For a great deal of people across the world, it’s not coffee that is their hot beverage of choice, but tea. The aromatic beverage, which originated in China and made its impact on the rest of the world beginning in the 16th century, has become a household staple and the drink of choice for some nations. And now, a province in China is looking to redefine the tea experience in a rather unique way.
In the country’s Sichuan province, a new tea harvest is being collected by farmers. The harvest at a special tea farm in the town of Ya’an is indeed different because of the assistance of pandas. How? By way of their droppings. That’s right, panda poop is what powers this tea crop, thanks to a university professor and entrepreneur by the name of An Yanshi. He came up with the idea based on his studies of the beloved animal. In his research, Yanshi found that pandas don’t have the best digestive system. Consequently, they can only retain 30 percent of the wild bamboo that they normally consume. The remaining 70 percent is purged through their droppings and is rich with fibers and nutrients that are beneficial. The tea, when brewed, is promised to have a mature and robust taste in addition to being replete with nutrients that can fight cancer among other ailments. The enterprising professor began to collect panda droppings, and wound up with ten tons of it to fertilize the tea crops at the farm in Ya’an beginning in 2011. Over the next four years until now, the tea harvest that has been produced as a part of this process has become the world’s most expensive to date. The estimated cost for just 500 grams of this special tea stands at US$35,051. This is a drop from the initial crop’s price of US$68,000 but it still ranks as the priciest.
The panda poop tea craze has even influenced the annual festival held in the province every spring coinciding with the harvest; locals have begun to dress in panda costumes, and Mr. An himself has a sizeable collection of panda-themed clothing. The festivities have begun to attract curious travelers looking to imbibe the ‘panda’ tea and to gain more insight on the process at the plantation. An hopes that the tea would garner him a spot in the hallowed Guinness Book Of World Records.
