Cultural site · YUNNAN · UNESCO
Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest
普洱景迈山古茶林文化景观 · Pǔ'ěr Jǐngmài Shān Gǔ Chálín Wénhuà Jǐngguān
About
UNESCO Cultural Landscape in Yunnan's Pu'er region — ancient cultivated tea forests maintained by Blang and Dai ethnic communities for over 1,000 years, representing a living tradition of forest tea cultivation.
The Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023, the first tea cultural landscape in the world to receive this designation. The property covers approximately 19,100 hectares in the Lancang Lahu Autonomous County of Pu'er Prefecture, Yunnan, and is centred on five clusters of ancient cultivated tea forest located within montane tropical rainforest at altitudes between 1,100 and 1,900 m.
The Blang and Dai communities of Jingmai Mountain have cultivated tea trees beneath the forest canopy for an estimated 1,300 years, using an agroforestry system that maintains the genetic diversity and ecological services of the surrounding forest whilst producing tea with distinctive flavour characteristics. The oldest trees are estimated at several hundred years of age; some sections contain trees over 1,000 years old. Unlike modern plantation tea — grown in monoculture rows with chemical inputs — the Jingmai forest tea grows in polyculture shade conditions that support biodiversity and require no chemical fertilisers.
Nine traditional villages with well-preserved Blang and Dai timber architecture sit within the forest landscape, including Wengji and Nannuo villages. The villages' houses, community halls and ritual spaces reflect the close integration of human settlement with forest and tea cultivation. Tea picking, processing and ritual ceremonies connected to the annual harvest remain living practices maintained by the communities.
Visitors can walk forest tea garden trails with local guides, visit tea processing workshops and purchase authentic old-tree pu-erh tea directly from growers. Accommodation in village guesthouses is available.
How to get there
Fly to Pu'er Simao Airport from Kunming (45 min). From Pu'er city, take a tourist coach or hire a car to Jingmai Mountain (about 2.5 hours). Alternatively, take a long-distance coach from Kunming to Lancang county (about 7 hours), then local transport to the mountain.
When to visit
March–April (spring tea harvest) and October (autumn harvest). The forest is lush year-round; rainy season (May–September) brings mist but also vibrant vegetation.
Crowds: Jingmai Mountain receives relatively few visitors compared to better-known Yunnan destinations, making it a tranquil choice. Spring harvest season brings tea enthusiasts but remains manageable.
UNESCO inscription
“Located on Jingmai Mountain in southwestern China, this cultural landscape was developed over a thousand years by the Blang and Dai peoples following practices that began in the 10th century. The property is a tea production area comprised of traditional villages within old tea groves surrounded by forests and tea plantations. The traditional understorey cultivation of old tea trees is a method that responds to the specific conditions of the mountain’s ecosystem and subtropical monsoon climate, combined with a governance system maintained by the local Indigenous communities. Traditional ceremonies and festivities relate to the Tea Ancestor belief that spirits live in the tea plantations and in the local fauna and flora, a belief that is at the core of this cultural tradition.”
Other attractions in Pu'er
Other cultural sites in China
- Barkhor Pilgrim Circuit八廓街
1 km clockwise pilgrim circuit around the Jokhang Temple. Pilgrims prostrate themselves around the route; Tibetan-traditional shopping plus daily life.
- Chen Clan Ancestral Hall陈家祠
The most ornate Lingnan-style courtyard complex in China, built 1894 as the academy and ancestral hall for the Chen clan of Guangdong.
- Couple's Retreat Garden耦园
UNESCO · UNESCO-listed Suzhou garden organised symmetrically around a central residence. Less crowded than the four most-visited gardens.
- Garden of Cultivation艺圃
UNESCO · UNESCO-listed Ming-era scholar's garden. Among the smallest and most atmospheric of Suzhou's classical gardens.
- Humble Administrator's Garden拙政园
UNESCO · The largest of Suzhou's UNESCO-listed classical gardens (5.2 hectares). 16th-century landscape with ponds, pavilions, rockeries, and an emphasis on water.
- Lingering Garden留园
UNESCO · UNESCO-listed Ming-Qing garden, famed for its rockeries and the 6.5m central limestone scholar's-rock 'Crown of Clouds'.
- Lion Grove Garden狮子林
UNESCO · Yuan-dynasty garden famous for its lion-shaped rockeries — a maze of Taihu limestone you can walk through.
- Master of Nets Garden网师园
UNESCO · The most concentrated of Suzhou's UNESCO-listed gardens (0.6 hectares). Summer evening 'night garden' performances are the local draw.
Other UNESCO World Heritage sites in China
- Ancient Villages of Southern Anhui — Xidi and Hongcun皖南古村落—西递、宏村
UNESCO-listed pair of Ming-Qing Huizhou merchant villages in southern Anhui, renowned for whitewashed walls, inky horsehead gables and moon-shaped ponds.
- Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City良渚古城遗址
UNESCO-listed archaeological site in Hangzhou preserving the remains of a 5,000-year-old city with a sophisticated water-management system, jade ritual culture and social hierarchy — regarded as one of the earliest state-level societies in East Asia.
- Badain Jaran Desert — Lakes and Dunes巴丹吉林沙漠—沙山湖泊群
UNESCO Natural World Heritage site in Inner Mongolia — the third largest desert in China, featuring some of the world's tallest stationary dunes and a unique network of freshwater and saline lakes sustained by a still-unexplained subterranean water system.
- Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom高句丽王城、王陵及贵族墓葬
UNESCO-listed capital cities and royal tombs of the Koguryo Kingdom in Jian, Jilin — the Chinese portion of a transnational heritage property shared with North Korea, representing one of the most powerful states of ancient East Asia.
- China Danxia中国丹霞
UNESCO Natural World Heritage site — a serial property of six Danxia landscapes across six provinces, representing China's defining red-cliff-and-pillar sandstone landform type, including Danxia Mountain, Zhangye, Taining and Langshan.
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou (UNESCO)苏州古典园林
UNESCO-listed collection of private gardens in Suzhou — four inscribed in 1997 and five more added in 2000 — representing the pinnacle of Chinese garden design through the refined integration of architecture, water, rock and plant.
- Couple's Retreat Garden耦园
UNESCO-listed Suzhou garden organised symmetrically around a central residence. Less crowded than the four most-visited gardens.
- Drepung Monastery哲蚌寺
Once the largest monastery in the world (10,000+ monks). 8 km west of Lhasa. Active Gelugpa monastery; debating courtyard sessions in the afternoon.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest cost to visit?
- Adult entry to Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest is ¥90, ¥null for children. Scenic area entrance fee approximately 90 CNY. Individual village visits may include small additional fees.
- When is Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest open?
- Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest opening hours: Open year-round. Village guesthouses and tea gardens accessible during daylight hours.
- How long do you need at Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest?
- Allow 4–24 hours for Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest. Add buffer time if you plan to visit at peak season or include nearby sights in the same trip.
- When is the best time to visit Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest?
- March–April (spring tea harvest) and October (autumn harvest). The forest is lush year-round; rainy season (May–September) brings mist but also vibrant vegetation.
- How do you get to Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest?
- Fly to Pu'er Simao Airport from Kunming (45 min). From Pu'er city, take a tourist coach or hire a car to Jingmai Mountain (about 2.5 hours). Alternatively, take a long-distance coach from Kunming to Lancang county (about 7 hours), then local transport to the mountain.
- How do you avoid the crowds at Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest?
- Jingmai Mountain receives relatively few visitors compared to better-known Yunnan destinations, making it a tranquil choice. Spring harvest season brings tea enthusiasts but remains manageable.
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