Hekai Tea Mountain in SW Yunnan: A humid biodiversity hotspot

Located at an altitude between 1,400 and 1,800 meters, Hekai Tea Mountain in Menghai County, southwest Yunnan province, is often shrouded in fog. The humid air provides favorable conditions for tea trees to grow. It is one of the best preserved and largest ancient tea gardens in the world.

It is said that there are over 2 million ancient tea trees on the mountain and many of them are between 200 and 1,400 years old. If you take a closer look at each tea tree branch, you can find diverse orchids, ferns and mosses settling down and thriving. 

Menghai County in Xishuangbanna is known for its Pu'er tea. The environment here not only allows tea trees to grow in patches, but also enables abundant plants and insects to live and breed.

Photos taken by Zhao Ying(CGTN); editing by Wang Jingzhong