Tea terroirs: Duyun city, home of Duyun Maojian

Located in the south of south-western province Guizhou (贵州), Duyun city (都匀市) is the administrative centre of the Qiannan (Buyi and Miao Nationalities) autonomous prefecture (黔南布依族苗族自治州). It covers an area of a little more than two thousand square kilometres and has a population of about five hundred thousand. On the confluence of several rivers, Duyun city is a nexus between Guizhou province and the coastal Guangxi (广西) province. Geologically, the city belongs to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (云贵高原) and its territory is characterised by a succession of valleys and hills, which on average peak at around a thousand meters above sea level.

These hills offer the perfect conditions for cultivating tea:

• They beneficiate from a subtropical wet climate.
• There are four distinct seasons, but temperatures are always moderate.
• The soil is relatively acid, which is what tea plants prefer.

The tea variety that is produced on this hills is Duyun Maojian (都匀毛尖), one of China’s “Ten Famous Teas” (中国十大名茶). Like most famous green teas (绿茶), Duyun Maojian is essentially harvested in spring.

Localise Duyun city on a map: