Where time moves at tea pace

Beyond harvesting and processing tea, families now host guests and introduce them to their traditions. Signs offering free tea tasting hang outside most homes.

"Now, we are not only selling tea," Xiangong says. "We are selling the 24 hours of this mountain, the four seasons."

Xiangong says visitors are drawn here because Jingmai Mountain offers something increasingly rare. Tea teaches "restraint" — respecting nature and time, taking no more than necessary.

Nankang says farmers follow strict rules: harvesting only in spring and autumn, picking no more than 70 percent of new leaves, and avoiding summer and winter harvests.

Pesticides are forbidden. In the ancient forest, tall trees shade tea bushes, shrubs fill the mid-layer, and herbs and fallen leaves carpet the ground. Spiders prey on pests, leaves decompose into fertilizer, and species naturally regulate each other, he adds.

In comparison, modern agriculture often plants a single crop over vast areas, creating a simplified ecosystem. A pest or disease adapts to that crop, causing catastrophic damage.

Data from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences show that 943 seed plant species and 187 terrestrial vertebrates have been recorded in the forest. These species coexist with tea trees, forming a stable ecosystem and natural barrier.

Chen Yaohua, an associate professor at Peking University's College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, says "understory cultivation" of old tea trees reflects generations of ecological wisdom. This knowledge, passed down by locals, constitutes a "living testament" to traditional, eco-friendly tea cultivation techniques developed by ancient Chinese people.

In about a month, Jingmai Mountain will welcome its spring tea harvest.

Chen says that with a heritage spanning over 1,000 years, it still offers insights for modern life. "How can humans and nature, as well as people themselves, live in harmony? On Jingmai Mountain, you will find the answer," he says.

Yang Qiyuan and Cao Yuqian contributed to this story.