Qian Nian Ye Sheng (千年野生生茶, Qiān Nián Yě Shēng Shēng Chá, "Thousand Year Wild Sheng Tea") is picked from the wild ancestor of the Yunnan tea plant, Camellia crassicolumna. These wild plants are randomly distributed throughout the forest - as opposed to planted in convenient patches - and the buds, known as Yá Bāo when processed as tea, only appear once a year, in the middle of winter. Each bud opens into 3-5 colorful leaves, which may be red, white, purple, or green. Qiān Nián Yě Shēng is made from the fully-mature, opened leaves that emerge from these buds. In flavor it is smooth, vegetal, and herbaceous with notes of summer squash, a soft olive oily savor, and red bell pepper with a crisp fragrance evocative of a dry, grassy meadow.
