A tea plantation in China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden, Puer City, Yunnan Province, China

By Sengthong Phasavath
(KPL) Today, our travel column takes readers to the China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden in Puer City, Yunnan Province, China. Some may wonder what exactly a "tea exhibition garden" is, as terms like exhibition halls, exhibition centers, and exhibition rooms are more commonly heard.
Initially, when I first heard a Chinese translator mentioned "tea exhibition garden," I questioned myself if they had misspoken, possibly meaning a tea exhibition centre.
However, after seeing a sign in Chinese, I used my phone to translate it via Chinese mobile app WeChat, confirming that "tea exhibition garden" was indeed correct. 

The China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden, also known as the China Puer Tea Exposition Garden, is a tourist site located on Yingpan Mountain in Puer City, Yunnan Province, near Puer National Park.
The garden is a large-scale tea exhibition venue and a hub for producing and cultivating Puer tea, Yunnan’s most famous tea. This location is renowned for its tea production due to favorable climatic and environmental conditions, surrounded by lush green mountains offering breathtaking views.
Visitors to the garden can learn about the origins, development, cultivation, processing, traditional brewing methods, and packaging of tea for sale.

China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden, Puer City, Yunnan Province, China 

The central area or highlight of the exhibition garden spans nearly 200,000 square meters and features numerous scenic spots for visitors. Key sites include the China Puer Tea Museum, ethnic villages, tea production workshop, Bulang ethnic houses, and an observation tower. A distinctive aspect of the tower is its ancient three-story design with four gates, oriented in the cardinal directions: east, west, north, and south. 

In the area of the Bulang houses, there stands a monument dedicated to the ancestor of the Bulang people, known as Pa Ailang. He is regarded as the first person to cultivate Puer tea approximately 1,800 years ago. Over the centuries, the Bulang people have revered Pa Ailang as the ancestral figure of tea and worship him as a deity. 

For the Bulang, tea holds immense significance, akin to lifeblood. They can live without rice but cannot go a single day without tea. 

A visit to the Puer Tea Garden Exhibition would not be complete without participating in the welcoming ceremony hosted by the village communities of the Bulang, Dai, Lahu, Wa, and Hani ethnic groups. 

During this ceremony, visitors are invited to experience the unique local culture through vibrant song and dance performances in the lush tea garden, cooled by mountain breezes. Guests can also savor various types of Puer tea—red, white, and green—brewed traditionally by local tea master. 

If you visit Puer City, don't miss the chance to explore China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden which is located just 29 km from Simao district, Puer City, Yunnan Province. 

A tribal house in China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden, Puer City, Yunnan Province, China 

A replica of a gourd in the China Puer Tea Exhibition Garden, Puer City, Yunnan Province, China. The Lahu people believe that their ancestors originated from a gourd

KPL