Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous County 双江拉祜族佤族布朗族傣族自治县

Setting and landscape

The Mengku River (勐库河) rises in Linxiang district (临翔区) and flows south past Bingdao village (冰岛村) and Mengku town, and becomes the Mengmeng River (勐勐河) below the county town; it then joins the Xiaohei River (小黑江), a tributary of the Mekong (澜沧江). Chinese Wikipedia describes the Mengku and Mengmeng basins along it as fertile and the county's main grain-growing land, set in the broad mid-mountain valleys at the southern end of the Hengduan range.

History and people

Shuangjiang county was formed in 1929 from parts of Lancang (澜沧) and Mianning (缅宁) counties. The State Council approved its change to an autonomous county on 11 June 1985, and it was formally set up on 30 December that year. Four peoples share the autonomy, the most of any autonomous county in China, and the full name ties with Jishishan (积石山) in Gansu as the longest of any county-level division. Its Va name is si nblaeng.

Tea

Mengku big-leaf tea (勐库大叶茶), also called the Shuangjiang Mengku variety, originated at Bingdao village in Mengku town. It is a tall tree-type, large-leaf, early-budding tea and was recognised as a national variety in 1985; it suits black, green and pu'er teas and is grown widely across south-western Yunnan. On Daxueshan in Mengku, Guangming Daily, in a report republished by Southwest Forestry University, describes a high-altitude, dense community of wild tea trees, and People's Daily Overseas Edition has featured the No. 1 old tea tree of the Bangma Daxueshan (邦马大雪山) wild tea community, which produces Mengku big-leaf tea.

Highlights

• Mengku big-leaf tea 勐库大叶茶: Tree-type large-leaf tea from Bingdao village, a national variety since 1985.
• Bangma Daxueshan wild tea trees 邦马大雪山野生茶树群落: High-altitude, dense wild tea-tree community in Mengku town.
• Bingdao village 冰岛村: Origin of the Mengku big-leaf tea variety, on the Mengku River.