Bitter, earthy, herbal: why wild Chinese honey has chefs buzzing with excitement
Wild natural honey from Yunnan province and beyond is becoming a favourite among food professionals looking for flavours besides sweet
Thousands of bees buzz in a frenzy, throwing themselves at a man in a protective suit. Clinging to a rope ladder suspended over a cliff, the harvester struggles to balance with every reach towards the bees’ hive.
Armed with a long-handled knife, he slices away the outer sections rich with ripe honey, leaving the centre and bottom intact so the larvae inside can survive to sustain the colony.
He first encountered cliff honey harvesting in a part of Yunnan near the China-Myanmar border in 2018. At the time, even most locals had no idea the perilous tradition existed. It was practised mostly unseen in the mountain forests.
Liu first arrived in Yunnan while working on rural revitalisation projects. His curiosity about cliff honey grew into an obsession, shaped by the province’s geography, biodiversity and generations of knowledge.
It took him five years and countless expeditions across Yunnan to feel like he was starting to understand Chinese honey. The more he travelled, the less honey resembled the cloying syrup he was used to buying from supermarkets.