new: From October 19th, 2026

China White Tea Tour

Fuzhou - Jingdezhen - Quanzhou - Fuding - Taimu mtn. - Diantou - Zhenghe - Dehua - Xishuangbanna - Nannuo mtn. - Pasha - Menghai

Leaves that appear ancestral — small buds dried in the shade of wild tea trees — reveal themselves to be refined and deeply cultural; and white porcelains disclose warm translucence, the quiet presence of stone, and the gentle trace of the hands that shaped them.

We will travel along an arc of tones and shades that crosses China from east to west, returning us to white. It is a new itinerary that gathers many of our personal passions: a mature route built upon the experience of previous journeys between east and west, precise in its rhythm and guided by a shared objective.

We will depart from Fuzhou, at the crossroads of great maritime routes in the very centre of Fujian, and from there begin our exploration of flavours and refined techniques. We will visit Fuding and then Zhenghe, in their production centres and key villages, where white tea production has reached remarkable technical precision, dividing harvests not only by season but by day and even by the hour in which the precious leaves are picked.

We will visit Jingdezhen and Dehua two centres of porcelain and ceramics whose kilns were first lit during the Tang dynasty, where kaolin-rich clays are shaped, glazed, and fired at over 1300°C to achieve the luminous density that made them world references.

For the latter district, we will base ourselves in a city dear to us for its millennial multiculturalism and refined flavours: Quanzhou, offering an urban immersion into an intense and little-known side of Chinese culture, shaped by crossings of peoples and great voyages.

From the eastern coast we will fly to Yunnan, to the origin of the tea plant where dense ancestral forests still remain. There, we will apply skill and technique in producing our own white tea: harvesting the autumn leaves, allowing them to wither, caring for them, and later engaging in a blind tasting alongside other teas to understand how terroir has expressed itself through our hands.

We will taste numerous cultivars from these areas, expanding our memory of fragrances and flavours and deepening the experiences that shape our inner landscape.

This journey grows from conversations with travellers who have shared previous routes with us. Some places are already reserved; if you recognise yourself in this path, we invite you to contact us directly.

October 19th - November 3rd, 2026

Info and booking

From farmers and tea scholars

We bring with us everything we have learned and developed over the years as scholars and tea producers in Yunnan, our contacts with ceramic artists and other like-minded growers in other Chinese provinces, and all our passion.

Careful planning

We organize our travels with the same care that we use for our teas and our courses: we consider our activities as a whole, a multidimensional exploration of the leaves we love that needs careful and passionate support to reveal all its beauty.

Independent

We organize our itineraries with our own resources, without relying on any travel agency: we visit the places that shaped our tea journey and continue to astonish us, sitting at the tea table with the tea professionals we esteem the most.

Itinerary

Day #1: the Eastern Pearl

Fuzhou, October 19h

We start of journey in Fuzhou, on the estuary of the Min River, which was historically a multicultural landmark for tea and trade.

It is also where every year the tea leaves, processed in the terroir of China, meet the fresh flowers grown in these hills, creating layers of fragrance, sweetness and gratification.

The city is famous for the sensitive palate of its inhabitants: we will stroll its beautiful architecture and landscape to recover from our travel, starting our journey into the Chinese white tea.

Gallery: Fuzhou

Day #2: The art of white: porcelain before tea

Fuzhou to Jingdezhen, October 20th

We reach Jingdezhen, the historic world capital of porcelain, nestled between mountains rich in kaolin (高岭土) and forests that once fuelled its kilns, with waterways that connected it to the imperial court. Porcelain from here was sent as tribute as early as the Tang dynasty.

In the afternoon we begin our immersion in this vibrant creative district with a conversation with …, who has led a successful studio in the city for over 15 years and is part of an influential network of contemporary artists.

Around his studio, we will find multiple opportunities for individual exploration, wandering through workshops and showrooms, discovering how a centuries-old tradition continues to evolve.

Gallery: Jingdezhen

Day #3: A Thousand Years of Kilns

Jingdezhen, October 21st

We quite literally walk on ancient ceramics. This neighbourhood has been producing porcelain for the imperial court since the Tang dynasty, and to this day anyone who wishes to become a ceramic artist passes through here.

