Classification and Origin
Category: Pure Single-Mountain (纯料, chúnliào) Sheng from Yiwu — market and geographical designations of sub-areas, not individual standard numbers.
The best old trees grow in a national forest (国有林, guóyǒulín) — not plantations or household gardens, but inclusions of tea trees within primary forest.
Origin: Guafengzhai village, Yiwu sub-district (易武, Yìwǔ), Mengla County (勐腊), extreme southeast of Xishuangbanna (西双版纳), almost on the border with Laos. A village of the Yao ethnic group (瑶族, yáozú) — an uncommon case among the celebrated tea settlements of Yiwu.
Type: Sheng Pu'er (生普洱, shēng pǔ'ěr), raw Pu'er.
Facts
Nearby in tier and character stand Mahei (the benchmark of the classical soft-sweet "韵" of Yiwu) and Wangong (the historical core of Mansa); the most scarce neighbor is Bohetang with its minty coolness. Understanding these neighbors helps calibrate expectations of Guafengzhai.
Botany and Raw Material
gǔshù (古树), old trees of the Assam broad-leaf variety, characteristic of Yiwu and the Six Ancient Tea Mountains.
