The Origin of Yunnan Coffee

Zhu Kula is a mysterious, legendary and beautiful natural village, which belongs to the Zhukula Village Committee of Pingchuan Town, Binchuan County, Dali Prefecture. It is located on the bank of the Yubao River, a tributary of the Jinsha River. It is a place at the junction of Dali Prefecture, Chuxiong Prefecture and Lijiang City.

More than 100 years ago, Zhu Kula called "Ruokelai" (Yi language), which means crooked mountain road. In 1892, due to the arrival of the French missionary Father Tian, he combined the essence of Yi language with the romance of the French, so the name Zhu Kula came into being, and later generations translated it as "heaven on earth".

According to reports, in 1892, French missionary Father Tian used coffee fruit to breed the first coffee tree outside the church, and then cultivated more coffee trees and planted them around the church. Since then, the village of Zhukula began to grow coffee, and the village has been surrounded by coffee trees ever since. Qi Guanghui and Li Fusheng, the two oldest elders in the village, are both in their eighties this year, and together they have witnessed the formation of the oldest coffee forest in China.

Although Zhu Kula is poor and backward, it has an inextricable bond with coffee. In addition to growing coffee all over the country, the villagers all have a tradition of drinking coffee: self-growing, self-grinding and self-brewing, and now men, women and children in the village have the habit of drinking coffee. The villagers here have a special feeling for the coffee tree, even if the coffee beans do not bring them any economic benefits, the villagers are not willing to cut down a coffee tree.

Zhukula Village receives guests with local coffee and walnuts, although the coffee made from earthen cans is not the best, but this primitive drinking method reflects the love of coffee among Zhukula villagers and is the highest etiquette reception for guests. The unique and rich original coffee culture makes everyone who knows Zhu Kula have to sigh that it is worthy of the first coffee village in China.

Zhukula coffee forest belongs to Arabica bean (Arabica) Yunnan small grain Bobang (bourbon) and Tiebika (Typica) varieties.

At present, the Arabica coffee garden planted in Yunnan has exceeded 21000 hectares.