UNESCO tea mountains — the birthplace of oolong and the world's most expensive cha
Wuyishan is a UNESCO dual World Heritage Site (cultural and natural) in northern Fujian — a landscape of bizarrely eroded red sandstone peaks, bamboo-lined Nine Bend Stream, and the valley that gave the world Da Hong Pao oolong, one of the most expensive teas ever sold. The area was China's most important place of Confucian scholarship during the Song Dynasty; the philosopher Zhu Xi taught here for 40 years. Today the main tourist activity is drifting down the Nine Bend Stream on bamboo rafts while dramatic rock formations pass overhead, and visiting the tea plantations that produce the rock…
Wuyishan has been sacred to Taoists for at least 2,000 years — the 36 peaks and 99 rocks are each named and associated with legends. The Song Dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi established the Wuyi Academy here in 1183 CE, making Wuyishan the intellectual centre of Neo-Confucianism for 40 years; scholars came from across the empire to study. The tea culture is older still — cliff-grown oolong teas from the Wuyi rocks were tribute teas to the imperial court for 900 years. The four original Da Hong Pao mother bushes on a Tianxin Rock cliff face were protected by imperial decree; their cuttings today pr…