Summer on Jingmai Mountain: A Cool Retreat in the Ancient Tea Forest

In September 2023, the "Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er" was inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming the world's first World Heritage site themed around tea.

When the news broke, those of us in the tea business felt both joy and reflection. Joy, because at last the world recognized the value of these ancient tea forests. Reflection, because these tea gardens had been there all along, growing quietly for over a thousand years, needing no one's "certification."

I recently made another trip to Jingmai Mountain. In July, the lowland valleys of Yunnan swelter in the heat, but up on the mountain, it's an entirely different world.

Natural Air Conditioning Beneath the Ancient Tea Trees

Jingmai Mountain's ancient tea forests are not the neatly arranged terrace plantations you might imagine. They use "under-forest cultivation" — tea trees grow within the original forest, mixed among other trees.

Walking into the ancient tea forest, the first thing you notice is: it's dim.

Not a creepy dimness, but the kind where the canopy blocks out the sky and sunlight filters through in dappled patches. The ancient tea trees reach over ten meters tall, and combined with the surrounding forest trees, the layers of canopy block out the sun completely.

The second thing you notice is: it's cool.

Down at the foot of the mountain, it might be thirty-five or thirty-six degrees. Up in the ancient tea forest, it's around twenty-five or twenty-six. No fan, no air conditioning — standing beneath the trees, you cool down naturally.

This "under-forest" approach to growing tea is wisdom that Jingmai's ancestors figured out over a thousand years ago: tea plants prefer shade. Planting them under the forest canopy provides shade and retains moisture, while fallen leaves serve as natural fertilizer. No pesticides, no chemical fertilizers — the tea trees and the forest form a complete ecological cycle.

What Lives in the Tea Garden

Take a walk through Jingmai's ancient tea forest, and you'll discover it's home to far more than just tea trees.

Birds. At first light, the birdsong begins. Hwamei, sunbirds, silver pheasants — and many more you can't name. The tea farmers say a lot of birds is a good sign: it means there's enough insects to eat, so no need for pesticides.

Insects. Bees, butterflies, beetles of all kinds. You can spot spider webs strung between branches, beaded with dew, glistening in the morning light.

Moss. The trunks of the ancient tea trees are covered in moss and epiphytic plants. Some old trees even have orchids growing on their branches. Abundant epiphytes are a sign of a healthy ecosystem and high humidity.

After one loop through the forest, your clothes are damp with dew, but you don't feel hot at all. This is perhaps the best way to "beat the heat" — not hiding in an air-conditioned room, but stepping into a forest that has been alive for over a thousand years.

The Character of Jingmai Summer Tea

Many people ask: if you visit Jingmai Mountain in summer, what tea can you drink?

Jingmai Mountain harvests twice a year — spring and autumn. While there's no large-scale summer harvest, some farmers pick small quantities of summer tea, also called "rainy season tea."

Summer tea has a lighter aroma, but a softer, smoother mouthfeel. The abundant rain dilutes the tea's internal compounds, so it's not as concentrated as spring tea — but it wins on gentleness and drinkability.

If you prefer bold, powerful teas, summer tea may not be your cup of tea. But if you enjoy a light, mellow everyday brew, summer tea offers excellent value for money.

Honestly, though, the tea most worth waiting for from Jingmai is the autumn harvest. Autumn tea is picked in September and October. Nourished by a summer of rain, the autumn tea develops an especially beautiful aroma — Jingmai's signature floral notes come through most vividly in autumn tea. If you missed the spring harvest, don't miss the autumn one.

The Tea of Jingmai, The Trees of Jingmai

Every time I visit Jingmai Mountain, I come away with the same feeling: the tea here isn't "planted" — it "grows."

Terrace tea gardens are a model of artificial cultivation: densely planted, pruned low, centrally managed — high yield, but ecologically uniform. Jingmai's ancient tea forests are the complete opposite: tea trees coexist with the forest, no pesticides, no fertilizers, relying on a natural ecosystem built up over centuries or even millennia.

This approach yields less but at higher quality. More importantly, it's sustainable. Terrace gardens may need to be relocated after a few decades, but ancient tea forests can be passed down for over a thousand years.

This is why Jingmai Mountain was chosen as a World Heritage site — it's not just tea, it's a living cultural landscape of "human-tea symbiosis." The relationship between tea forests, villages, forests, and tea farmers has remained unbroken for centuries.

When you visit Jingmai in summer, you don't have to buy tea. Just walking through the ancient tea forest, looking at tea trees that have lived for hundreds of years, and feeling the cool breeze beneath the canopy — that alone is a reward.

And if you stop by a tea farmer's home for a freshly brewed cup of Jingmai tea, that's even better.

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