XIAGUAN HIGH PLATEAU MATURED | 2014 Raw Pu Er Iron Cake, 357g

This rare Xiaguan Tuocha Iron Cake (铁饼, tie bing) is a study in patience, altitude, and craft. The tea began its life as raw pu-er maocha harvested in 2007, grown high in the Yunnan plateau near Dali, where cool nights, intense sun, and thin mountain air slow the leaf’s growth and deepen its structure. Rather than being rushed into form, the loose leaf was aged for seven full years in the highlands, allowing bitterness to soften and complexity to quietly accumulate.

In 2014, Xiaguan pressed the tea into an iron cake using steam made from snow-melt water drawn from Cang Mountain (苍山)—a detail that nods to centuries of regional tea tradition and adds a subtle clarity to the finished cake. The result is a dense, slow-aging press built for the long journey.

Since 2015, this tea has continued its evolution in British Columbia, resting in a cool, stable coastal climate that encourages elegance over aggression. Time has rounded the edges while preserving the high-altitude energy that defines classic Xiaguan character.

Chinese name: 高原陈铁饼 (High-Plateau Aged Iron Cake)
Type: Raw (Sheng) Pu-erh
Harvest: 2007
Pressing: 2014

Translation of the Nei Fei (inner label)

High Plateau Aged Qizi Cake Tea

Intense tectonic movements three million years ago caused the Yunnan Plateau to rise abruptly from the seabed. As the ancient saying goes, “It grows one zhang in a day—Yunnan is in the heavens,” vividly illustrating the region’s unique and superior natural conditions: low latitude, high elevation, and a distinctive monsoon climate.

The Yunnan Plateau enjoys mild annual temperature variation with large differences between day and night; clearly defined dry and wet seasons, with a long dry season (November–April) and little rainfall, and a short rainy season (June–August) with heavy precipitation accounting for 85% of the annual total. Sunshine is intense, rainfall abundant, frost-free periods are long, and the region’s vertical, three-dimensional climate is especially pronounced.

Dali lies at the watershed between the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains. Warm air currents from the Indian Ocean surge through the long, broad valleys between the Cangshan and Ailao mountain ranges, forming the world-renowned “Xiaguan Wind.” This phenomenon keeps Xiaguan in Dali—historically the heart of China’s Tea Horse Road—warm year-round, with an average humidity of only 60%, creating a uniquely distinctive regional climate.

The Xiaguan Tuocha Company, located at an altitude of 2,000 meters, sits directly upwind of the Xiaguan Wind, where the air is exceptionally clean and fresh. Within this distinctive monsoon climate, premium early-spring Yunnan large-leaf sun-dried green tea is stored for 7–8 years, then crafted using the century-old techniques of Xiaguan Tuocha: steaming with snowmelt spring water from Cangshan Mountain and naturally air-drying in the Xiaguan Wind, among other classic and unique processes.

The resulting High Plateau Aged Qizi Cake Tea is refined and elegant, distinguished by its lofty, unique aroma and rich, expansive, mellow flavor. It is a rare and exceptional tea, offered as a true kindred spirit to tea lovers at home and abroad.

Yunnan Xiaguan Tuocha (Group) Co., Ltd.

Xiaguan

About Xiaguan Tuo Cha

Founded in 1902, Xiaguan is a company with a rich history, including caravans from Yunnan to Tibet and a leading part in the development of 'cooked' Pu Er in the 1970s.