We visit the Imperial Kiln site and the Ceramic Museum, moving through more than a thousand years of firing technology. We encounter reconstructed examples of the major historical kiln types, from the Song dynasty to modern times. Their scale and forms leave a strong impression; stepping inside these structures and understanding their function allows us to perceive a surprising continuity across dynasties and generations of craftsmen.

In the evening, we visit the Taoxichuan district, a former industrial area now renewed and adapted into studios and exhibition spaces for contemporary artists, where tradition and experimentation coexist in dialogue.

Gallery: Jingdezhen

Day #4: Along the Maritime Silk Routes

Jindezhen to Quanzhou, October 22nd

We travel south to Quanzhou, one of China’s most important maritime ports during the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty. A crossroads of trade and religion, the city still preserves Buddhist temples, Daoist shrines, and historic Islamic architecture within the same urban landscape.

Quanzhou’s cuisine reflects this openness: light, aromatic, and focused on the natural expression of ingredients.

We will also pay homage at a temple of our choice — in this city, cultures and individual paths have long coexisted, and we are free to follow our own.

Gallery: Jingdezhen

Day #5:  White Gold and Ocean Routes

Quanzhou, October 23rd

Our second day in Quanzhou deepens the soul of the city. We begin with a focused tasting session in a selected tea room, entering the landscape of flavours that will guide the rest of our journey. A technical introduction allows us to clarify categories, processing styles, and aromatic families.

White tea is our central focus, with particular attention to leaf grade and brewing materials. At the same time, we explore Fujianese wulong teas, with the possibility of visiting an established dealer specialising in high-grade Wuyishan rock tea from the Wuyishan area.

Quanzhou is also home to a UNESCO-recognised museum dedicated to the maritime expeditions of the early Ming dynasty (1368-1460 c.), including those led by the admiral Zheng He. A Muslim eunuch born in present-day Kunming, he rose to the highest honours and commanded seven vast voyages across the Indian Ocean with an enormous fleet. The museum offers a window into this moment of global ambition and invites reflection on one of history’s great “what if” turning points.

Gallery: Quanzhou

Day #6: Neither is truly white

Dehua, October 24th

Dehua is a historical centre of Chinese white porcelain, exported since the early Ming dynasty (late 1368) to Europe, where it became known as the prestigious “Blanc de Chine”. It is a luminous, ivory-toned porcelain whose production covered a wide variety of shapes and uses. In particular, artistic religious figures — especially representations of Guanyin — were among the most prized.

Nowadays, Dehua has become one of the largest ceramic production sites in the world, and the catalogues of its factories display many of the ceramic objects we encounter even in the most remote corners of the globe.

At the same time, it preserves suburban areas close to forests — once the essential fuel for wood-fired kilns — and to the mines that provide the raw materials. Here, a few fine artists, across generations, continue their craft: technically rooted in history, yet completely free in their creative expression.

Dehua is renowned for its “warm white”, a quality that connects beautifully with white tea: neither is truly white; both are about restraint and nuance.

Gallery: Dehua

Day #7: The Sea-Blessed Hills

Quanzhou to Fuding, October 25th

We travel north along the coast, following the shoreline that once formed the land of the ancient Minyue Kingdom, to reach Fuding, the northernmost stretch of Fujian. Here we are suspended between the sea and low rolling hills. Each tea tree is touched by a different breeze, shaped by shifting currents of salt air and mountain humidity that nourish the leaves in subtle, distinct ways.

We dedicate this first day to tasting. We begin by familiarising ourselves with the main categories and formats of Fuding white tea — from Baihao Yinzhen to Shoumei — understanding differences in picking standards and leaf structure. We then explore vintages. Fuding farmers are extremely precise and technical, distinguishing not only between terroirs and seasons, but also between different days of harvest, each requiring specific processing decisions.

We pair our tastings with outstanding local cuisine, where the flavour of the sea — freshness and salinity — is expressed in its purest form.

Gallery: Fuding

Day #8: Taimu: Mountain and Mother Cultivar

Taimu mtn, October 26th

We ascend the majestic landscape of Taimu Mountain, one of the symbolic origins of Fuding white tea. The climb is not only scenic, but historical, cultural, and botanical.

