In 2008, the Pu'er tea making technique (tribute tea making technique) of Ning'er County, Yunnan Province was selected into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection projects in China. The production of Pu'er tea tribute tea has become a relatively fixed procedure, which is roughly divided into four procedures: "worshiping the tea god, selecting raw materials, killing green tea, rolling and drying, and steaming and pressing to form". However, the whole process of Gongcha, from the selection of tea trees, the management of tea gardens, the picking of tea leaves, withering, killing green tea, rolling, drying, and steaming, is all made by hand, and it is all based on feeling and experience, without any reference data or text. 1. Worshiping the tea god. In Pu'er Prefecture, before the spring tea is harvested every year, all ethnic groups must worship the king of tea trees according to their own etiquette. The forms of worship are varied, but the content is generally the same, that is, thanking the gods for their gifts, praising the merits of tea trees, and praying for a good harvest, auspiciousness and happiness in the coming year. 2. Raw material selection. During the harvesting process, the village headman and the prestigious elders will select the best tea garden as the first picking site for the tribute tea after divination and on-site inspection. They will select the tea pickers with dignified appearance, good conduct, no peculiar smell, carefulness and experience to pick the first batch of tea. In the history of Pu'er, there are strict requirements for the picking of tribute tea, such as "five selections and eight discards". The "five selections" are: choosing the day, that is, choosing the auspicious day before the Grain Rain; choosing the time, that is, choosing the best tea picked before sunrise on a sunny day, which is the same as the saying "sunrise disperses" in the "Tea Classic"; choosing the tea mountain, that is, choosing the best tea plantation, objectively encouraging tea farmers to grow good tea; and choosing tea leaves and tea branches. The so-called "eight discards" are specific requirements for the tea pickers' operation, that is: discarding tea without buds, discarding large leaves, discarding small leaves, discarding thin buds, discarding curved buds, discarding pale color, discarding insects, and discarding purple color. 3. Killing the green leaves and rubbing them in the sun. This is a key and unique process in the production of tribute tea. The method of killing green tea is to heat the fresh leaves in a hot pot by combining the techniques of suffocating and shaking, so that the fresh leaves lose some moisture evenly. The key lies in the control of temperature, which depends entirely on experience and touch. Because the temperature of the tea leaves is too low, the raw taste of the fresh leaves cannot be removed; if the temperature is too high, the active enzymes in the tea leaves will be destroyed too much, which is not conducive to the later fermentation and the retention of tea polyphenols. The most notable feature of Pu'er tea is that the later natural fermentation produces a taste that becomes more fragrant with age and unique health benefits. Rolling and twisting is to rub the tea leaves that have been killed directly by hand. The key lies in the control of the weight and the skill of the direction of gravity. The purpose is to roll the tea leaves into strips, which can then be dried into sun-dried green tea. The level of the technique directly affects the taste of the tea leaves and the quality of the bud strip shape. 4. Steaming and pressing. That is, the sun-dried green tea is made into various shapes of compressed tea after steaming, bagging, pressing, shaping, drying, and packaging. In the fifth year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, Ruan Fu recorded in Pu'er Tea Records: "Every year, the tribute includes five catties of tea, three catties of tea, one catty of tea, four taels of tea, and one tael and five cents of tea; and bottles of bud tea, core strips, and boxes of tea paste, a total of eight colors." Pu'er tribute tea includes scattered tea, compressed tea, and tea paste. Tea paste is another unique variety of Pu'er tribute tea. It is easy to carry and drink, and is a product that adapts to the inconvenient transportation conditions in ancient times. Ning'er County, Yunnan Province is an important production area of Pu'er tribute tea. According to Pu'er Prefecture Records, in 1729, the finished Pu'er tea was sent to the emperor at that time. Due to its unique taste and many other reasons, it was designated as a tribute, and the Tribute Tea Department was established. After that, Pu'er tea has been presented to the capital as tribute tea. Pu'er tribute tea has a strong taste and is effective in promoting salivation. As a tribute tea, it became famous in the capital.