Longji Tea

Longji Tea

Longji Tea is a product with geographical indication.

　　Longji Tea

　　Longji Tea is mainly produced in the misty mountains of the Longsheng Longji Tourism Area and is one of China's 28 famous teas, as well as a tribute tea from the Qing Dynasty. The tea contains various trace elements essential to the human body.

　　It is renowned for its pure and fragrant taste, with an annual production of 5 tons and year-round availability.

　　Longji Tea is grown in the Longji Rice Terraces Scenic Area of Guilin, Guangxi, known as one of the world’s unique wonders. The tea plantations are situated at altitudes above 800 meters within the subtropical monsoon zone. Influenced by alternating cold and warm air currents, the area experiences distinct seasons, abundant rainfall, high organic content, short sunlight duration, high humidity, and is surrounded by year-round flowing streams and mist—offering an unpolluted, unique growing environment that is ideal for producing the high-mountain misty aroma characteristic of this tea.

　　History:

　　With a long history, Longji Tea was once a tribute during the Qianlong era. A stone tablet recording this can be found in Duancun Village of Longji. Recognized as one of China’s 21 famous teas, it is listed in the "Chinese Tea Science Dictionary." During the Qianlong period, Longji Tea was already classified as a tribute tea. A local product from a small place becoming a tribute should have greatly increased its value. However, local officials bullied the ethnic minority villagers in the mountains and, under the pretext that the tea was a tribute item, prohibited free trade. Instead, it could only be sold to government officials—essentially nationalized procurement. As a result, the once-renowned Longji Tea saw its price drop even further, sparking anger but also helplessness among the villagers.

　　Characteristics:

　　Made using traditional craftsmanship, Longji Tea boasts its distinctive color, aroma, and flavor. It contains various trace elements beneficial to health such as amino acids, caffeine, and alkaloids. It is a natural tea treasure that helps strengthen the body, aid in weight loss, enhance beauty, and promote overall wellness, and is considered one of the “Four Treasures of Longji.” It offers an annual supply of 5 tons of spring and summer teas, available in products such as cylindrical packages and bags in sizes of 100g, 150g, and 500g.

　　Legend:

　　In the village, there was a poor man named Pan Tianhong who made a living by doing odd jobs for fellow villagers. One day, while shoveling cow dung under the headman’s stilt house, he overheard the headmen discussing the issue. He poked the floorboard with his shovel handle and volunteered to the headmen: he would represent everyone to sue the officials.

　　That Pan Tianhong would represent everyone to sue the officials left the villagers looking at each other in bewilderment. But they had no better option. So, they pooled some travel expenses and sent Pan Tianhong on his way to file the lawsuit.

　　Crossing mountains and valleys relentlessly, day and night, Pan Tianhong arrived at Guilin Prefecture and struck the complaint drum. The prefect accepted the case, found Pan Tianhong’s grievance reasonable, and said: “I understand. Go back. We will handle it.”

　　But Pan Tianhong did not dare to return just like that—he had used the travel expenses pooled by everyone and had volunteered for the mission. So, he requested the prefect to write a judgment document, which the prefect agreed to and did.

　　Even after obtaining the written judgment, Pan Tianhong remained uneasy—he worried that the document might be stolen, lost, or ruined by rain along the way, and he would then be unable to justify himself upon returning to the village. He further asked the prefect to engrave the judgment on a stone tablet, which he would carry back on his back.

　　(The judgment engraved on the stone tablet can be seen in my blog post dated the 12th, titled “Ancient Stone Tablet Discovered in Longji.”)

　　This judgment not only resolved the issue of Longji Tea but also addressed other problems such as arbitrary levies (for example, the repair costs of pond houses should have been borne by the officials—at that time, Longsheng was called a “Ting,” which had 2 sub-prefectures and 7 outposts, and the outposts were further divided into “ponds,” with the office buildings of the pond-level institutions called “pond houses,” similar to later village offices), forced purchases by government offices, and the indulgent behavior of officials on official business trips.

　　After the stone tablet was engraved, Pan Tianhong carried it back on his back. He traveled via Tuanxia Town, through Qingshi Pond, along the Dongjiang River upstream to Caixijie, and then carried the tablet over the Caixijie mountain pass, taking mountain paths back home. While crossing Qingshi Pond by boat, a sudden strong wind arose, capsizing several nearby small boats—but the boat Pan Tianhong was on remained steady. Some say it was because he moved the heavens, though it may have been the heavy stone tablet that stabilized the boat.

　　Pan Tianhong brought the stone tablet back to the village, and the villagers erected it in front of the village—it clearly stated “Posted for Longji Regiment” (in the Qing Dynasty, the “She (Tun) Regiment” system was in place here).

　　In China, minor officials have always feared higher-ranking ones. With the prefect’s judgment in hand, the county and township minor officials dared not act recklessly regarding this matter: they had to pay for meals when conducting official business in the villages, villagers could once again trade their tea at market towns, and responsibilities that should have been borne by the government were no longer passed on to the people. The result of fair trade was that tea prices returned to normal levels. After this incident, Longji Tea became even more famous.

　　Today, you can still see a 200-year-old tea king tree in the ancient Longji villages, as well as that ancient stone tablet (the original tablet was damaged, and the current one is a recarving from the Xianfeng era, which is also a historical relic).

　　Geographic Scope

　　The protected production area of Longji Tea is located in the northwest of Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with geographical coordinates between 109°43′05″E to 110°21′24″E and 25°29′21″N to 26°12′14″N. It encompasses 119 administrative villages and 6 residential communities across 10 townships within the territory of Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, including Longji Town, Longsheng Town, Jiangdi Township, Pingdeng Town, Mati Township, Sishui Township, Weijiang Township, Lejiang Township, Piaoli Town, and Sanmen Town. The total area spans 2,370.8 square kilometers, with a tea production scale of 2,000 hectares and an annual total output of 3,000 tons.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　(1) External Sensory Features: Strip-shaped tea has tightly twisted, robust, and uniform appearance; spiral-shaped tea is sturdy; color is dark and glossy with visible fuzz and golden hues; liquor color is bright yellow-red; aroma is rich with a unique fruity note; taste is strong, fresh, slightly sweet with a lingering aftertaste and good infusibility; leaves are bright and soft. (2) Internal Quality Indicators: Water extract 34–40.8%, total free amino acids 5.0–5.8%, tea polyphenols 13–19%. Meets the physicochemical standards specified in "GB/T13738.2-2008 Black Tea Part 2: Congou Black Tea." (3) Safety Requirements: Longji Tea is cultivated and managed according to the "Green Food Tea" standard NY/T288-20012. (4) Grading: Longji Tea is classified into Special Grade, Grades 1 to 6. (5) Packaging: Complies with the requirements of SB/T10035 "General Technical Conditions for Tea Sales Packaging," with packaging labels following GB7718 and GB/T17924. (6) Storage: Follows GB/T30375-2013 "Tea Storage" and GB/T191 "Packaging and Storage Pictorial Markings." (7) Transportation: Complies with NY/T1999-2011 "General Rules for Tea Packaging, Transportation, and Storage."