Panda Tea, an ecological tea brand rooted in the Mengding Mountain highland of Ya'an, Sichuan, shares the story of a living heritage that is now reaching consumers across the European Union.
Mengding Mountain: cradle of world tea culture
Around 53 BC, during the Western Han dynasty, Wu Lizhen planted seven tea trees between the five peaks of Mengding Mountain - the earliest recorded cultivated tea in human history. From the Tang dynasty onward, Mengding tea entered the imperial tribute lists and traveled the ancient tea-horse routes toward the plateau. Today the region is widely recognized as the cradle of world tea culture.
A UNESCO-inscribed craft
In 2022, the traditional Chinese tea processing techniques and their associated social practices were inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Mengshan tea traditional craft, practiced for over a millennium on these misty terraces, is part of that global recognition - a living practice rather than a frozen landscape.
From a geographic indication to the EU market
Mingding Mountain Tea, the pinyin name of the regional tea, is listed in the protected catalogue of the China-EU Geographic Indication Agreement and has entered the EU market since 2024. In September 2026, it was selected into the 2026 Geographic Indication Helping Rural Revitalization Cases at the 11th World Geographic Indication Brand Conference in Beijing, a featured event of the China International Fair for Trade in Services. Its brand value reached 6.426 billion yuan, ranking among the national top ten for ten consecutive years and first in Sichuan.
Where Panda Tea stands
For Panda Tea, that heritage is daily practice. The brand gardens sit between 800 and 1,500 metres on Mengding Mountain, inside the core habitat of the giant panda. They use no chemical fertiliser and no chemical pesticides; pests are managed with sticky boards and natural predators, and a patented process turns panda manure into organic fertiliser, closing the loop the brand calls a national treasure growing a national drink. Leaves are finished with the Mengding three-roast-three-roll technique, every product is sold sealed rather than as loose leaf, and each pack carries an original hand-painted eco-character panda calligraphy that doubles as an anti-counterfeit mark. Ecological tea, cultural tea and intellectual-property tea - three pillars in one cup, carrying a UNESCO living heritage to global cups.
