Poliu Niangniang Tea

Poliu Niangniang Tea is a distinctive tea from Poliu Village, Longchang Town, Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province, and is one of the more ancient varieties of tea plants. So why is it called Niangniang Tea? This is because local girls would go out to pick and process some Poliu tea when they were getting married, which is why Poliu tea is also known as “Niangniang Tea.” However, looking at the shape of the tea, it also resembles a brush tip, and is therefore also called “Zhuangyuanbi Tea” (Number One Scholar’s Brush Tea).

The ancient tea trees of Niangniang Tea are planted in rocky soil that dates back approximately 210 million years. Relying on the beautiful and tranquil natural environment of the Longtou Mountain, they produce Poliu Niangniang Tea of excellent quality, with a pure taste, elegant nobility, and rich fullness, earning long-standing praise. This has given rise to an ancient Buyi folk song widely spread among people: “If you’re going to drink tea, drink Poliu Tea; pour it in a cup and it shines sleek and smooth; drink a cup of Poliu Tea, and its lingering sweetness quenches thirst and stirs thoughts of tea.”

Poliu Village has a long history of tea cultivation, and all existing tea trees are over a hundred years old, making them genuine ancient tea trees. The area has more than 2,000 mu of ancient tea trees.

Poliu Niangniang Tea is made using traditional manual techniques, involving complex processes. The finished tea resembles a brush tip in shape, and is also known as “Wenbi Tea” (Literary Brush Tea) or “Zhuangyuanbi Tea” (Number One Scholar’s Brush Tea). In recent years, due to various reasons, Poliu Niangniang Tea has only been produced on a small scale by villagers and has not formed a large-scale system. The small family workshops lack modern technological support, resulting in slow improvement in tea quality, and some minor issues have not been promptly resolved.