Taimu is closely linked to the development of the Fuding Dabai cultivar (Fuding Da Bai Cha), the large-leaf variety that became the genetic foundation for Baihao Yinzhen and many other white teas. Here we observe how altitude, mist, granite soil, and coastal humidity interact to shape leaf structure and aromatic profile.

Walking among ancient paths and tea gardens, we explore the relationship between cultivar, environment, and processing, understanding how this mountain contributed to defining the identity of modern white tea.

The landscape itself becomes part of the lesson: rock formations, shifting clouds, and layered vegetation remind us that white tea, often described as simple, is born from a highly complex ecosystem.

Gallery: Taimu mountain

Day #9: two mountains, one white

Fuding and Zhenghe, Otober 27th

We wake up with the memory of the previous day’s ascent to the original mother trees. Today, we enter one of the most prestigious valleys where their descendants are cultivated and their leaves carefully processed.

Diantou represents the very heart of Fuding — and therefore of Chinese white tea as a whole. We walk through orderly plantations of selected varieties and cultivars, observing how agricultural precision translates into structure, aroma, and balance in the cup. The fields are interspersed with ancient tombs, quiet reminders that terroir is not only soil and climate, but also time and generations.

In the afternoon we move inland to Zhenghe, the complementary half of the white tea landscape. Here the marine breeze becomes softer, almost absent. The hills rise higher, and differences in altitude, humidity, and soil composition shape a distinctly different aromatic profile. Fuding and Zhenghe together reveal how geography defines style — even within the same category of tea.

Gallery: Fuding area

Day #10: Along the Line of the Trees

Zhenghe to Fuzhou, October 28th

We begin the day in the hills of Zhenghe, gathering once more around a new tea table and a fresh selection of teas to brew and evaluate. Here we return once more to the tea table observing how altitude, humidity, and soil composition shape structure and aromatic expression in the cup.

Later we return to Fuzhou, briefly reconnecting with the coast where our journey began. After this pause, we cross China from east to west, following the botanical line of the tea tree itself. We leave behind the small-leaf cultivars of Fujian and fly toward Yunnan.

Gallery: Fuzhou

Day #11: The Dai Kingdom of Forest and Tea

Fuzhou to Xishuangbanna, October 29th

We fly south-west across China, leaving behind the coast and the small-leaf cultivars of Fujian. The flight itself is a crossing — in a few hours, latitude, climate, and botanical world all shift together.

We land in Xishuangbanna just below the Tropic, at the close of the rainy season. The air is warmer and denser the moment you step outside. Red earth, wide skies, and the outline of forested hills announce a landscape that feels older and less domesticated than anything we have seen so far. This is the historical heart of the ancient Dai kingdom, one of China's most biodiverse regions, and the homeland of the large-leaf tea trees that gave the world pu'er.

A new chapter of white tea begins here, shaped not by coastal humidity and granite soil, but by the large-leaf variety, and by a forest culture where age, ecology, and craft are inseparable.

After checking in, we gather at the tea table. We brew a first selection of leaves from this land, paying attention to how the larger leaf structure expresses itself differently in the cup — the weight, the way bitterness opens into sweetness, the particular fragrance that rises from these trees. No conclusions yet. Just a first conversation with a new place.

Gallery: Xishuangbanna

Day #12: Making white tea

Nannuo forest, October 30th

Nannuo Mountain holds over a thousand years of tea history. Its semi-wild character has preserved an exceptional richness of tea forests, where ancient trees and younger growth coexist in remarkable biodiversity. This is our tea land and our base — and here we dedicate a special mid-autumn day entirely to practice.

At the edge of our forest we have completed our outpost, the Eastern Leaves Forest Workshop. Fully integrated into the landscape and far from the nearest village, it becomes our working space for autumn white tea production.

We harvest fresh leaves from our own trees and begin the withering process. Attention turns to airflow, leaf thickness, humidity, and temperature — the subtle variables that determine enzymatic activity, cellular breakdown, and ultimately the clarity and aging potential of the finished tea. White tea may appear simple, but its restraint demands precision.

It is a day in nature — and a day of work. Physically engaging, mentally focused, and quietly rewarding, guided by the fragrance rising from leaves we have helped transform.

