Jinyun Mountain is located in Beibei District, Chongqing. As one of Chongqing's scenic spots, it is also known as the "Local Version of Mount Emei." When Jinyun Temple was still under construction halfway up Jinyun Mountain in the first year of the Jinping regnal period of the Liu Song Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties period, the monks there were fond of the sweet tea growing in the wilderness. They planted it and "picked the young leaves and baked them in spring and summer." Jinyun Sweet Tea was their most elaborately made tea product for entertaining noble guests. Its mellow and fragrant taste won the acclaim of monks and scholars of all ages.

Jinyun Sweet Tea has a yellowish color and a mellow flavor.

Jinyun Sweet Tea later became a favorite among historians and writers. Writer Guo Moruo expressed his love for it in his poem A Journey to Jinyun Mountain, written after traveling with his friends in North Hot Spring and Jinyun Mountain in 1940:

Heroism comes after wine drinking, and in the middle are bright, beautiful tea flowers.

Jinyun Mountain boasts an ancient temple, where I once enjoyed tea with monks.

Guo Moruo (1982 - 1978) was a renowned Chinese writer, archeologist, poet, historian, and politician.

"Sweet tea" in the poem is Jinyun Sweet Tea. According to the Records of Beibei District, Jinyun Sweet Tea is a multi-eared Lithocarpus glaber of the Fagaceae family. It's a tree with long and sharp leaves, and the young leaves are slightly purple-red. It is mainly distributed around the ridge of Jinyun Mountain, with such a low output that only a few thousand kilograms of it are produced a year.

Tea trees in the mountains are nourished by clouds and fertile soil all year round. This unique condition endows this tea with multiple medicinal functions, such as clearing away heat and toxic materials. If mosquito bites cause blisters, immediately rinse the blisters with sweet tea soup, and then wipe them repeatedly with tea leaves. The scab begins to heal the next day. The treatment effect is better than toilet water. Jinyun Sweet Tea contains more and higher amounts of trace elements than other sweet tea. Compendium of Materia Medica also provides an account of it: "It combines 'medicine, tea, and sugar' in one, with body care and pharmacological effects." In addition, The Book of Tea and Chinese Tea Ceremony mentioned Jinyun Sweet Tea.

The fresh green leaves of Jinyun Sweet Tea ready to be picked.

Clouds nourish Jinyun Mountain. This gives Jinyun Sweet Tea a natural aroma. The soup is golden and red, and the tea leaves are slightly sweet, mellow, and refreshing, leaving a lingering aftertaste in the mouth, on the tongue, and throughout the nasal cavity. Jinyun Sweet Tea is picked in spring and summer and then baked. Rubbing it three times makes the tea color dark brown. It is dried before being served on the tea table. All the laborious steps taken serve only one purpose: for the slightly curved tea leaves to stretch in boiled water and then sink to the bottom.

An authentic tea drinker isn't someone who only knows how to admire and taste tea. An extra flavor is added to the tea if you find a nice lodge in Jinyun Mountain and stay there for a short while during the tea picking season, get up early and collect and make tea in person in a tea garden with the villagers, and watch the young green leaves turn black.

Jinyun Sweet Tea was also mentioned in The Book of Tea and Chinese Tea Ceremony.