This year’s tea travel adventure takes us deep into China, to the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau—the origin of tea plants and the historic home of the Tea Horse Road.

On this tea trip, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of green tea, yellow tea, and Pu’er tea, while also exploring black tea, dark tea, and matcha.

You’ll be part of a small group, so your specific questions will get personal attention. Our goal is to turbo-boost your understanding of Chinese tea, so you can confidently explore this dynamic world and start answering the ultimate question:

This isn’t just a tea trip—it’s a deeply educational and immersive experience. Here’s what you’ll discover:

• Sensory Impact: Stand in tea gardens that feel like stepping into an ancient Chinese calligraphy painting.
• Hands-On Learning: Work in processing rooms and encounter tea aromas you didn’t even know existed.
• Expert Tastings: Taste countless teas while diving into their rich flavor profiles.

But all this is only the beginning. Along with the above-mentioned experiential indulgence, this tea tour will significantly elevate your tea knowledge. Whether you’ve studied tea before or are building on previous experience, this trip will help you organize your understanding, fill knowledge gaps, and develop a rock-solid foundation.

As our travels unfold, we’ll continue building on this strong foundation, helping you master real-world knowledge about tea farms, factories, professional tea tasting and appraisal, as well as gain insights into Chinese tea history, market trends, and cultural influences.

Zhen Lu, Jianli Wu, and Phil Rushworth

Jianli’s knowledge of Chinese tea is simply unparalleled. Rich in academic knowledge as well as extensive field and market experience, she also brings 20 years of teaching to the table, having taught both beginners and professionals in China. You’ll learn so much traveling with her, tea plants, tea farming, tea garden, history, cultural lineage, tea processing, tasting, and appraisal. This vast tea knowledge is what she specializes in delivering, helping you understand the logic behind each sip when it comes to teas from all over the world. Let me emphasize the professional tea appraisal we will be teaching you during the trip. This is what Jianli has been teaching tea professionals, including tea educators, tea farmers and producers, tea merchants, and more in China for decades. What’s more precious is that after 30 years in China’s tea industry, she’s still humble and passionate about learning more about tea. She is excited to show you around the tea regions and view Chinese tea from a new angle through conversation and interaction with you.

Phil and Zhen will be there to bridge the difference between the East and the West, not just language, but also culture. Especially tea culture and the nuances of understanding tea. This will make your China tea trip so much more rewarding. A complete approach with an authentic Chinese perspective and the ease of clear English delivery, ensuring minimum misunderstanding and missed information.