Anhua Dark Tea

Anhua Dark Tea

Anhua Dark Tea is a product protected under the Geographical Indications (GI) system.

Anhua Dark Tea is a registered Geographical Indication certification trademark.

　　Geographic Scope

　　The specific growing area of Anhua County in Yiyang City, Hunan Province, is located in the central-northern part of Hunan, in the northern part of the Xuefeng Mountain Range, along the middle reaches of the Zi River. It is a mountainous region, bordering Taojiang and Ningxiang to the east, Lianyuan and Xinhua to the south, Xupu and Yuanling to the west, and Taoyuan and Changde to the north. Its geographic coordinates lie between 100°43′07″E to 111°58′51″E and 27°58′54″N to 28°38′37″N. It stretches 123.764 km from east to west and 73.461 km from north to south, covering a total area of 4,950.25 square kilometers, making it the third largest county in Hunan Province.

　　Unique Qualities

　　Dark tea is a type of post-fermented tea. Its unique processing method, especially the involvement of microorganisms, gives it special medicinal and pharmacological benefits. It is rich in tea polysaccharide compounds, which the medical community believes can regulate sugar metabolism (help prevent diabetes), lower blood lipids and blood pressure, resist blood coagulation and thrombosis, and enhance the body’s immune system. Clinical trials have proven that the unique effects of dark tea are significant and irreplaceable by other types of tea.

　　Cultural Stories

　　Anhua Dark Tea is named after its place of origin, Anhua County in Yiyang, Hunan. Legend has it that on the ancient Silk Road, horse caravans carrying tea often encountered rain, which soaked the tea. Unwilling to discard the wet tea, the merchants passed through a village plagued by dysentery where many villagers were sick and lacking food and water. Thinking their moldy, worthless tea could not be sold, the merchants gave it to the struggling families. Miraculously, the villagers’ dysentery was cured. In reality, Anhua Dark Tea was produced long before this legend. According to the "Ming History · Food and Commodities Annals": “In the 13th year of Emperor Shenzong’s Wanli reign (1585 AD), tea was traded for horses only in Hanzhong and Baoning. However, as Hunan-produced tea was cheaper, merchants often smuggled it across borders.” Anhua Dark Tea, a traditional craft commodity that ceased production in the 1950s, re-emerged at the beginning of the 21st century mainly due to overseas market demand. This rare product from the mountainous regions of Anhua then gained popularity in Guangdong and Southeast Asia. Its reputation rivals that of Pu'er tea, now widely popular, and it has been praised by authoritative Taiwanese tea literature as “a classic of tea culture, a concentration of tea history, and the finest of teas.” In the early Ming Dynasty (15th century), Anhua improved upon the manufacturing methods of Sichuan’s Wucha (dark tea) to create its own version of dark tea. Wucha is steamed (water-boiled) tea, while Anhua’s dark tea is pan-fired (pan-fried), which eliminates the grassy taste, results in a smoother flavor with a pine-smoke aroma, and became more favored by ethnic minorities in the northwest. At the time, Tibetan envoys visiting the capital for Buddhist ceremonies and tributes would request imperial gifts. On their way back, the Ming court bestowed gifts, including large quantities of tea, which were supposed to come from Sichuan’s official warehouses. However, the envoys took detours through Huguang (Hubei and Hunan) to purchase private tea. Huguang’s dark tea suited their tastes best, and since it mainly came from the Anhua area, it later became collectively known as Anhua Dark Tea.

Anhua Dark Tea was produced no later than the late 15th century and was typically transported via Hubei to the north and northwest. Due to its strong, mellow flavor and affordability, tea merchants in the northwest who held official tea trade permits often crossed into Hunan to buy private tea. From the Ming to the Qing dynasties, tea was considered a “state-planned supply commodity,” and Sichuan and Hanzhong teas were “designated production commodities” during the Ming era. The highly profitable Anhua Dark Tea quickly overshadowed markets for Hanzhong and Sichuan teas, causing their production and sales to decline. In the 23rd year of the Wanli reign (1595 AD), imperial censors Li Nan and Xu Qiao debated over Hunan tea in memorials to the throne—one sought a ban to protect the official tea and horse trade policies, while the other argued that Hunan tea benefited the nomadic tribes of the northwest and should not be prohibited. After deliberation by the Ministry of Revenue and approval by the emperor, it was decided that tea supplied to the northwest would primarily consist of Hanzhong and Sichuan tea, with Hunan tea as a supplement. From then on, Anhua Dark Tea officially became an approved state tea.

