雅安

Yǎ'ān

Ya'an

reviewed

idyaan

yaan

Prefecture-level city on the rainy western edge of the Sichuan Basin whose Mount Mengding in Mingshan District is the historic origin of Mengding Ganlu, Mengding Shihua and Mengding Huangya.

Level: Prefecture
prefecture-level city (地级市)
Within: Sichuan

At a glance#

Garden elevation

600–1,456 m

Ya’an government

Rainfall

1,800 mm a year

Ya’an government

Mean temperature

15.4 °C

Ya’an government

Mean relative humidity

83 %

Ya’an government

Fog days

220 a year

Ya’an government

Location

29.980 °N103.013 °E

Garden elevation: Mengding Mountain in Mingshan District rises to 1,456 m; core gardens sit between 800 and 1,400 m.

Where it lies#

Tea places nearby, plotted by their coordinates. Only physical positions are shown, no boundaries.

SichuanYa'an

22 places shown Across the view · 384 km

Nearby tea placesYa'an

22 places shown Across the view · 191 km

Mapzen / Tilezen · USGS · NOAA Natural Earth

Altitude#

Garden elevations here and in neighbouring places, as sourced.

Picking calendar#

蒙顶早春茶

Feb 25 – Apr 15

Early spring bud picking for Mengding Ganlu, Mengding Huangya, and Mengding Shihua.

Ya’an government

南路边茶原料采割

May 20 – Sep 30

Mature shoots and red-brown stems harvested for Ya'an Tibetan border tea (南路边茶).

National standards platform

Terroir#

Rock: Red-bed quartzose sandstone, conglomerate, and mudstone on the steep eastern face of the Tibetan Plateau transition.
Soil: Acidic mountain yellow soil (山地黄壤) and purple-red loam rich in organic matter, pH 4.5–5.5.
Slope and light: Known proverbially as "Rain-City Ya'an" (雨城雅安); persistent mist and diffused light produce tender buds for Mengding Ganlu and Mengding Huangya while supporting vigorous shoot growth for Nanlu Biancha.

Ya’an government

Cultivation#

Cultivars grown: Mengshan 9 Fuding Dabai
Landraces: Mengshan medium- and small-leaf population (蒙山群体种).
Practice: Three-braid, three-fry pan-firing (三炒三揉) for Mengding Ganlu; paper-wrapped yellowing (包黄) for Mengding Huangya; pile-fermentation and steaming/pressing for Nanlu Kangzhuan.

Ya’an government

Local words#

闷黄 sealed yellowing 黑茶 dark tea 砖茶 brick 杀青 kill-green

Local words	Dialect
边茶 Pinyin: biānchá	Southwestern Mandarin (Ya'an)	Sichuanese trade term meaning frontier or border tea, designating compressed Kangzhuan and Jinjian dark teas manufactured in Ya'an for horse-and-porter caravans to Tibet. Hubei heritage portal

People#

Mengding mountain tea masters, Tibetan-corridor porters and border-tea artisans 雅安蒙顶山制茶师、背夫与南路边茶匠人: Mingshan artisans preserved monastic tribute green and yellow tea crafts on Mount Mengding while Ya'an guild workshops and human porters sustained the Southern Route brick-tea trade into Kham and Central Tibet.
Hubei heritage portal

Market#

Primary trade channel: Spring specialty teas trade through the Mingshan Mengdingshan tea market toward Chengdu and national buyers, while designated border-tea enterprises ship compressed bricks along the Sichuan–Tibet corridor.
Ya’an government
Trading towns: Mingshan · Yucheng (Ya'an) · Tianquan
Output: Ya'an's tea economy pairs early-spring fine-bud green and yellow teas on Mount Mengding with large-volume compressed Nanlu border tea (Kangzhuan and Jinzhuan) manufactured in Yucheng and Mingshan.
Prices of teas claiming this origin: Early-spring single-bud Mengding Huangya and Ganlu from upper Mengding slopes sit at the top of the price spectrum, while mature summer/autumn shoots and stems supply compressed border bricks.

Ya’an government

History#

-53Tradition records Wu Lizhen planting the seven "Immortal Tea" bushes at甘露寺 / 皇茶园 on Mengding Mountain.
Ya’an government
1186Southern Song court confers the formal title "Zhengtang" on the Imperial Tea Garden (皇茶园) at Mengding.
Ya’an government
2022Nanlu Biancha and Mengding tea crafts inscribed with China's traditional tea-making techniques on the UNESCO ICH list.
Hubei heritage portal

Notes#

Identity and history#

Positioned along the western fault-line escarpment where the Sichuan Basin meets the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Mingshan and Yucheng districts, Ya'an experiences among the highest annual precipitation and cloud cover of any Chinese tea region. Mount Mengding serves as the historical cradle of imperial tribute green and yellow teas—most notably three-fried, three-rolled Mengding Ganlu and paper-smothered Mengding Huangya—while the city's workshops anchor the production of coarse, pile-fermented Kangzhuan and Jinjian dark teas for the Tibetan plateau trade. National standards and heritage listings regulate both its delicate spring bud crafts and its heavy border-tea compression.

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Prices of teas claiming this origin#

International retail

Show as table

Product	Vendor	Channel	per 100 g
Ming Qian Meng Ding Huang Ya	TeaVivre	International retail	$66.28
Meng Ding Huang Ya Yellow Tea	Sazen Tea	International retail	$168.56
Meng Ding Gan Lu Green Tea	Sazen Tea	International retail	$201.87

Listings claiming this origin 3#

Price ranks compare recorded retail offers for the same tea, including offers outside the current delivery filter. Shipping and import charges are excluded.

Sort by Prices compared in the selected currency; unknown values appear last.

Product	Vendor	Price	Per 100 g
Ming Qian Meng Ding Huang Ya Mid-range of 11 Mengding Yellow Buds Stated year: 2026 Claimed origin: Ya'an Details Compare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition. Cultivar Old Sichuan Tea Qunti Cultivar (Lao Chuan Cha) Packaging role Repacked by vendor	TeaVivre Worldwide USA · Canada · Hong Kong · Japan · South Korea · Singapore · Malaysia · Thailand · Australia · New Zealand · Switzerland · Norway · Worldwide Shipping policy	$74.90 / 113 g	$66.28
Meng Ding Huang Ya Yellow Tea Upper quarter of 11 Mengding Yellow Buds Stated year: — Claimed origin: Ya'an Details Compare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition. Packaging role Vendor portion / sample	Sazen Tea Worldwide Worldwide Shipping policy	€15.03 / 10 g	$168.56 €150.30 / 100 g
Meng Ding Gan Lu Green Tea Highest of 11 Mengding Ganlu Stated year: 2026 Claimed origin: Ya'an Details Compare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition. Cultivar Lao Chuan Cha (Sichuan Quntizhong) Packaging role Vendor portion / sample	Sazen Tea Worldwide Worldwide Shipping policy	€18.00 / 10 g	$201.87 €180.00 / 100 g

Prices recorded on the dates checked. Conversions use ECB rates dated 2026-10-20; original prices appear alongside. Origin, age and cultivar are stated by the vendor.