Gallery: Nannuo mountain

Day #13: The old Dai Kingdom

Xishuangbanna, October 31st

Today we dedicate ourselves entirely to Yunnan. In our studio in Xishuangbanna, we gather leaves from across the region's most distinctive terroirs and let geography speak through the cup.

Our exploration moves with the mountains: from the eastern slopes near the Lao border, where the villages of Yiwu produce teas of rare elegance, westward into the more rugged territories of Bulang — including Laobanzhang — and upward to the high elevations of Lincang, where cooler air and thinner soil shape a different kind of tension in the leaf.

We observe differences in leaf morphology, processing decisions, and how age transforms what harvest alone cannot. Some teas are slender and aromatic, others broad, dense, and slow to open. Each one is a record of a specific place and a specific hand.

The session closes with a blind tasting: leaves, a gaiwan, and a map on the table. The challenge is to place each tea back where it came from — using nothing but attention. Prizes and glory await, and stepping back is not an option.

Gallery: Xishuangbanna

Day #14: The Gelanghe basin

Pasha, November 1st

We have learned, travelling through Yunnan, that this is not one landscape but a sequence of plains and isolated valleys, each of which developed its own culture, its own agriculture, and in many cases its own cultivars. The tea world mirrors the geography: distinct, self-contained, quietly divergent.

Today we drive into the remote Gelanghe basin, where Pasha mountain stands — rural, largely unknown, and largely unchanged.

We carry our tea table into the landscape, between roots, under canopy, or in the village, among our ancient trees. The setting is simple, and the quality of attention it invites is not.

Pasha sits within the same mountain system as Nannuo, yet its character is distinct — different elevations, different forest composition, a different hand in the processing. For those familiar with pu'er, this is an opportunity to taste how a few kilometres of geography can shift an entire aromatic world. For those encountering pu'er for the first time, this is perhaps the right place to begin: unhurried, unmediated, and honest.
The village itself is worth wandering. Pasha's communities have maintained a close relationship with their tea forests across generations — the trees are not a crop here so much as a presence, tended with the kind of care that doesn't have a name in most languages.
We return to Xishuangbanna in the late afternoon, carrying the day lightly.

Gallery: Pasha

Day #15 - the heart of tea production

Menghai, November 2nd

We return to Nannuo, to our forest, and to the tea we made together.

A few days have passed since we laid the leaves out to wither. Time and air have done their part, and what we harvest today is no longer what we picked. We taste it carefully, without hurry, and we write. Not tasting notes in the formal sense, but something more personal: what we perceive, what surprises us, what we recognise from the day we spent in the forest making it.

Then we place our tea among others — leaves from the same mountain, processed by different hands or in different conditions — and taste blind. Where does our tea sit? What did our processing choices emphasise, and what did they leave behind? Were there moments — a decision about airflow, a question of timing — where the leaf might have expressed itself more fully?

This is one of the rarest opportunities a tea journey can offer: to follow a tea from tree to cup, and then to sit with it honestly. The imperfections, if there are any, are as informative as the qualities. They point back to the mountain, to the day, to the specific conditions we worked within, and they remind us that white tea, for all its apparent simplicity, leaves very little room to hide.

Each person leaves with their own tea, and their own notes. A record of a place, a season, and a few hours of careful work among old trees.

Gallery: Menghai

Day #16 - A journey of fragrances

Xishuangbanna, November 3rd

We gather one last time around the tea table, with a selection of teas from the journey, brewed at whatever pace the morning asks for. Some will want to return to a tea that surprised them. Others will sit quietly with something new, and both are fine.

The luggage will be heavier than it was, with teas, with teaware perhaps, and with the white tea we processed on Nannuo, now wrapped and ready to travel.

There is always something slightly unresolved about the last day of a journey like this. Sixteen days is long enough to change the way you taste, and short enough to leave many questions open. We find that the best souvenir of a tea tour is not a tea, but a habit of attention — something that continues at home, at your own table, with whatever water you have.

The forest will still be here.

Gallery: Xishuangbanna

A preview of your journey

Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026
Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026

Cofanetto: White Tea Tour, ottobre 2026

€ 40.00 EUR Sconto • risparmia

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Questo cofanetto di degustazione raccoglie le sfumature raffinate, eleganti e limpide del tè bianchi che assaggeremo durante il nostro Tour sul tè bianco ad ottobre 2026, viaggiando tra gli aromi di ogni terroir che visiteremo.

