A collector’s triptych from Amgalan Chin’s spring 2026 journey
I have been walking these three mountain paths for nearly two decades. Each spring, I return to Yiwu’s Mahei, Bulang’s Hekai, and Jingmai’s Mangjing not just to taste maocha, but to feel the soil underfoot — the cool clay of Mahei’s shaded gullies, the iron-rich laterite of Hekai’s high slopes, the ancient mycorrhizal web threading Jingmai’s tea gardens. These three villages represent a trinity of sheng character: Yiwu’s generous softness, Bulang’s unapologetic bitterness, Jingmai’s wildflower-mineral elegance.
In late March 2026, I pressed each batch within days of its optimal sun-drying window. The Yiwu Mahei was finished first — a gentle, patient wither encouraged its honeyed backbone. The Bulang Hekai, by contrast, needed the full weight of stone: a heavy press to hold its intense ku-wei for the long cellaring it deserves. The Jingmai Mangjing, picked from 400-year-old tea trees studded with symbiotic orchids, was the last to settle into its disc, its fragrance already hinting at the orchid-sap it would later yield.
This box is my offering to those who want to learn sheng through contrast. Open each cake one per week, or side by side, and you will understand why a well-made pu-erh never grows tired.