Pingle Stone Cliff Tea

Pingle Stone Cliff Tea

Pingle Stone Cliff Tea is a product with a geographical indication for agricultural products.

　　Pingle Stone Cliff Tea is a specialty of Pingle, Guilin, Guangxi.

　　Pingle Stone Cliff Tea is a specialty of Pingle, Guilin, Guangxi. Stone cliff tea, also known as stone cliff tea or stone mountain tea, its scientific name is *Adinandra nitida*, belonging to the genus *Adinandra* and classified as a tree species. It earns its name from growing on cliffs, and its plump buds and leaves produce tea with a bright infusion. The flavor is pure with a pleasant aftertaste, and it can be steeped multiple times. Testing by relevant authorities has shown that, as it contains no caffeine, drinking it does not affect sleep. It is also rich in flavonoids, offering good health benefits, which is why it is highly favored by consumers.

　　Origin

　　"Stone cliff tea" mainly grows in the high-altitude primeval forest cliffs of counties and cities in Guangxi such as Pingnan County, Pingle County, Mengshan County, Guiping City, Zhaoping County, Jinxiu County, and Huanjiang County. The highest quality comes from old-tree tea. In ancient times, monkeys were trained to pick the tea leaves, hence it was also called "monkey-picked tea." Plant experts from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou identified wild stone cliff tea as belonging to the yellow *Adinandra* of the *Adinandra nitida* tea family.

　　Quality Characteristics

　　Its main components include: 20% flavonoids, 23.4% tea polyphenols, 9.73% amino acids, as well as various beneficial elements such as wild alkaloids. It is currently the plant with the highest known flavonoid content in natural flora and is considered a rare, wild, pure, and natural green tea treasure in China. This tea, recognized as the finest wild stone cliff tea in the country, was included in the book *The Record of Superlatives in the Republic* compiled by the Party History Research Center of the CPC Central Committee.

　　Efficacy

　　"Wild stone cliff tea" has a jade-like green color and a fragrant, refreshing taste, with low theine content. It leaves a lasting aftertaste, does not affect sleep, and when consumed regularly in the morning and evening, offers benefits such as clearing heat and detoxifying, protecting the liver and improving eyesight, reducing inflammation and moistening the lungs, beautifying the skin, lowering blood pressure, reducing fat, and aiding digestion. It has notable effects on conditions such as pharyngitis, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high blood lipids. Wild stone cliff tea is a treasured product of the Dayao Mountains. It grows in the counties and cities of Guangxi, particularly in the southern mountainous areas where the sunlight is limited, temperature variations are large, and the environment is cool, damp, and shady on stone cliffs or near mountain streams. Since it grows on steep cliffs, it is said to absorb the essence of heaven and earth and the spirit of the sun and moon. The unique ecological environment gives rise to this distinctive, purely natural beverage. In the past, monkeys had to be trained to pick the tea leaves, which is why it is also called "immortal tea" or "monkey-picked tea."

　　Growing Locations

　　"Stone cliff tea" mainly grows on the cliffs of high-altitude primeval forests in Pingle County, Guilin. Wild stone cliff tea is a treasured product of the Dayao Mountains, growing on cool, damp, shaded stone cliffs or near mountain streams in mountainous areas with short sunlight hours and large temperature variations. As it grows on steep cliffs, it is said to absorb the essence of heaven and earth and the spirit of the sun and moon. The unique ecological environment gives rise to this distinctive, purely natural beverage.

　　Development History

　　In the past, although people commonly understood this tea to have a cooling nature and often consumed it during intense heat or strenuous labor, its practical value and scientific rationale were not fully understood. Additionally, the primitive and rough processing methods resulted in subpar tea quality, and its practical value and economic benefits were far from being realized. It wasn’t until 1974 that Lü Zengwen, a tea specialist at the Pingle County Native Products Company, pioneered its rediscovery and refinement. Drawing on extensive folk experience, combined with years of dedicated experimentation, and applying the processing techniques of Guìqīng tea, he achieved an ideal premium-quality tea. In 1985, after systematic organization, he wrote the treatise *Wild Stone Cliff Tea*, which was published in the *Guangxi Science and Technology Newspaper* and the *Wild Plant Research* journal by the National Information Center for the Comprehensive Utilization of Wild Plants. He was also invited to attend the "National Symposium on the Development of Wild Plants" held in Zunyi in 1987. From then on, stone cliff tea gradually gained social recognition and entered the market in the late 1980s, becoming a newly rising, popular premium tea variety among those around Pingle.

　　Pingle Stone Cliff Tea

　　Region: Guangxi

　　Applicant: Pingle County Agricultural Technology Extension Center

　　Region: 2014

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected geographic indication area for Pingle Stone Cliff Tea includes the eastern, southern, and central (around Lotus Mountain) mountainous and semi-mountainous regions within the administrative boundaries of Pingle County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. This covers 27 administrative villages and one state-owned forest farm (Guangyun Forest Farm) across seven townships: Yuantou Town, Yang'an Township, Qinglong Township, Qiaoting Township, Dafa Yao Ethnic Township, Pingle Town, and Etang Town. The protected area lies between 110°34′–111°02′ east longitude and 24°16′–24°38′ north latitude, stretching 110 kilometers from east to west and 42 kilometers from north to south. The protected area spans 800 hectares with a yield of 600 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　(1) External sensory characteristics: The shape is strip-like or granular. Strip tea features stout strips with a sandy green color, glossy with frost spots; granular tea is tightly compressed, heavy, smooth, and dark green in color. The aroma is rich and long-lasting, the infusion is yellow-green and bright, the taste is strong, mellow, and sweet with a noticeable aftertaste, and the leaf base consists of intact, bright buds and leaves. (2) Internal quality: The finished tea (dry product) contains total flavonoids ≥6.0% and soluble sugars ≥1.5%. (3) Safety requirements: Producers of Pingle Stone Cliff Tea must strictly adhere to pollution-free standardized production and obtain pollution-free, green food, or organic food certifications. Safety and hygiene must comply with the latest versions of the *National Food Safety Standard – Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods* (GB2762) and the *National Food Safety Standard – Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides in Foods* (GB2763).