Dalle dolci colline accarezzate dalla fresca brezza marina della provincia del Fujian, dove visiteremo il luogo di nascita della tecnica di lavorazione del tè bianco, alle maestose montagne dello Yunnan immerse nella nebbia e nel silenzio. Il nostro itinerario ci condurrà attraverso storici distretti della ceramica, visitando gli studi di maestri ceramisti e artisti.

Per offrirvi un piccolo assaggio della porcellana bianca che ha reso famosa la città di Jingdezhen, questa confezione include una tazza da degustazione in pregiata porcellana di Jingdezhen decorata con i leggendari drago e fenice.

Questo Viaggio in una confezione:

- Fuzhou, provincia del Fujian: un tè bianco al gelsomino, arrotolato a mano in perfette perle dal gusto elegante.

- Fuding, provincia del Fujian: Bai hao yin zhen, la più raffinata arte del tè bianco, con i suoi germogli vellutati accuratamente raccolti e selezionati a mano.

- Fuding, provincia del Fujian: uno Shoumei invecchiato, un tè bianco intenso e corposo lavorato ed essiccato al sole nella primavera del 2010.

- Zhenghe, provincia del Fujian: un Mudan Wang invecchiato, il livello più alto del classico Bai Mudan, della primavera del 2023.

- Nannuo, provincia dello Yunnan: uno Yueguangbai invecchiato del 2018, lavorato con le foglie della nostra foresta e arrotolato a mano in sfere perfette.

- Lunan, provincia dello Yunnan: il nostro Yueguangbai di Alberi Antichi realizzato con le grandi foglie delle cultivar di tè locali dell'area di Pasha, lavorato e pressato nella primavera del 2025.

Sei tè bianchi per un primo assaggio del nostro Tour sul tè Bianco in programma ad ottobre 2026, in un preludio di paesaggi, persone, foglie, arte e sapori.

Formato: confezione da degustazione contenente 6 campioni di tè da 7-10 g ciascuno e una tazzina da degustazione in porcellana Jingdezhen.

Per maggiori dettagli sull'itinerario di questo tour e per vedere la galleria fotografica, visita la pagina White Tea Tour. 

Scopri anche gli altri nostri tour per il 2026: Tour Studio Estivo e Tea Tour Invernale

Questo cofanetto degustazione è un'edizione limitata, disponibile fino al 19 ottobre o fino a esaurimento scorte

Our travel is designed by us, and it is independent from any travel agency: we bring you with us on Eastern Leaves routes, guided by a farmer and tea scholar, through places, tastes and people that are most meaningful for us.

From our travelers

I still can't believe I was in all these amazing places

"I am drinking a rock tea from Wuyishan at home, a month after our trip. Brewed in a beautiful Yixing pot that I bought in actual Yixing, and tea from the mountain that I hiked on. I still can't believe I was in all these amazing places... I am reminiscing about this holiday a lot. It was just perfect. People were incredibly nice. We had wonderful encounters with lots of lovely different tea people and the people in our group where the best. Tea people are so nice. We saw incredible things, drank the best teas and had so much fun together. Everything that was abstract for me beforehand, became concrete while traveling. It's hard to capture my feelings in words, but but I am back home for a month now and there was not a single day that I didn't think about the trip. I wasn't homesick while traveling, but I am tripsick now.

And all of this took place under the caring and enthusiastic guidance of Vivian and Lorenzo, truly two of the most kind, warm-hearted and knowledgeable people that I know."

W.E., from The Netherlands

We have become more sensitive and have touched beauty

"I want to consider a different approach. I don't want to make a review of what went well and what didn't go well. I don't want to dwell on individual stages and describe a fantastic world. I reject any image of travel, tea, an extraordinary country and all that. I want to forget any kind of knowledge I have. Tea lovers already know all about these things. I want to tell them that they don't need "yesterday" because it is the necessary condition to savor any moment with its different temperatures, colors and fragrances. Isn't this what happens when you drink forgotten tea? Isn't it like drinking a new tea, after all? When we abandoned the concept of tea bags, what did we do? We entered an ancient forest for the first time. We put our hands in the clay. We tasted food with a sparkling and surprising flavour. We have become more sensitive and have touched beauty. And this is where the world of Eastern Leaves becomes real"

D.N., from Italy

These experiences last only a few weeks, but the memories will stay with me for a lifetime

I've joined two tours with Eastern Leaves, and both exceeded my expectations. Though I’m not usually a fan of group travel, being with fellow tea lovers made it special.

