China is a vast country, and I've managed to visit a small but memorable part of it — Hong Kong, Macau, Kunming, Xiamen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Bashoan/Lincang in Yunnan Province, where I was searching, not unlike Indiana Jones, for the wild green tea trees of China in the mountains close to the Burmese border.

In this mountain range, trees — not bushes — grow randomly at 7,500 feet above sea level. It is from these broad tea leaves that Puerh tea is created.

Green Tea in China — All Tea Comes from One Plant

All tea is created from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. It is simply a question of processing. Puerh tea is fermented from broad tea leaves in tea beds and then usually pressed into cakes. It matures like wine and is commonly labelled and dated. Some old tea cakes — 50 years and counting — are traded in Beijing for thousands of US dollars.

The Puerh tea sold at Tea Cargo is not only organic but also aged from 2008. My friend Dai Hu tells me Chinese people drink it after eating fatty food and drinking alcohol. Mean, indeed.

Dai Hu

I met Dai in Scotland. He was studying occupational therapy at Edinburgh University on a scholarship from the Chinese government — a discipline not yet practised in China at the time. Today he lectures on occupational therapy at Kunming University.

Dai introduced me to broad tea leaves and arranged the finest back massage of my life – performed by a blind man trained in the art by monks. It cost around $3 and Dai forbade me to tip him.

In China, it was also the first time I ate chicken's feet, together with a local speciality of slimy black mushrooms and duck jelly. Some things you don't forget.

Back in Andalucía, that trip to Yunnan has stayed with me — particularly the green tea. If you'd like to put it to good use, my Green Tea and Lemon Granita is a good place to start.

Footnote: Find more recipes and food adventures here.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef