The Chinese tea that costs Rs 25 lakh for 20 grams

Tea is never just a drink. Sometimes, it is culture steeped into a cup. Sometimes, it is a revolution that rewrote the history of empires. Yet few among us, who begin our mornings with a steaming glass of chai, realise that there exists a tea in the world that costs several times more than gold.

That tea is called Da Hong Pao, one of the rarest and most expensive teas on Earth, grown in the rocky cliffs of the Wuyi Mountains in China’s Fujian province. A single cup can cost lakhs of rupees. Local tea makers describe it as “a tea that looks like a beggar, carries the price of an emperor, and holds the heart of a Buddha.”

20 grams sold for Rs 25 lakh
Even in China, where tea drinking is treated like an art form, the auctions surrounding Da Hong Pao sound unbelievable. In 2002, just 20 grams of the tea sold for 180,000 yuan - around Rs 25.45 lakh today. That works out to nearly Rs 1.27 lakh for a single gram of tea leaves.

Its value far exceeds the price of gold. steeping one pot of authentic Da Hong Pao can cost over 10,000 dollars. China even has specialised brokers who work exclusively for ultra-rich collectors hunting down rare reserves of the tea.

Why it is called ‘Da Hong Pao’
The tea’s name comes wrapped in legend. In Chinese, Da Hong Pao means “Big Red Robe.”

According to folklore, a Chinese emperor was miraculously cured of an illness after drinking tea steeped from these leaves. As a gesture of gratitude, he ordered red ceremonial robes to be draped around the tea bushes growing on the cliffs. The name remained, and so did the mystique.

The original bushes grow out of steep limestone crevices in the Wuyi Mountains. Heavy rains wash mineral-rich water through the rocks, and tea experts say these minerals give Da Hong Pao its unusually deep flavour and aroma.

The greatest tea theft in history
The story of Da Hong Pao stretches far beyond China. It is tied to the economic ambitions of the British Empire in the nineteenth century.

In 1849, British botanist Robert Fortune travelled secretly into the Wuyi Mountains on a covert mission. Britain’s obsession with tea had become enormously expensive because China was the only source. The British had little to offer in return, creating a severe trade imbalance.

The solution devised by the East India Company was simple: steal China’s tea plants and the secrets behind them.

Earlier attempts had failed. Seeds smuggled out of Guangdong would not grow properly in India, while indigenous Indian tea varieties lacked the flavour profile the British wanted. That is when Fortune was sent in search of China’s finest tea.

Disguised in Chinese clothing, with his hair altered to resemble local styles, he travelled into regions closed to foreigners. He reportedly stayed at the ancient Tianxin Yongle Temple, befriended Buddhist monks and quietly collected tea seeds, saplings and cultivation techniques.

Those stolen plants eventually made their way to India, where they were crossbred with local varieties. Much of the modern Indian tea industry traces its roots back to those smuggled plants. Chinese monks later claimed that while Fortune managed to steal the seeds, he still depended on local tea masters to learn the actual craft of tea-making.

Mao, monks and military guards
The original mother bushes of Da Hong Pao stood on land belonging to Tianxin Yongle Temple, which dates back to AD 827. During the rule of Mao Zedong in 1958, monks were forced to flee the monastery. By the time they returned decades later, the temple had fallen into ruin.

The Chinese government later took over protection of the surviving tea bushes. The tiny quantities harvested from them were reportedly reserved for top government officials. Armed guards were even assigned to protect the plants, underlining their extraordinary status.

The tea sold today is not the original
Today, visitors to Wuyishan can buy tea labelled Da Hong Pao in almost every tea shop. Some versions sell for as little as 100 dollars a kilogram.
But these are not harvested from the original mother bushes. Most come from second- or third-generation cloned plants scientifically propagated from the originals. They may still taste excellent, but among tea connoisseurs, they do not carry the same prestige.

The tea the world may never taste again
The original Da Hong Pao bushes clinging to the cliffs of Wuyishan are believed to be more than 350 years old. Their branches are dry and fragile now, exhausted by time.

Recognising their condition, the Chinese government made a historic decision. In 2005, the last batch of leaves was harvested from the original mother plants. Officials announced that no more leaves would ever be picked from them again.

Every year on May 1, ceremonies are still held before the ancient bushes. Red carpets are rolled out, women dressed in traditional clothing perform rituals recalling the emperor’s legend, but no leaves are touched. The plants have effectively been retired forever.

Which means that only a few grams of original Da Hong Pao still exist today, locked away in the collections of wealthy tea connoisseurs. With every passing year, its value only rises further.

One day, it may survive only as a story — a tea worth more than gold, as precious as diamonds, and perhaps the rarest drink the world will never taste again.