Located on the border between Yen Bai and Son La provinces, Ta Xua boasts a landscape of towering mountains jutting into deep ravines. Its highest peak reaches 2,865 meters, ranking 10th among the highest mountains in Vietnam. Locals in Bac Yen call Ta Xua the "gateway to heaven," a place where heaven and earth meet, shrouded in white clouds year-round. The area is also blessed with ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees. According to locals, the exact age of these trees is unknown, but their age can be measured in years, not human lifetimes.

Tea plants have been closely intertwined with the daily life and culture of the H'Mông ethnic people in the Ta Xua highlands for hundreds of years, and the tea processing craft originated from this. With the development of science and technology, the tea production process is now much simpler than before thanks to the support of machinery. However, many H'Mông families still preserve the traditional method of processing tea by hand, both preserving and developing their ethnic culture and providing a stable income for their families. The people here use their own hands to continuously stir fresh tea buds over a smoky fire for more than two hours until each strand is dry, brittle, and easily broken.

Each Hmong family on the summit of Ta Xua has its own secret recipe for making tea, passed down from generation to generation. The traditional method of harvesting and processing Shan Tuyet tea by hand in cast-iron pans is still preserved, resulting in high-value tea products. According to local experience, Shan Tuyet tea is only harvested about three times a year. The best time to harvest is early morning; the tea is roasted in the afternoon and evening. Because the tea is roasted in cast-iron pans over a wood fire, fresh tea leaves are placed in small baskets, with a maximum weight of 2 kg per basket. Notably, the Hmong people roast the tea immediately after harvesting, believing that this produces the best quality tea.

After harvesting, the first step is wilting the tea leaves, then rolling them to infuse the aroma. After rolling, the tea is put into a pan to dry until the stems break crisply. This stage is less hot to the touch because the heat needs to be reduced gradually and the tea absorbs less heat, but it must be stirred constantly and gently to avoid crushing the tea leaves.

Using traditional handcrafted methods, the Shan Tuyet tea buds are continuously stirred by bare hands over a smoky fire. For the Hmong people, maintaining a stable temperature in the cast-iron pan is crucial for producing delicious tea. When heating the pan over a wood fire, checking the temperature by hand is very important; only when the temperature reaches a certain level can the fresh tea leaves be added. This process also tests one's patience.

All stages of tea processing are important, but according to the experience of many, the wilting stage is the most crucial. Each batch of tea should only contain about 2 kg to ensure even stirring, and the longer the drying time, the better the tea tastes, usually a total of about 2 hours per batch.

Hand-roasted tea often surpasses machine-roasted tea in aroma and color, naturally commanding a much higher price. It can be brewed up to 4-5 times, maintaining the same color and flavor as the first infusion. It's fragrant, like a hint of honey, with a subtle smoky forest aroma. Initially, it has a slightly bitter taste in the mouth, followed by a sweet aftertaste that's hard to mistake for any other tea. Many people wonder why tea must be roasted by hand. Locals explain that: Tea roasters must roast by hand to know the optimal temperature for the tea, and they must skillfully roll the tea leaves by hand so that the buds curl, covered in a layer of white powder, and infused with the pure, refined fragrance of the mountains and forests.

Shan Tuyet tea, a type of tea belonging to Vietnam's heritage plant group, is a specialty tea with large, grayish-white buds. The underside of the tea leaves is covered with a layer of fine, white downy hairs, hence the name "snow tea." The beverage made from this tea has a delicate aroma and a rich, golden color like honey, captivating visitors from near and far, even after just one taste.

For a long time, Ta Xua dried tea buds have been famous throughout and outside the province, with an average selling price of 800,000 VND/kg, thanks to which the lives of tea growers in Ta Xua have improved significantly.

Nowadays, tea plants are not only of high economic value but are also bringing double benefits in helping the locality develop experiential tourism. Tourists coming to Ta Xua are amazed and delighted to discover ancient tea trees, experience the traditional tea processing method by hand of the Mong ethnic people; and choose to buy Ta Xua tea specialties to enjoy and give as gifts to loved ones.

According to statistics, by 2023, Ta Xua commune had nearly 200 hectares of tea plantations, including approximately 1,600 ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees. The commune distributed these ancient tea trees to individual households, providing guidance on completely natural care. They do not spray pesticides or use chemical fertilizers; instead, they clear the undergrowth around the base of the trees to ensure good photosynthesis and harvest using proper techniques. As a result, the trees recover, thrive, and produce high yields and quality tea, bringing significant income to the local people.

Le Nhan