The world’s most expensive tea, which is fertilised with panda dung, is set to go on sale for about £130 a cup.
Chinese entrepreneur An Yanshi says his organic tea is a healthy and smooth natural brew.
The 41-year-old grows the tea in the mountainous Ya’an in Sichuan province using excrement from pandas living at nearby breeding centres. The unusual ingredient was chosen by Mr An for its unique health qualities.
Pandas, which eat only wild bamboo, absorb around only 30% of their nutrients – meaning more than 70% of the food’s goodness is passed out in their excrement.
Mr An said: “They are like a machine that is churning out organic fertiliser.
“They keep eating and they keep producing faeces.
“I just want to convey to the people of the world the message of turning waste into something useful, and the culture of recycling and using organic fertilisers.”
The panda enthusiast even dressed up as one of the bears to help promote his tea to a number of guests who picked the first batch of the lavish product.
Premiere batches will be sold in lots of 50 grammes (approximately 16 cups of tea) for www.,500 (£2,200).
