Spring, go up the mountain to pick tea buds…

Precious tree in the great forest

The house of old man Ho Tong Lau is not far from the Pha Bun Village Cultural House. Old man Ho Tong Lau is the village chief, born and raised on the land of Huoi Tu. Now more than half his life old, old man Ho Tong Lau said that when he was just learning to walk, there were already tall Shan Tuyet tea trees around his house.

“Now those tea trees have become ancient trees, their trunks covered with moss and bearing the marks of time. The trunks of the tea trees are bigger than human trunks, and the age of the tea trees is also older than the age of humans,” said old man Tong Lau.

Pha Bun village has more than 60 households, with about 300 people, residing halfway up the mountain slopes near Huoi Le village. And the special thing is that almost every household has a few ancient tea trees that are dozens or hundreds of years old. Huoi Tu land is cool in the summer, cold in the winter with drizzle and thick fog, very suitable for enjoying Shan Tuyet tea.

The daily life of the people of Pha Bun village is closely linked to the ancient tea trees. Since then, a bowl of green tea made from Shan Tuyet tea leaves has been present in every family meal, in every story around the warm fire on cold days.

“The tea from ancient Shan Tuyet leaves has a very special taste, both sweet and astringent, mixed with a slight bitterness. The taste of this tea is especially loved by the elderly like us, but the young generation nowadays is different, not many people have the habit of boiling old Shan Tuyet tea leaves anymore,” Mr. Ho Tong Lau confided.

Also from that reality, the number of ancient tea trees in Pha Bun village has been decreasing over the years. Because the elderly are reluctant, while the young want to destroy them to plant other trees that can bring economic value, "make" money such as grapefruit trees, persimmon trees, or bo bo trees, ginger trees...

In the highlands of Huoi Tu, in addition to Pha Bun village, there are many other villages that still have the presence of ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, such as in Na Ni, Huoi Le, Pha Xac villages...

"Before there were tea forests, now there are only tea hills and tea gardens. The tall trees, with a diameter of a person's arm around, have been cut down in large numbers, and now their number can be counted on the fingers," said Ms. Ly Y Xai in Pha Xac village.

In addition to ancient Shan Tuyet tea, in Ky Son district there are also precious tea trees growing wild and naturally in Tay Son commune. “This is a rare red tea area, only about 7-8 hectares, tall trees, with bright red leaves when young, and turning dark red, purple red when old. This tea forest is located in a protective forest area, is dozens of years old and tall. To harvest red tea leaves, you have to use a ladder”, said Mr. Vu Ra Tenh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Tay Son commune.

That is the red tea area located in Dong Tren and Dong Duoi villages, the two farthest villages of Tay Son commune. With a one-way road uphill, sections that have not been concreted, it is impossible to go in the rainy season because of the slippery, so the road to the red tea forest is also limited. Even for local people, to get to the tea forest, they have to choose a sunny day.

Promoting the value of Shan Tuyet tea

In addition to the nutritional value of tea, the ancient tea trees and red tea trees in the ancient tea areas of Ky Son district also bring great value to eco-tourism and the conservation of precious medicinal plants. Therefore, developing the economy from tea trees is an effective direction, bringing prosperity to many households.

Mr. Vu Ba Ly, a resident of Na Ni village, Huoi Tu commune, also expressed that in many villages of Huoi Tu, including Na Ni's hometown, there used to be many ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, some of which were hundreds of years old and still providing lush shade. But now this precious tea tree is visibly decreasing, which is a pity.

Mr. Vu Ba Ly himself also worked for many years at the People's Committee of Huoi Tu commune, together with authorities at all levels trying to find a "path" to develop the economy from ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, but so far it has not been really effective.

“The most sustainable and promising direction is still to develop eco-tourism, visiting hundred-year-old tea areas. But at present, people basically do not have the resources to develop it,” said Mr. Vu Ba Ly.

Currently, in many localities in the province, economic development from tea trees is bringing high income value to the people. The leader of the People's Committee of Huoi Tu commune said that in Huoi Tu, growing Shan Tuyet tea is also an effective "channel". The Shan Tuyet tea tree being grown by the people of Huoi Tu commune is also the "descendant" of ancient Shan Tuyet tea, products from Shan Tuyet tea trees have met the province's 3-star OCOP standard.

In Ky Son district, Huoi Tu commune is the commune with the largest area of ​​shan tuyet tea in the district with more than 280 hectares. In recent years, the People's Committee of Huoi Tu commune continues to encourage people to actively care for and harvest tea, restore abandoned tea areas, plant new tea trees, and form a clean, quality raw material area with the "brand" of Huoi Tu shan tuyet tea. The product is produced by the Huoi Tu Organic Tea Production Cooperative.

For ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees, there have been many proposals to preserve and promote the value of precious trees for ecotourism; or to research deep processing directions such as brewing kombucha tea from tea leaves, both increasing economic value and creating products that are good for health. Only then will the hundred-year-old ancient tea areas be protected, will last forever, and become a unique and distinctive feature, with increasingly high economic value contributions to the land of Ky Son.