Yihong Black Tea

Yihong Black Tea

　　Known as Yihong, also referred to as Yichang Gongfu Tea, it is one of China's major Gongfu black tea varieties. Historically, it earned its name because it was gathered, processed, and exported through Yichang.

　　 　　1 The Natural Environment of the Yihong Black Tea Region

　　 　　The Yihong Black Tea region is located between 109° and 112° east longitude, and 29° to 31°31′ north latitude. It is produced in over twenty counties across three cities and prefectures in Hubei and Hunan provinces (Yichang City and Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei, and Changde City in Hunan), within the Wuling Mountain Range and...

　　 　　1.1 Climate

　　 　　The region has a subtropical climate, with an average annual temperature of 14–18°C. In Yichang, the average annual temperature is 16.9°C, the frost-free period is 283 days, the tea-growing season above 10°C lasts 248 days, and the accumulated effective active temperature is 5,401°C. In Enshi, the average annual temperature is 16.3°C, the frost-free period is 280 days, the tea-growing season above 10°C is 247 days, and the accumulated effective active temperature is 5,171°C. Changde, near 29° north latitude, generally receives annual precipitation of 1,200–1,600 mm, mostly concentrated during the tea growing months of March to September.

　　 　　1.2 Soil and Topography

　　 　　The soils are mainly yellow-brown earth, red soil, yellow earth, and acidic purple soil, derived from parent rocks such as gneiss, sandstone, shale, slate, and granite. The pH value typically ranges between 4.5 and 6.5.

　　 　　Yihong Black Tea is produced within the Wuling and Daba Mountain Ranges, with the Wuling Mountains being the most widespread. There are high peaks ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 m in elevation, but tea plantations are mainly found at altitudes between 300 and 1,000 m in low mountains and mid-high hills. Premium Yihong Black Tea producing areas are mostly located between 400 and 1,000 m in elevation, such as Caihua in Wufeng, Dengcun in Yichang, and Zouma in Hefeng.

　　 　　1.3 Varieties

　　 　　The Yihong Black Tea region has unique local tea plant varieties, including Yichang Dayezhong, Yihongzao, Enshi Dayezhong, Hefeng Taizicha, Enshi Taizizao, Badong Taizicha, Wufeng Dayezhong, and Wufeng Liuyezhong.

　　 　　2 The Birth of Yihong Black Tea

　　 　　Many scholars believe that Chinese black tea originated in the mid-17th century. But when exactly did Yihong Black Tea come into being? The author began collecting data and conducting interviews in the Yihong Black Tea region in 1953. In 1982, the author wrote an article titled “A Preliminary Study on Yihong Black Tea,” stating: “The 1843 Banning County Annals of Hunan recorded that in the 23rd year of the Daoguang reign (1843), foreign trade began, and Cantonese merchants brought large sums of money to produce black tea, which greatly benefited local farmers. The tea was sun-dried, had a slight red hue, hence the name 'black tea.' The 1867 Ningxiang County Annals of the Qing Dynasty noted: ‘Cantonese traders came to the countryside to deal in black tea. They favored sunny rather than rainy weather, needed no roasting but required sun-drying, providing a small livelihood for the locals.’ According to the analysis of Wu Juenong, a renowned Chinese tea scientist: ‘At that time (referring to the 19th century), black tea already existed in Hunan. Being adjacent to Hunan, the method of making black tea may have spread to Hubei during this period.’ The Hubei Tea Trade Chronicles recorded: ‘After the 19th century, large numbers of Cantonese merchants came to southern Hubei to produce and export black tea, further boosting the development of tea production in southern Hubei. By the eve of the Opium War, Yangloudong had not only become a nationally famous border tea-producing area but also a well-known exporter of black tea. While tea production in southern Hubei flourished, Cantonese tea merchants also traveled to Hefeng and Wufeng to process black tea, which promoted the development of tea production in western Hubei. The Yihong Black Tea produced in Wufeng, Hefeng, and Changyang was very popular with British merchants and became a nationally famous export black tea product.’ ‘After the 19th century, foreign trade in our province grew significantly, and the export of black tea thrived accordingly. During the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, Cantonese tea merchant Jun Dafu brought Jiangxi technicians to Yuyangguan in Wufeng to teach black tea processing techniques, set up shops to purchase and refine black tea, then transport it to Hankou and onward to Guangzhou for export.’”

　　 　　The Continuation Edition of the 1885 Hefeng County Annals recorded: “Since the Bingzi year, Cantonese merchant Lin Zichen came to the prefecture (note: after the Yongzheng reign, the Rongmei Tusi was reformed and Hefeng Prefecture was established) to purchase black tea. The Taihehe and Qianshen’an companies set up shops in Wuliping within the city, handling the transport of black tea to Hankou for trade, which foreigners regarded as high-quality.”

　　 　　In May 1962, the author visited Gong Meishan, an experienced tea expert and tea taster at the Taipingxi Tea Station of the Yichang County Tea Company. He said: “In the first year of the Guangxu reign (Yihei year, 1875), a Cantonese merchant from Xiangshan County named Lu Cilun first went to Hefeng to mine but failed. Seeing that there was abundant tea in the Hefeng area, he opened a tea company and taught local farmers how to make black tea in Hefeng and Nishashi in Shimen County, Hunan. In the first year, they produced seven to eight thousand jin of black tea, the first batch of which was transported from Hankou to Guangzhou for export. Due to the high quality of the tea, each box sold for as much as 160 taels (of silver), double the market price of black tea at the time.”

　　 　　A signboard from the British-owned “Baoshunhe” tea company, unearthed in Caihua Township, Wufeng County, and over 100 years old, indicates that black tea was already being produced throughout Wufeng at that time.

　　 　　Based on historical documents and accounts from veteran tea makers in the Yihong Black Tea region, it can be inferred that Yihong Black Tea was born around the mid-19th century. Its large-scale export began after the signing of the unequal Treaty of Yantai in 1876 between the Qing government and Britain, which designated Yichang as a trading port. According to data from the China Tea Company: in 1876, China’s tea exports reached 2.132 million dan, of which 1.709 million dan were black tea, accounting for 80.16% of total tea exports. At that time, 574,000 dan of tea were exported from Hankou, including 478,000 dan of black tea, making up 83.2% of the total, with a significant amount being Yihong Black Tea. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the peak year for China’s tea exports was 1886, when exports reached 2.682 million dan, including 2 million dan of black tea, accounting for 74.6% of the total, bringing in 63.1 million silver dollars for the country.

　　 　　In 1949, China’s tea exports amounted to only 198,400 dan, of which just 16,500 dan were black tea—just 0.825% of the 1886 figure. Yihong Black Tea production nearly ceased entirely. Wufeng Yuyangguan, the center for Yihong Black Tea procurement, processing, and distribution, had over ten tea factories before the Anti-Japanese War, but all had closed by 1949.

　　 　　3 The Rebirth and Development of Yihong Black Tea

　　 　　On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded. The Soviet Union was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with China, followed by the signing of the “Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance” and the “Sino-Soviet Trade Agreement.” Chinese black tea was exported to the Soviet Union in exchange for urgently needed construction materials, thus finding a market. Later, Yihong Black Tea was also exported to Eastern European countries.