of the village in the Dai language is Wangbo (Chinese: 宛波, pinyin: Wǎnbō). It is located on the edge of a mountain plain on the west bank of the Nanmenhe River (Chinese: 南勐河, pinyin: Nánměng hé), 3 km from Mengku (10 minutes by jeep). The village includes more than 80 households, of which the Dai people own just over 50, the Wa people own about 20, and several more belong to the newly arrived Han people. Until 1958, the village population consisted only of Dai. The Dai people live mainly on the plain near the water, they do little tea, and mainly grow rice in flooded fields. The Dai people have lived here for over 400 years, before that the Lahu people lived here and the large tea trees called Dunlangong (Chinese: 盾腊弄, pinyin: Dùn là nòng) were planted by them.

Long ago, there were only a few Dai households, they came to the villages of Shuangjiang County and did not get along with the Lahu and Wa peoples, made concessions to them and left their acquired places to found new ones. The largest Dai village on the Chengzi Plain (Chinese: 城子, pinyin: Chéngzi) is located near Manbo, here they were quite safe and they lived peacefully for more than a hundred years. A large Buddhist temple was built here and all Dai men had to live in it for some time, studying the canonical books and the old script of their people. Until 1903, there were 40-50 households here.

Before 1903, the best tea from Manbo, Laliwanbo (Chinese: 腊丽宛波, pinyin: Là lì wǎn bō), was supplied in large quantities to the officials of Chengzi Township. Some tea was supplied to the elder of the Dai people. The Dai people themselves drink tea only from Manbo. Before 1903, Bingdao and Manbo equally supplied tea to the elder (the head of the local administration), it was the tea for the nobility and rulers of the Dai people. During the Dai people's reign, Manbo tea occupied the highest position.

In 1903, a war broke out in Shuangjiang County, the army of the Bulang and Wa people invaded the valleys where the Dai lived and burned down the Buddhist temple. This war ended the power of the Dai elder and forced most of the people to leave the area. Only a few people remained, but the power completely passed from the hands of the Dai to other local people. But two famous brands of tea: Bindao and Manbo continued to influence this area. Even after a hundred years, their fame has not weakened. During these years, the popularity of Mengku tea sometimes weakened, sometimes grew again, but in people's memories, tea from here was always associated with the names of Bindao and Manbo.

In 1959, the trees here were cut down, and only the Dai people of Manbo did not cut down the tea forest, but there were still few large trees left. The convenient location of Manbo turned this place into a collecting point in 1953, and after 1957, it became a new experimental site. The trees planted before 1949 were cut down. In 1958, new plantations of 400 mu were established here. Regardless of the age of the tea trees, the Dai people are very sensitive to Pu'er tea and carefully protect the tea forest.