The Eastern Leaves team stands out for their thoughtfulness, sincerity, and commitment to sharing knowledge. They were supportive before the trip and attentive throughout, providing quality accommodations and meals while regularly asking for feedback.

The itineraries strike a great balance between active days and restful ones with tastings and workshops, and they remain flexible to adapt to changes.

I visited renowned places like Wuyishan, Yixing, and Yunnan’s wild tealands, and even returning to places like Nannuo and Menghai brought new perspectives. These short journeys have left me with lasting memories.

E.T., from The Netherlands

None of what I have experienced, would have been accessible and possible as independent traveller

Thank you so much for such two unforgettable weeks around Yunnan.

As an event organizer I don’t trust other people easily, but your tour was seamless and you gave us so much more than you promised. You’re both very alert to the necessities of the group, flexible and caring that you made us feel special from day one. You also have a keen eye for detail, which always makes a big difference.

Every day we could discover a new shade of the fascinating tea world of Yunnan and it really was a deep dive into the subject at 360 degrees. Most of all, 98% of what we experienced, tasted, brewed, learnt and enjoyed wouldn’t have been accessible and possible as independent traveller. You really are a passport for the world of Chinese tea and I can’t wait to discover another tea area of your country with you.

L.A., from Venice

Our travel package includes accommodation in selected, cosy hotels, all the internal transportation, and meals. It doesn't include the flight from/to your country of origin, visas (but we support your application), and insurance.

Once you decide to travel with us, we assist you in everything we can, following our experience with travellers from all over the world.

Food: Learn through tasting

Along with tea and culture, we place a high value on food: we select the most interesting meals and, above all, to immerse you in our reality of people and places. Whenever possible, we cook in our studio to chill between excursions and to sample foods discovered along the way.
Vegetarian options are plentiful, including numerous variations on tofu, beans, and cooking techniques that are part of the Chinese tradition.

Accomodations

Across China we rely on a network of trusted hotels chosen over years of travel for their consistency, their service, and the way they fit each place. In Xishuangbanna, guests stay in a private villa next to our tea studio, steps from the forest and everything we do there. Elsewhere, we return to properties we know well, some of which have become second homes to us - and most of them include a public tea room.
General accommodation list

Transportation

China is vast, and each tour crosses a good part of it. We move by the means that best suit each leg of the journey — high-speed train between major cities, private car through the mountains and tea-growing regions, and internal flights where distance calls for it. Every transfer is arranged for safety, comfort, and a bit of flexibility along the way.

Contact us

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Further travel options

Summer tea study tour

August 9–22, 2026

This study journey explores tea at its origin, combining field visits, tastings, and technical study in the mountains of Xishuangbanna.

Travelling through the tea landscapes of southern Yunnan, we walk the forests of Nannuo and Bulang, observe ancient tea trees and local cultivation practices, and taste pu’er teas close to their source. Alongside mountain visits, the programme includes Gongfucha practice, comparative tastings, and sessions dedicated to factory production, shou pu’er fermentation, and the evolving pu’er market.

The journey concludes in Kunming, where producers, collectors, and companies meet in one of China’s most important tea trading centres.

This study tour reflects the spirit of Eastern Leaves: learning through landscapes, craft traditions, and direct encounters with tea and the people who shape it.

Itinerary and booking

Tea Horse Road Tour

November 22nd – December 5th, 2026

We built this journey along the Chama Gudao 茶马古道, the ancient Tea Horse Road that for centuries carried pressed tea from Sichuan and Yunnan into Tibet. Starting in Chengdu, we explore Sichuan's teahouse culture before reaching Mengding Mountain, traditionally regarded as the birthplace of cultivated tea, and Yingjing, home to the Tea Horse Road Museum and to zangcha, the dark tea once pressed specifically for the Tibetan trade.

