Awakening the ancient tea forest of Ta Suoi Cau

Recently, during a business trip to the highland border commune of Y Ty, we were introduced by the leaders of the commune People's Committee to some famous local products that have been recognized as OCOP products, including the special ancient Shan Tuyet tea in Ta Suoi Cau village. It is worth mentioning that the person who "awakened" the ancient tea forest of Ta Suoi Cau, helping people earn more income from the ancient tea trees, is the Dao village chief Tan Lao Khe.

Báo Lào Cai•07/11/2025

Ta Suoi Cau village, translated from Dao language to Mandarin, means a village with a large stream. Ta Suoi Cau is located on a mountainside, with precarious terrain and many cliffs, in the old A Lu commune, bordering A Mu Sung commune. This is also where the Dao ethnic group has lived for many generations.

Pointing to the dark green forest at the foot of the towering rocky mountains, Mr. Tan Lao Khe, Head of Ta Suoi Cau village, said that right in that precarious forest and mountains is where the "green gold" of the Dao people is located. That is the ancient Shan Tuyet tea forest hundreds of years old. No one knows when, the ancestors of the Dao people here took the ancient Shan Tuyet tea seeds from the rocky mountains to plant around the village, so now in the gardens of some households there are ancient moss-covered tea trees. Mr. Khe's family alone owns a forest with more than 200 ancient tea trees.

Taking us to visit his family's ancient tea hill, Mr. Khe said that in the past, people only picked tea leaves to boil water to drink, then some households picked tea buds to dry to preserve the tea longer, and when guests came to visit, they made tea to treat them. There were many ancient tea trees, but no one bought or processed them.

That is why the ancient tea trees do not bring economic value to the people. There was a time when people cut down the ancient tea trees that one person could not hug to make room for corn. The whole large tea area was gradually cut down, it was very sad to see.

As the head of Ta Suoi Cau village, Mr. Tan Lao Khe has always been thinking about how to help people escape poverty. Since 2018, seeing that people in A Mu Sung commune also harvest ancient tea trees to sell to traders exporting to China, he has learned to connect with some traders to sell his family's tea. Depending on the time, each kg of fresh tea costs from 15,000 to 25,000 VND. For tea buds with 1 bud per kg, the price is from 230,000 to 250,000 VND.

It is worth mentioning that the village chief Tan Lao Khe not only sells tea to increase his family's income, but he also acts as a focal point, purchasing about 10 tons of tea for villagers each year at a stable price. He also encourages villagers to actively protect, care for, prune, and create a canopy for the ancient tea garden. Although there are no specific statistics, Ta Suoi Cau village has about 20 hectares of ancient Shan Tuyet tea. From the ancient tea trees, each year the families of Ms. Tan U May, Mr. Tan Lao Sinh, Vang Thong Thien, Phan Lao Lu... earn from 20 to 40 million VND.

Ms. Tan U May smiled: “Before, I didn’t think that the tea trees in my forest could be picked and sold for so much money. Ta Suoi Cau village has nearly 90 Dao households, every house has ancient tea trees. Now that Mr. Khe buys tea, people have a regular income, and life is more prosperous. Along with tea trees, people also grow purple cardamom, cinnamon, corn, and rice. In 2024, the whole village will have 18 households escape poverty, journalist .”

In a spacious house in Ta Suoi Cau village, Mr. Tan Lao Khe brewed a pot of ancient tea for us to enjoy. I was surprised to see Mr. Khe display on the table many types of tea made from ancient tea trees on Ta Suoi Cau mountain.

Mr. Khe introduced Bach La as the most precious tea, with only 1 bud, picked from tea trees hundreds of years old, at an altitude of over 1,000m above sea level, so each kg costs from 1.5 to 2 million VND. In addition, there is Tien tea, Pu-erh tea, Hong tea...

Holding the cup of white tea in my hand, I immediately felt the honey-like aroma of the mountains and forests, a light, strangely pure taste. This type of tea is still light in color when brewed for the first time, but the second and third times the color of the tea becomes darker, the aroma of the tea becomes more fragrant, spreading throughout the room. Shan Tuyet ancient white tea has a unique flavor, not to be confused with other types of tea, and one cannot forget it after drinking it once.

Talking to us, Mr. Tan Lao Khe said that Ta Suoi Cau Shan Tuyet ancient tea is more special than ancient tea in many places because the tea trees are hundreds of years old, growing on rocky mountains exposed to wind and rain all year round, at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,500m above sea level, so the flavor is very unique.

With such a precious tea, if only fresh tea is harvested and sold to China, it would be a waste of raw materials. Therefore, he was determined to learn how to process it to increase the value of ancient tea, helping people have higher income.

From his relationship with some Chinese traders, in 2021, Mr. Tan Lao Khe took the initiative to go to China to learn how to make tea from famous artisans in the neighboring country. As a reputable supplier of raw tea, he was taught by some tea masters how to choose plants, harvest white tea to get the best taste, and how to process each type of tea to have its own form and flavor.

Along with 2 trips to China to learn how to process ancient tea, Village Chief Tan Lao Khe also spent his own money to visit tea regions in Ha Giang and Thai Nguyen provinces to see how people and businesses process tea, thereby learning more experience.

“My village has a lot of precious tea but people either throw it away or sell it for very cheap. No one knows how to make tea. If I, the village chief, don’t learn how to make tea, it will be the same in 5 or 10 years. Who knows when I will be able to help people escape poverty,” said village chief Tan Lao Khe.

Indeed, with a spirit of learning and determination, plus the motivation from the desire to help his people have a better life from ancient tea trees, Head of Tan Lao Khe village has once again "awakened" the ancient tea forest.

Holding in his hands a new tea product that looked like dried cordyceps, Mr. Khe said that each type of tea has its own secret, and that making this type of fairy tea is very difficult, it must be done entirely by hand, so it takes a lot of time. In return, each kilogram of Fairy tea costs many times more than regular green tea. Tea makers also have to constantly learn to make new types of tea to meet market demand.

With his passion and dedication to ancient tea trees, the village chief Tan Lao Khe has turned his dream into reality. Up to now, the ancient Shan Tuyet Ta Suoi Cau tea product produced by him has been recognized as a local 3-star OCOP product.

From the ancient tea tree, Mr. Khe's family earns about 200 million VND each year. Not stopping there, Mr. Khe is continuing to learn to process other products and increase promotion to increase the value of Ta Suoi Cau ancient tea.