On the mountain slopes of Ta Xua’s highlands, ancient tea trees with rough, moss-covered trunks are sprouting fresh tea buds nourished by dew and mountain winds, producing a truly distinctive taste. More than just a familiar drink for local highland communities, Shan Tuyet tea has now become a valuable crop that provides stable livelihoods and gradually improves the lives of many households in Ta Xua.

Shan Tuyet tea trees are cultivated at elevations ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 meters in Ta Xua commune. (Photo by reporter)

Shan Tuyet tea trees have taken root in Ta Xua for a very long time. In the past, however, local people mainly harvested tea for personal consumption or sold fresh tea buds to traders at low prices. In recent years, as the unique flavour of Ta Xua tea has become more widely recognised, local residents have started changing their production methods. Greater attention is now paid to cultivation, tea roasting, packaging, brand building, and bringing products to market.

Hand tea roasting is one of the most impressive aspects of the tea-making tradition in Ta Xua commune. (Photo by reporter)

The family of Lu A Chau in Chung Trinh hamlet, Ta Xua commune, is one of the households with a long-standing connection to Shan Tuyet tea cultivation. With 7 hectares of tea plantations, each hectare produces an average of 30–50 kilogrammes of dried tea annually, earning the family nearly 300 million VND (11,383 USD) per year from tea sales.

Lu A Chau shared that in the past, growing corn was hard work and still not enough to make ends meet. Since tea prices increased and more tourists and traders have come to visit and buy tea, his family now has a much more stable source of income.

 

Officials of Ta Xua commune inspect ancient tea trees. 

Currently, Ta Xua commune has around 400 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea plantations, including more than 200 ancient tea trees that are hundreds of years old and have been recognised as Vietnamese Heritage Trees by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment. The commune produces approximately 1.2–1.5 tonnes of dried tea annually, with prices ranging from 300,000 VND to 1.5 million VND per kg. Some products made from particularly old tea trees are even sold for over 5 million VND per kg.

Tourists learn about Ta Xua compressed tea cakes. 

To elevate the Ta Xua tea brand, in 2022 Tay Bac Tea and Special Food Co., Ltd. (Tafood) established a Ta Xua specialty tea production and business complex combined with experiential tea tourism.

Located amid Ta Xua’s misty mountain scenery, the complex includes production, processing, packaging, and product display areas, along with tea experience tours and accommodation services. Besides investing in modern machinery, the company also combines traditional processing techniques of local ethnic communities to create tea products that capture the unique flavours of the northwestern mountains.

An employee of Tay Bac Tea and Special Food Co., Ltd. inspects the quality of Shan Tuyet tea cakes. 

“To help local people improve their incomes and bring the flavour of Ta Xua Shan Tuyet tea to wider markets, we have partnered with 250 households to purchase and care for 250 hectares of tea plantations. The company provides jobs for 20 permanent workers and 25 seasonal workers, with salaries ranging from 6 million VND to 20 million VND per month, said Nguyen Thi Tham, Director of Tafood.

From the ancient tea buds growing halfway up the mountainsides, many tea products such as Thien Green Tea and May Green Tea have achieved 4-star OCOP (One Commune One Product) certification and received recognition at various international tea competitions. In particular, Ta Xua’s fermented and compressed Shan tea products are becoming one of Vietnam’s signature specialties.

 

A diverse range of products made from Ta Xua Shan Tuyet tea. 

Shan Tuyet tea trees are also opening new opportunities for experiential tourism development in Ta Xua’s highlands. Visitors come not only to hunt for clouds but also to witness centuries-old tea trees firsthand, experience tea picking and roasting, and enjoy fragrant cups of tea.

Pham Van Phuong, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, said “This is my first time visiting Ta Xua, and I have fully experienced the impressive beauty of this land filled with wind, clouds, mountains, and especially Shan Tuyet tea with its unique flavour. These are unforgettable experiences, and I chose to buy Shan Tuyet tea as gift for my family and friends.”

Ta Xua Shan Tuyet tea products are displayed and sold at tourist destinations. 

 

Amid the floating sea of clouds over the northwestern mountains, the ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees continue to quietly sprout new buds. In the faint aroma of tea drifting through the cool mountain air, one can sense not only the flavour of nature itself but also the hope for a gradually improving life in the highlands of Ta Xua.