Gonglong Tea Village (Mengku)

23 March 2018 9:42

They say that the conversation about Mengku should begin with Mount Gonglong (Chinese: 公弄, pinyin: gōnglòng). Being here, far from civilization, you can see the villages of Dahusai, Dongguo and Bano, Najiao, as well as the peak of Daxueshan. Here is the central cradle of all tea trees. The virgin tea forests here occupy huge areas and among them is the world tea king. Since ancient times, the Bulan people lived next to these forests, honoring and protecting them.

Gonglong is the oldest village of the Bulang people in Mengku area. It is the home of the tea ancestors of the Pu people (Chinese: 濮人, pinyin: Púrén). It is located on a mountain range that stretches along the Banmada Xueshan Mountains. Gonglong is located 12 km from the Mengku Valley. When in Mengku, you can see large blue trees. The altitude of the village is not considered high, but the geographical location is very favorable, the village has a wide open space and you can see the main peaks of Banmada Xueshan from the windows and doors. The village is connected to the district center of Mengku by a dirt road. The area of the village is 5.25 square kilometers. Xiaohusa village is subordinate to Gonglong, they are separated by a deep canyon and connected by a 12 km ring dirt road.

The ancient name of the Bulan people is Pu. The Pu people were the first inhabitants of Mengku. They came here to hunt and gather, but found forests of wild tea trees. They were the first to drink tea from the Banmashan trees. The unusual terrain of this area did not attract many people. A thousand years ago, there was no one here except for a small number of Pu people, but this place was very favorable due to the warm climate, abundance of flora and fauna and water resources. Here the Pu went through their journey from primitive society to modern times. These people learned to brew tea in bamboo tubes and continued to hunt. In these forests, the Bulan began to practice slash-and-burn agriculture and build nest houses. From time immemorial, the Bulan lived among the tea forests and used tea tree branches as a building material.

The Dai people came to this land in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. And the Bulangs were under the rule of the Dai elders for several hundred years. These two peoples actively interacted, adopting Buddhist culture and mutually enriching their languages. The residents of Gonglong Village usually write their names in two languages. Usually, in the center of each village or town of national minorities in Yunnan Province, there is one or more very old trees, they are called Shenshu (Chinese: 神树, pinyin: Shénshù) - a sacred tree or Longshu (Chinese: 竜树, pinyin: lóngshù). In the village of Guzhai (Chinese: 古寨, pinyin: Gǔzhài) there is also such a tree, it is so big that only six people can embrace it. This thousand-year-old tree is the heart of the Gonglong area. The Bulan believe that the sacred tree helps maintain peace and harmony in the life of the village and protects it from misfortunes and the elements. The Bulan are Buddhists and believe in the soul of each thing. Living in the forest, they have understood since ancient times how important it is to honor and love the environment around them. Behind each Bulan village there is a dragon forest (Chinese: 竜林, pinyin: Lónglín). Rituals and ceremonies are held there every year, and this forest is never cut down.

Dazhai Village (Chinese: 大寨, pinyin: Dàzhài) of the Bulan people is well known in Mengku and Shuangjiang counties, but little known outside of it. It is a tea research base, and more than 10 counties use Gonglong tea seeds and saplings to grow their tea plantations.

Until 1950, Gonglong was known as the village with the largest production volume, tea plantations exceeded 2000 mu. In 1954, the tea collection point recorded a volume of 62,747 jin (0.5 kg), in 1995 - 90,000 jin. After the 1950s, this area was included in the list of low production and became a demonstration area of a new type of tea plantation. Many ancient trees were cut down, only a few specimens remained, whose age exceeds 300 years. Each courtyard of the village has its own trees, to climb them use bamboo ladders. The trees are so large that a whole day is not enough to collect all the fresh leaves from them.