The ancient coffee forest in China

With the unveiling of the mysterious veil of the century-old history of Chinese coffee, this unknown and isolated mysterious village has come into people's view for the first time. At the same time, Dehong Hougu Coffee Co., Ltd., the only national leading enterprise in China's coffee industry, took immediate action as soon as it was informed. Through a large number of investigations and visits, the representative of Hougu Coffee finally found the oldest coffee forest in China. Facts have proved that the oldest coffee forest in China is in the village of Zhu Kula.

Zhu Kula is a Yi village, a small natural village, magical and beautiful, mysterious and legendary; more than 100 years ago, Zhu Kula was called "Ruokelai" (Yi language), which means winding mountain road. In 1892, the arrival of French missionary Father Tian combined the essence of Yi language with the romance of the French, so Zhu Kula came into being. What does "Zhu Kula" mean and how do you spell it in French? Looking forward to her French-speaking friends to unveil her mystery.

I heard that Zhu Kula is because there is the oldest coffee forest in China, which relatively well preserves the century-old culture of Chinese coffee, and this should be the birthplace of Chinese coffee. 200 years ago, a man surnamed Qi took his wife to the valley on the banks of the Yupao River (a tributary of the Jinsha River), chose the hillside paradise on earth, built a thatched cottage and began their isolated life. This man surnamed Qi, I don't know if he is the descendant of Qi people, who is worried about the sky, so he chooses to live halfway up the mountain. Later, there was a family surnamed Li, and then it developed into the present Qi and Li families, with a total of 84 families and 378 people.

Zhukula Village is a natural village under the jurisdiction of the Zhukula Village Committee of Pingchuan Town, Binchuan County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. There are only two surnames, Qi and Li, in the village, with a total of 84 families and 378 people. now the village is all Yi except one young man from other places is Han nationality.

According to the local old man Qi Guanghui, Zhu Kula Village was not called Zhu Kula at first, but "Ruokelai", which means winding mountain road in Yi language. After Father Tian of France came to this place, the combination of Yi culture and French romantic culture, so this place is called Zhu Kula. Later generations translated Zhu Kula as "heaven on earth".

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. Qi Guanghui, 86, is the first clerk in the village. His father and Father Tian are good friends. Li Fusheng, 82, is the first old president of the village. In 1948, out of his love of coffee, Li Fusheng mobilized the villagers to grow 50 mu of coffee. a heavy snow in 1983 damaged most of the coffee trees in the village, leaving only 13 mu, a total of 1134, which is now the oldest coffee forest in China.

Now in Zhukula village, in addition to these 13 mu of coffee forest, coffee trees are basically planted in each small courtyard. Among the 1134 coffee trees in the coffee forest, there are 3 coffee trees per capita. According to the head of the population, there are at least 7 coffee trees and 48 coffee trees per capita.

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: growing, grinding and brewing their own coffee. Qi Guanghui, the oldest man in the village, said that he grew up drinking coffee, and now both men and women, old and young, in the village have the habit of drinking coffee. Li Fusheng also said that the villagers in the village have a special feeling for the coffee tree, and even if the coffee beans do not bring them any economic benefits, the villagers are not willing to cut down a coffee tree.

Although the coffee made from earthen cans is not the best, this primitive drinking method reflects the love and admiration of Zhu Kula villagers for coffee. In Zhukula, 13 mu of coffee forest closely surrounds the village. Growing and drinking coffee has become a living habit of the villagers. It can be said that Zhukula villagers have melted into coffee, and coffee has become a spiritual belief of the villagers. The unique and rich original coffee culture makes everyone who knows Zhu Kula have to sigh that this can be called the first coffee village in China.

It is reported that in the ancient coffee forest growing in Zhukula village, except for 24 old coffee trees, the rest are the "descendants" of the ancient coffee trees. The ancient coffee forest tree species are pure Yunnan small-grain coffee, and its excellent quality is very rare. It is the "ancestor" of Chinese coffee, especially Yunnan small-grain coffee, and has high scientific research value and industrial development value.

According to Qi Guanghui, an 86-year-old man from Zhukula village, a French missionary named Tian came to Zhukula from Vietnam in 1892. Because Father Tian liked coffee, he planted coffee beans outside the church. The coffee tree planted by Father Tian died in 1997 and survived for 105 years. But the seeds that fell from the coffee tree still grew outside the church and near the village, and now the coffee descendants of the old coffee tree have surrounded the village of Zhukula. Among them, there are 24 coffee trees more than 100 years old, 22 of which are scattered in the 13 mu coffee forest, and the other two grow in the campus of Zhu Kulawan Primary School. At present, 13 mu of coffee forest is being eroded by diseases and insect pests and is in urgent need of protection.

(responsible Editor: coffee Sound)