Phoenix old-bush conservation fund — formation
Teamotea today announced the formation of the Phoenix old-bush conservation fund, an initiative committing CNY 20 million annually alongside five partner cooperatives to monitor and protect over 5,000 centennial tea trees across 18 villages in Fenghuang Shan, Guangdong province.
Saint Petersburg — 2026-08-20
Teamotea, the holding company behind a constellation of 35 Chinese-tea products and platforms, today announced the formation of the Phoenix old-bush conservation fund — a multi-year initiative that directs CNY 20 million annually toward the stewardship of old-bush Mí Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香) and other Fènghuáng Dān Cóng (凤凰单丛) cultivars native to Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong province.
Effective 1 September 2026, the fund formalises a direct partnership with five established cooperatives — the Wudong Villages Tea Cooperative, Fenghuang Town Old-Tree Tea Farmers Association, Pingkeng Ancient Tea Society, Lizaikeng Traditional Cultivar Union, and the Tianchi Eco-Tea Collective — covering 18 administrative villages and encompassing 5,127 verified old-bush trees. Each tree is defined as being at least 100 years old, a determination made through core-sampling dendrochronology conducted by independent agronomists from the South China Agricultural University in 2025.
The fund’s operation is governed by a transparent, science-led monitoring framework. Criteria include annual dendrochronological reassessment of registered trees, soil microbial diversity indices measured via phospholipid fatty-acid analysis, a hard cap of 30 % harvest intensity per season, and mandatory organic certification for all participating plots. The framework aligns with the Chaozhou City Ancient Tea Tree Protection and Management Guidelines (effective 1 March 2024) and draws on the geographical-indication specification GB/T 18745-2006, Product of geographical indication — Fenghuang Dancong tea.
Evgeniy Smoley, Chief Executive Officer of Teamotea, said, “The old-bush tea trees of Phoenix Mountain are an irreplaceable gift. This fund ensures that the custodianship exercised by generations of farmers is sustained, while setting transparent, science-backed criteria for monitoring every beneficiary tree. For Teamotea, conservation is not a marketing gesture — it is a fiduciary duty to the tea-drinking public and to the ecosystems that make these teas possible.”
Mr. Lin Weimin, chairman of the Fenghuang Town Old-Tree Tea Cooperative Association, added, “For decades our families have guarded these ancient trees without formal recognition. The Phoenix old-bush conservation fund gives us the financial predictability to invest in organic conversion, micro-irrigation, and knowledge transfer. We are finally able to plan beyond the next harvest.”
Consumers will be able to discover limited-release teas from the monitored old bushes through the constellation’s retail platform shop.thetea.app. Educational resources on traditional oolong processing and the terroir of Phoenix Mountain will be available at tea.school, while ongoing knowledge exchange among participating cooperatives is facilitated via tea.community, the peer-learning network operated by Teamotea. The fund’s performance data — including yearly canopy-health scores and soil-carbon sequestration rates — will be published on teamotea.com/sustainability.
Teamotea announced the fund alongside a parallel investment in a micro-lot processing facility in Wudong village, designed to preserve the hand-finishing techniques unique to Fenghuang old-bush teas. The facility is scheduled to become operational in the second quarter of 2027.
About Teamotea Teamotea is the corporate parent of 35 vertical Chinese-tea brands spanning education, retail, travel, and community. The constellation includes tea.school, tea.travel, tea.community, shop.thetea.app, puerh.app, and teamotea.com — each a specialised portal for a distinct segment of the global tea audience. The company maintains operations in Saint Petersburg, Berlin, and Kunming.
Media contact
Dmitry Sologubov