The people in Sung village often make Shan Tuyet tea to invite guests visiting their houses.
The ancient tea forest hidden among the vast forests
Since the ancient times, Dao ethnic people have chosen rich forests to live in. Therefore, many people like to call them "the people in the forest”. Sung hamlet in Cao Son commune with an isolated and peaceful location surrounded by the rich Bieu mountain is home of more than 70 Dao households. Here, the people still keep almost 100% of the traditional houses with the unique cultural features. That's why Sung hamlet has long become an attractive tourism destination for domestic and international tourists.
Having visited Sung hamlet many times, every time we come back there, we feel the change in this Dao village. The traditional wooden ground-floor houses are sheltered by the forest canopy, creating a peaceful landscape with a fresh climate. Dao ethnic people are hospitable, so every time the guests come to their house, they also make a teapot with a special flavor to treat them. Returning to Sung village on the days, which are near Tet, we spent time learning and discovering about the ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees deep in Bieu mountain. It took nearly an hour to go through the forest to reach the area with ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees. Indeed, this is the first time we have seen a tea tree of such a "huge” size.
"Since moving to work in Cao Son, although I have heard about the ancient tea forest, I do not expect that the tea tree is so large” - Ms. Vi Thi Hong Tham, the Culture officer of Cao Commune Son couldn't help admiring. The ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees with their bodies stain with time. According to the local estimates, many trees are over a hundred years old, and have been standing in the vast forrests. Ms. Ly Sao Mai, the coordinator of Da Bac Community Tourism Company in Sung village shares: Shan Tuyet tea has been attached to the local people for hundreds of years. Compared to the other types of tea, Shan Tuyet tea has a special color and flavor. The tea has a golden color, after enjoying it leaves a sweet taste in the mouth. In particular, drinking Shan Tuyet tea every day has many beneficial effects on the health.
Mai says that Shan Tuyet tea grows scatteredly in Bieu mountain. Once upon a time, there was an ancient tea forest with thousands of trees. But over time, some of the trees grew old and died, and most of them were cut down when people cleared their fields for farming. Currently, the number of the precious ancient tea trees has decreased much. The natural characteristics of this precious tree are also quite special. They grow and develop in the care of the old forest, if people clear the surrounding trees, it will reduce the growth of Shan Tuyet tea, even some trees will die.
February and May of the lunar calendar is the time to harvest the highest quality tea buds. Because at this time, tea can absorb the cold of the misty mountains and the warm rays of the new spring.
The premium tea in a pristine village
Sung hamlet is an interesting destination to discover the unique cultural features of Dao ethnic people. According to the head of the village, Mr. Ly Van Nghia, the people have boldly invested in building an increasingly spacious village in the past time, however, they still maintains the landscape and fresh environment. Well-invested homestays have more and more services to meet the needs of visitors to visit, experience and relax. In particular, the branded Shan Tuyet tea, which is packed with eye-catching packaging, will be one of the gifts for visitors to bring back every time they come to the village. "The ancient tea trees are located deep in the forest, so the harvesting and processing is very industrious. In return, the tea has a special flavor, so it is highly appreciated by tourists inside and outside the province,” said Mr. Nghia.
People often wake up at dawn, lifting the dense fog to pick tea. The old tea trees with the tall trunks, so the people of Sung village have to climb up the ladders to pick each tea bud, which is still full of the morning dew. Picking the tea with the local people and watching the ancient tea trees in vast forests are an interesting experience when visiting Dao village. It is known that, in addition to the ancient tea trees that grow naturally in Bieu mountain, Sung hamlet has a few hectares of tea from 15 to 20 years old and some new planting areas now. With an altitude of over 1,000m above the sea level, this is the ideal condition for preserving and developing this precious tea variety.
In order to bring theprecious tea to customers, Ms. Ly Sao Mai and a number of the households in Sung hamlet have established a joint team to develop Shan Tuyet tea products, and they have opened a production workshop to treat and produce the tea according to the new technology. Cao Son commune has also implemented many solutions to preserve the ancient tea trees in Bieu mountain. According to the Chairman of the Communal People's Committee, Mr. Dinh Van Thu, in the Resolution on the economic development and tourism, the conservation of trees with high economic value has been focused on by the commune, including the ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees in Sung halmet. The commune aims to build Shan Tuyet tea so that it can become an attractive tourism product for tourists to enjoy and bring back every time they visit Cao Son commune, especially the community tourism village of Sung hamlet.
Another spring has come, it is also the time when the people in Sung village are about to harvest the ancient Shan Tuyet tea on Bieu mountain. The rare and precious tea is preserved by the hospitable "forest people” to welcome tourists near and far when they visit the village. It can be said that Sung is a village Dao containing many interesting things to experience, migle oself with nature and sip a cup of golden Shan Tuyet tea among the vastness of the mountains and forests.
The ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees are scattered in Bieu mountain of Sung hamlet, Cao Son commune (Da Bac). Sung hamlet is a community tourism village that still retains the traditional cultural features of Dao ethnic group.
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