Zhao’an Kuding Tea

Zhao’an Kuding Tea

Zhao’an Kuding Tea is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　Over three hundred and fifty years ago, in the high mountain valley of Lipishi at an altitude of over one thousand meters, where the boundaries of Xiuzhuan, Xiage, and Guanbei towns in Zhao’an County meet, there grew several wild large tea trees. These trees thrived by mountain spring water, their lush branches entwined with morning mist and their abundant leaves glistening with dew, giving them a mystical aura. Later, after being examined and mythologized by monks from Changlin Temple, they were temporarily revered as sacred trees. The leaves became widely popular in Dongbei Yang (originally named Taipingwei) in Xiuzhuan Town, where they were used by the anti-Qing and pro-Ming Tiandihui rebel forces as a miraculous remedy for body cleansing and consumption, as well as a talisman carried along. Later, through extensive adoption and dissemination by impoverished Hakka peasant youth in the mountainous areas (commonly referred to as “Kuding”), it was believed to be invariably efficacious and symbolically auspicious. It was regarded as a blessed object that brought relief to the suffering, hence the tea was colloquially named “Kuding Tea,” later officially renamed “Zhao’an Kuding Tea.” To this day, local farmers still maintain the custom of ascending the mountain to Taipingwei to seek talismans. Around the lunar date of December 24th, women engage in thorough house cleaning while men go up the mountain to pick fresh tea leaves, which are then placed above doorways or on the incense burner of the Kitchen God, symbolizing the transition from bitterness to sweetness. Due to various historical reasons and the limitations of Kuding Tea cultivation techniques, transplanting the tea has been described as “nine deaths for one survival,” and seedling cultivation as “one success in a hundred miles,” resulting in very slow development. For a long time, it remained confined within remote and impoverished mountain valleys. Since the reform and opening-up, teams of experts and professors from the Fujian Tropical Crops Research Institute have entered the Hakka mountainous regions of Fujian to research Kuding Tea. The Zhao’an Kuding Tea variety is pure, and its economic value and miraculous efficacy have been fully affirmed.

　　　　According to the “Zhao’an County Annals”: Kuding Tea is a wild shrub belonging to the Aquifoliaceae family. Its seedlings were first artificially cultivated and commercially grown in Xiuzhuan. After 1990, cultivation gradually expanded to Jianshe, Xitan, Baiyang, and other areas. Some households cultivate and harvest the tender branches and leaves, which can be used for brewing after sun-drying or air-drying. Zhao’an County has had a long-standing tradition of using Kuding Tea for medicinal purposes since ancient times. The traditional method of consumption involves picking the tea leaves and brewing them in water to clear heat, detoxify, reduce inflammation, and purge internal heat. In 1996, the Jianshe Kuding Tea Farm in Zhao’an County established enterprise standards for both Kuding Tea and Kuding tea bags. In the 1980s, people in Zhao’an began propagating the wild Kuding Tea from the mountains through cuttings, harvesting the leaves for processing and sales. Currently, the planted area is about 5,000 mu, with no use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. To this day, some tea trees have grown tall and leafy, reaching heights similar to lychee trees.

　　Zhao’an Kuding Tea

　　Zhao’an County Xiuzhuan Town Kuding Tea Association

　　11599107

　　Tea