Nanjian Tea Factory

The factory was started in Nanjian Yi Autonomous County (Dali) by a former director of the state Xiaguan Tea Factory, and its methods earned it the nickname 'little Xiaguan'. Its first Fenghuang (凤凰, phoenix) tuocha came out in 1985, and the 土林 (Tulin) mark followed. Production stopped from about 1989/1990 to 1992. In 1991 the county set up the state 南涧县茶叶公司 from the factory's core team, plant, techniques and trademarks. The company became a shareholding cooperative in 1997 and registered the 无量山 mark in 1996. In 2007, after a capital increase, it re-registered as 云南土林茶业有限公司. In 2016 the Tulin-with-twin-phoenix mark was recognised as a China well-known trademark, and the chairman bought out the other shareholders, making the firm fully private. The company says it was the county's only pu'er maker before 2003; Wikipedia dates its first cakes to 2003.

The lineage is contested. A 2022 community history says factory staff registered 云南大理南涧茶叶公司 in 1993 and used the 土林凤凰 mark. When 南涧茶厂 itself resumed tuocha in 2000, it switched to the 凤凰古德 mark. In 1998 the Xiaguan group also listed a subsidiary named 南涧茶叶有限责任公司. 'Nanjian' and 'Fenghuang' on a tuocha wrapper therefore do not identify a single producer.

A Xinhua report dated 12 December 2018, republished by Tsinghua University, records a further change in December 2017: Tus-Holdings subsidiaries Tus Science and Technology Services and Yunnan Tus jointly established Wuliangshan Tus Health Technology Co. in Nanjian and acquired Yunnan Tulin Tea. This identifies the reported corporate transaction; it does not mean Tsinghua University directly purchased the factory, and it does not establish ownership today.