Enter the hidden "coffee tribe" of the Mekong River

The primitive jungle of the Mekong River, which obscures the sun, is pregnant with strange animals and plants with different personalities. Seemingly mundane journey, often the next second there will be a new surprise. Yesterday, by chance, the scientific research team broke into the "Coffee Village", which lives in the jungle of southern Laos and is hard for locals to find. The naked villagers produce the world's top coffee beans in an almost primitive way.

After a busy day, the scientific research team is about to return from the setting sun on the Borofen plateau in southern Laos. In order to collect a plant specimen, the reporter turned a steep hillside and gradually fell behind the line. Suddenly, a nearly 15-meter-high "strange tree" attracted the attention of reporters, and hundreds of branches were covered with clusters of bright red fruits the size of winter dates. "look what kind of tree it is!" The team members gathered around to the sound. Wu Sugong, a researcher and botanist at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, carefully examined it. "this is a small coffee tree with very little stock in the world, and it is extremely demanding on the growing environment. Those fruits are one of the top coffee beans in the world-small grains of coffee. Let's split up and look for it. There must be a village nearby. Maybe we can find something big! " Sure enough, in the depths of the dense forest ahead, more than a dozen dilapidated thatched huts flashed, and shadows could be seen vaguely inside. The team members shouted loudly through the high wooden fence outside the village. Five minutes later, an old man pushed out the door and responded in broken English. Learning that the scientific research team came from far away China, the old man looked a little excited and hurriedly opened the stockade door. This inconspicuous village is full of coffee trees everywhere, and its full fruit swings gently with the wind, making people feel as if they were in a red sea.

"at present, it is 689 meters above sea level, which is the only volcanic ash plateau in Laos. The sunshine time is long, the rainfall is moderate, the air is moist, and the temperature difference between morning and evening is less than 10 ℃. The climatic conditions are very suitable for coffee growth. Coupled with the fact that the soil is a volcanic rock rich in trace element potassium, which is slightly acidic, it has created the top small-grain coffee in the world. " Looking at the coffee trees everywhere, Professor Wu's face was filled with joy. At this time, the villagers gradually gathered together and looked blankly at our strange faces. The reporter found that they were all dressed in rags and could not find any furniture except simple pots and pans and other daily necessities in the hut.

"my name is Camsain, the only one in the village who can speak English." The old man who just opened the door said proudly, "despite the fact that our village is small, it has the best coffee in Laos." They do not use any pesticides or chemicals, drink accumulated Rain Water and clarified Mekong water, and use fresh buffalo dung as nourishment. Over the past 60 years, nearly 3 hectares of coffee trees have been the main source of income for young and old in the village. nearly 500 kilograms of coffee beans produced here every year can always sell at a good price to meet the annual expenses of the whole village. In order to take good care of the coffee trees, we always live in isolation and have little contact with the outside world. Many people only come down the mountain once a year when they sell coffee, and even the locals hardly see us. As a result, there are actually few people who have been to our most famous coffee village in the country. "

"Hello, thank you!" In just a few minutes, the lovely children in the village have learned several sentences of Chinese. The scientific research team took photos with them one after another and sent them candy. Even two or three-year-old children put their hands together and bowed back, their tender faces covered with sweet smiles. When the scientific research team drifted away and looked back at the small village, the villagers still gathered in front of the stockade gate and piously clasped their hands together to bless the Chinese friends.