Unique thousand-year-old tree species in Vietnam: Only 60 trees left, finished product price 680 million VND/kg!

This tree species hides at an altitude of about 2,500m above sea level, quietly absorbing the essence of heaven and earth and producing the most expensive product in Vietnam.

On the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, at an altitude of 2400-2700m, there is a thousand-year-old tree species that is considered a treasure of Vietnam. The reason this tree species is so valuable is because there are only 50-60 of them left. So what kind of tree are they?

On the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, at an altitude of 2,400-2,700m, there is a thousand-year-old tree species that is considered a treasure of Vietnam. (Photo: Internet)

Special tree species on Hoang Lien Son range

That tree species is the ancient Bach Long tea tree. According to VTC News, around the year 2000, Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam accidentally got lost in this tea garden when he went into the forest to collect medicinal herbs and saw the tea flowers falling on the ground.

These tea trees are as big as ancient trees, their leaves grow high up in the mist and moss, so if you don't pay attention, you won't be able to see them. Usually, you can only see them when the tea flowers, a very special flower, fall to the ground.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam said that the ancient Bach Long tea trees have grown silently for millions of years, where no human footprints have been. Its trunk is as big as a person's embrace, towering, standing among the ancient trees of the primeval forest. Wild tea trees do not grow evenly, but in each area. They appear every now and then, and when they do, they are entire populations.

Flowers of ancient Bach Long tea trees on Hoang Lien Son mountain range. (Photo: VTC News)

Mr. Lam was also the one who brought Mr. Muteki, a Japanese engineer who is very knowledgeable about tea, to say that the Bach Long tea trees on the Hoang Lien Son range must be hundreds to thousands of years old.

At this altitude, the environment is harsh, the cold is bone-chilling, the winter is covered with snow, the water in the soil also freezes, the tea tree has to put its roots deep into the crevices of the rocks, penetrate deep into the mountain to extract every bit of nutrients, so it grows very slowly. According to calculations by Japanese scientists, in this harsh environment, at this altitude, the diameter of the tea tree trunk only increases by 1mm each year.

The trunks of the ancient Bach Long tea trees are so big that a person can hug them, towering above them, standing among the ancient trees of the primeval forest. (Photo: VTC News)

When tea trees are thousands of years old, they almost stop growing. Scientists at the Agricultural University once measured the diameter of some small wild tea trees right at Tram Ton and found that they did not grow at all for 10 years. At an altitude of more than 3,000m, the climate is extremely harsh, a tea tree as big as a calf can be hundreds of years old, and trees with a trunk circumference that a person can hug around them are thousands of years old. They are precious gifts that nature has bestowed on Vietnam.

The most expensive tea in Vietnam

VTC News also quoted Mr. Trinh Van Ha, a former survey engineer who participated in the construction of the Fansipan cable car, talking about the ancient Bach Long tea forest. The tea trees grow upright, with rough bark and moss growing around the trees. The tea leaves are also thicker and rounder than other types of tea, and when chewed, they have a strange, slightly strong astringent taste and a sweet aftertaste. Notably, species such as mosquitoes, leeches and even snakes and centipedes do not appear in the habitat of these tea trees, although they are specialties of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.

The tea leaves of the ancient Bach Long tea tree are slender and white, the trunk is covered with white hairs. (Photo: Internet)

The Economic and Consumer page describes that the tea shrimp of Bach Long ancient tea is slender and white, the body is covered with white hairs, like the tail of a dragon, so it is named Bach Long tea.

When brewing tea, the tea buds fall down and look soft, the aroma is unique and lasts longer than normal tea. The tea water is apricot yellow, the taste is gentle and sweet, satisfying both the eyes and taste buds. Take a sip of Bach Long tea, hold it in your mouth for a while before swallowing, feel the tea flavor permeate every cell, refreshing and alert beyond description.

The person who discovered the ancient Bach Long tea forest - Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam revealed that the older these tea trees are, the more fragrant they become. The tea leaves can be boiled for an hour and the water is still clear and sweet in the throat.

The tea has an apricot yellow color, a smooth, sweet taste, and a distinctive aroma that lasts longer than regular tea. (Photo: Internet)

Regarding the price of the finished product of the ancient Bach Long tea tree, the Vietnam Law Newspaper shared that the highest price of this special tea is 680 million VND/kg, among the most expensive in Vietnam. The reason is that these thousand-year-old tea trees only have about 50 to 60 roots. Up to now, they are considered rare and unique tea trees in the world. In addition, the finished product of the Bach Long tea tree is exploited and processed by hand in a sophisticated way to create the super high-class Bach Long tea. It takes farmers 2-3 hours to climb and pick all the young buds of an ancient tea tree in one harvest. Each young bud must weigh from 100-300gr to meet quality standards.

To produce 1kg of dry tea, about 3-3.8kg of fresh tea buds must be picked. Farmers must climb 30 tea trees to pick all that fresh tea. That is why farmers can only harvest 2-3kg of this super premium tea product in a year. That is why the price of Bach Long tea on Hoang Lien Son range is up to 680 million VND/kg.

Rare gene treasure needs to be preserved

To protect and make good use of the heritage resources of the "wild" ancient Bach Long tea trees in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, it is hoped that relevant authorities will have specific and practical plans to preserve, develop and enhance these valuable assets that nature has bestowed.

According to kyluc.vn, the ancient Bach Long tea trees are a miracle in the evolutionary history of tea plants. They are a treasure trove of rare "wild" tea genes. They are not only treasures that need to be preserved but also "living fossils" for scientists to study the origin and evolution of tea plants in the history and tea culture of ancient Vietnamese people, as well as the historical heritage of humanity in the world.

The author of the article about the ancient Bach Long tea trees on VTC News shared his feelings after enjoying the Long Tinh tea worth 1.2 billion VND/kg, and found that its taste was slightly sweet and refreshing, no different from the tea buds picked from the ancient Bach Long tea trees on the Hoang Lien Son range.

It takes farmers 2-3 hours to climb and pick all the young buds of an ancient Bach Long tea tree in one harvest. (Photo: Internet)

Unfortunately, when information about the ancient Bach Long tea population was revealed, many people came to the place and cut down some tea branches to bring back, causing the forest to become desolate and bare.

Through the above information about the ancient tea area of ​​Bach Long in the Hoang Lien Son range, it can be affirmed that this is a precious tea source, completely worthy of becoming a Vietnamese brand. Hopefully, in the future, this ancient tea forest will focus on planting new tea areas according to plan, preserving and exploiting existing tea areas scientifically.