Through long-term selection by tea merchants and the market, Anhua Dark Tea gradually flourished. Merchants from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, and Hunan formed trade associations and came to Anhua to purchase and produce dark tea. Wealthy merchants from Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu even built multi-story buildings, established trade associations, and opened commercial shops in Anhua. Along the Zi River, bustling towns thrived with commerce and population growth, such as Huangshaping, Youzhou, Baozhiyuan, Xiaoyan, Bianjiang, Tangjiaguan, Yaqueping, Dongping, and Qiaokou. Before the first year of the Daoguang reign (1820), Shanxi merchants stationed in Yiyang commissioned local agencies to wire money to Anhua to order dark tea or traded wool and fur coats for it. With limited funds, they bought small quantities and were called “rolling package merchants.” The entrusted agencies hired people to collect tea leaves in the countryside, press them into packages for easier transport. Initially, the sizes, shapes, and weights varied, but they gradually became standardized into small cylindrical shapes weighing about 10 jin (old measurement), known as “Bailiang Tea” (Hundred-Tael Tea). During the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Shanxi firm “Sanhegong” improved upon Bailiang Tea by using better raw materials, increasing the weight, and compressing it into larger cylinders using bamboo and straw. Each cylinder weighed 1,000 taels (equivalent to 37.27 kg under the old measurement), and stood about 5 chi (166.5 cm) tall with a circumference of 1.7 chi (56 cm). These were mainly traded by Shanxi merchants and divided into “Qizhou Rolls” and “Jiangzhou Rolls” based on the merchants’ origins. Qizhou Rolls, handled by merchants from Qixian and Yuci in Shanxi, each weighed 1,000 taels and were produced in larger quantities. Jiangzhou Rolls, made by merchants from Jiangzhou, each weighed 1,100 taels and were less common.

Shaping the tea into cylinders and processing it through frying, moistening, steaming, and pressing not only increased the weight of the tea within a limited volume but was also essential for developing the quality of dark tea. The “Bailiang Tea” and “Qianliang Tea” series are collectively referred to as “Huajuan” (Flower Rolls). This name has three meanings: the tea is packaged in bamboo-strip baskets woven into floral patterns; the dark tea contains noticeable white stems; and the pressed tea shows patterns from the compression process. The cylindrical shape resembles a rolled book, hence the name “Huajuan.” In addition to Qizhou and Jiangzhou rolls, there were premium versions from original brands, known as “Roll Kings,” which were of the highest quality and rarely produced historically. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the main sales area of Anhua Dark Tea remained among ethnic minority regions in the northwest, and few locals in Hunan drank it. In some years when production was high and sales low, locals burned tea roots and leaves as firewood. In recent years, with the rising fame and economic impact of Pu'er tea, the Anhua government has repeatedly petitioned the Hunan provincial government for support in developing the Anhua Dark Tea industry. Today, Anhua Dark Tea has transformed from an obscure local variety to a top choice for gifts among many Hunanese. Although it remains outside the mainstream in many Chinese teahouses, the united efforts of the people of Hunan will surely elevate Anhua Dark Tea to rival Pu'er tea in popularity among Chinese tea drinkers.

　　The protected geographic indication area for Anhua Dark Tea includes the following 32 towns and townships under the jurisdiction of Anhua County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province: Qingtangpu, Meicheng, Lean, Xianxi, Changtang, Dafu, Yangjiaotang, Lengshi, Longtang, Xiaoyan, Taoxi, Jiangnan, Tianzhuang, Dongping, Zhexi, Malu, Kuixi, Yanxi, Pingkou, Qujiang, Nanjin, and Gulu; as well as Taohuashan, Shiniujiang, Fuqiushan, Luchiudu, Daligang, and Majitang in Taojiang County; Xinshidu, Nijiangkou, and Cangshuipu in Heshan District; and Xinqiaohé in Ziyang District.