From Kunming we continue to Dali and the ancient town of Shaxi, one of the best-preserved staging posts on the old route. The second half of the journey brings us home to Xishuangbanna, at the botanical origin of the tea plant, where we visit our own forest on Nannuo Mountain, press tea by hand with the farmers of Menghai, and end in Yiwu—historically the starting point of the Tea Horse Road itself—walking a stretch of the original stone path before a final tasting together. This journey reflects the spirit of Eastern Leaves—tea, craft, landscapes, and the people who bring them to life.

Itinerary and booking

Winter Tea Tour

December 23rd, 2026 – January 5th, 2027

This new itinerary explores the diversity of our beloved Yunnan in tea, geography, and culture: we cross its high-mountain geography from north to south, through its two most important kingdoms of Nanzhao (Tang dynasty, 618-907) and Dai (Song dynasty, 960-1279), indulging in the best leaves that the locals who inhabited these lands refined over centuries.

It is a tour of study, with the workshop we prepare for you on brewing, ancient incense, and Tang dynasty cakes; of exploration, with mountains, forests and new encounters; of awe, thanks to the breathtaking landscapes of Yunnan; of people, we will brew together with the producers their best teas, and we will be hosted by pottery masters and tea professionals, freely interacting with their humanity and work.

This journey will take you through everything that makes Eastern Leaves: our Yunnan, a deeper understanding of Chinese culture, and all of the people that make our tea journey meaningful. 

Itinerary and booking

Custom Tea Journeys

Tailored to your preferences and passions. From wilder explorations to focused courses and masterclasses, each tour is designed with the same depth and immersion in our tea world.

Contact us

Travel's FAQ

We choose every place we stay in with care — not only for comfort, but for how it fits the region and the rhythm of the journey.

In Xishuangbanna, guests stay in a private villa next to our tea studio, close to the forest and a short walk from where we work. In other destinations — from Shanghai and the tea mountains of Fujian to Kunming and beyond — we stay in hotels we've come to know and trust over years of guiding, chosen for their reliability, their service, and their sense of place.

You can see our full list of partner accommodations in the document below.

Hotels and Accommodations

For over 50 countries China releases a visa-free stay (the list is at this link).

The list has expanded considerably in recent years — it now includes the United Kingdom and Canada — and is confirmed through the end of 2026. You can check whether your country is included at this link.

If your country is not on the list, China issues 30-day tourist visas through a fairly straightforward process. We suggest contacting your local Chinese visa centre for the current requirements and to complete the application. The standard procedure takes around five working days, with an urgent 48-hour option also available; in most countries, agencies can assist with the paperwork and bookings.

Feel free to contact us for any further support.

Sure! Food is an important part of our experience (and of our lives), so we plan it carefully.

Chinese cuisine is extremely diverse: it includes countless varieties of tofu and a variety of vegetable cooking techniques; we will encounter tuberoses and radishes, wild herbs and flowers: a plant-based diet, in addition to a onnivore diet, is entirely possible.

We also have experience with various dietary restrictions, such as gluten-free, lactose intolerant, and religious restrictions; when you contact us, please let us know your needs and preferences, and we will gladly plan your meal accordingly.

As you are probably aware, we are huge fans of photography, particularly when done slowly and with passion: if you, too, enjoy cameras and pictures, it would be wonderful to share our enthusiasm along the way.

Photos and videos are permitted as long as they do not disrupt the flow of travel for our farmers and experts, ensuring a pleasant experience for all of our guests.

If you want a tour specifically designed for documentary purposes, complete with filming mics and equipment, please contact us in advance to plan a customised trip.

When you decide to book we advise to keep in touch with us, we will assist you as much as possible with flights from your country of origin, visas, and any preparation you may need. 

Visas for China have recently become easier to obtain for the majority of nationalities; for the most up-to-date visa rules, we recommend checking the official Chinese website and your local Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Yes, if you wish, we can provide you with a digital or printed certificate for your travel experience into tea.

For travellers, China is one of the safest countries in the world, with extremely low crime rates, including pickpocketing.

Our commitment along the route is to keep you as safe as possible, both physically and mentally.

For our longer tours, we usually offer the option to join only a portion of the tour, for at least 12 days, based on availability.

If this is your wish, please contact us so that we can plan your trip together.