Anhua dark tea is a protected geographical indication product. Anhua dark tea is a geographical indication certification trademark.

Regional scope

The specific growth area in Anhua County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province is located in the north of central Hunan, in the north of Xuefeng Mountains, in the upper reaches of Zishui River. It is a mountainous area, bounded by Taojiang River and Taojiang River in the east. It borders Ningxiang, Lianyuan and Xinhua to the south, Xupu and Yuanling to the west, and Taoyuan and Changde to the north. Its geographical coordinates are between 100°43′07″ and 111°58′51″ east longitude and 27°58′54″ and 28°38′37″ north latitude. It is 123.764 kilometers long from east to west and 73.461 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of ??4950.25 square kilometers. It is the third largest county in Hunan Province

Specific quality

Dark tea is a post-fermented tea with unique processing The process, especially the participation of microorganisms, makes it have special traditional Chinese medicine physiological effects. It is rich in tea polysaccharide compounds and is believed by the medical community to be able to regulate sugar metabolism in the body (prevent diabetes), lower blood lipids, blood pressure, anti-hemagglutination, thrombosis, improve body immunity. Clinical trials have proven that dark tea has remarkable special effects and is irreplaceable by other teas.

Cultural allusions

Anhua dark tea is named after it is produced in Anhua County, Yiyang, Hunan. Legend has it that on the ancient "Silk Road", the caravans transporting tea often encountered rain and the tea got wet, and the tea merchants were heartbroken and unwilling to throw it away. Passing through a village where dysentery was rampant, many people in the village were sick. The villagers had no food or water. The tea merchant thought that the tea he brought had become moldy and was worthless, so he would give it to these poor families. As a result, a miracle happened, and everyone in the village was cured of dysentery. In fact, the production of Anhua dark tea is much earlier than the legend. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty·Shi Huo Zhi": "In the 13th year of Shenzong Wanli (AD 1585), tea was exchanged for horses, but Hanzhong Baoning, while Hunan produced tea, which was cheap, and merchants led across the border to smuggle private tea." Anhua Dark tea is a traditional craft product that ceased production in the 1950s. Mainly due to procurement from overseas markets, this rare treasure originating in the Anhua Mountains was able to appear at the beginning of the 21st century and became popular in Guangdong and Southeast Asian markets. Its reputation is as high as that of Pu'er, which is popular today. It is praised by the authoritative Taiwan Tea Book as "the classic of tea culture, the concentration of tea history, and the best tea". In the early Ming Dynasty (15th century), Anhua made dark tea by referring to the manufacturing method of Sichuan black tea and improving it. Black tea is steamed green (boiled) tea, and dark tea is dried green (fried) tea. In contrast, dark tea has removed the green leaf smell, has a mellow taste, and has the aroma of pine smoke. It is more popular among ethnic minorities in the northwest. . At that time, Tibetans often came to the capital to pay tribute to Buddha and invite rewards. When he returned to Tibet, the Ming court rewarded him with many gifts, among which tea was a large quantity and was designated to be allocated from the Sichuan official warehouse. However, they took a detour to Huguang to sell private tea. Huguang dark tea is most suitable for their taste, and dark tea is mainly produced in Anhua area, and is later collectively referred to as Anhua dark tea. Anhua dark tea was produced in the late 15th century and was usually transported to the north and northwest via Hubei. Because Anhua tea has a rich and mellow taste, is plentiful and is cheap, tea merchants in the northwest who receive official tea tickets cross the border to Hunan to purchase private tea. From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, tea was a "planned supply commodity" of the imperial court. Sichuan tea and Hanzhong tea were the imperial court's "designated production commodities" in the Ming Dynasty. The profitable and best-selling Anhua dark tea soon made Han tea and Sichuan tea The market is cold and production and sales are sluggish. In the 23rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1595), the imperial censor Li Nan and Xu Qiao fought over Hunan tea in the memorial. One asked the court to issue an embargo to avoid hindering the tea law and horse administration; the other believed that Hunan tea was beneficial to the nomadic peoples of the northwest. , should not be banned. Later, it was decided by the Ministry of Household Affairs and submitted to the emperor for approval: the imported tea sold to the northwest will be mainly Han and Sichuan tea, supplemented by Hunan tea. At this point, Anhua dark tea has become the official tea. After long-term selection by tea merchants and the market, Anhua dark tea gradually flourished. Businessmen from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Hubei, Hunan and other provinces each formed a gang and came to Anhua to purchase and make dark tea. Tea merchants from Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu with abundant capital also built pavilions in Anhua and set up gang organizations and commercial shops. Along the Zijiang River, there are markets with prosperous population and commerce, such as Huangshaping, Youzhou, Baozhiyuan, Xiaoyan, Bianjiang, Tangjiaguan, Yaqueping, Dongping, Qiaokou and other places.

Before the first year of Daoguang (1820), Shaanxi merchants stationed in Yiyang entrusted a bank to remit money to Anhua to order black tea, or exchanged it for wool or fur coats. Because they had less funds and did not purchase much, they were known as "roll-off merchants". The entrusted warehouse company hired people to go to the countryside to purchase tea raw materials and bundle them into bags to facilitate transportation. At first, the sizes, shapes and weights varied, but later they gradually became unified into a small cylindrical shape, weighing about 10 kilograms on the old scale, and were called "Bailiang Tea". During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi Shang's "Sanhe Gong" tea brand selected better raw materials based on "Bailiang Tea", increased the weight, and pressed it into a cylindrical shape with brown and bamboo strips. Each tea had a net weight of 1,000 taels (16 taels on the old scale). (totaling 37.27 kg), it is called "Qianliang Tea". The cylinder is about 5 feet (166.5 cm) long and 1.7 feet (56 cm) in circumference. This kind of tea is mainly operated by Shanxi merchants, and is divided into "Qizhou Juan" and "Jiangzhou Juan" based on their place of origin. Qizhou Juan is operated by tea merchants in Qixian, Yuci and other places in Shanxi Province. Each bottle weighs 1,000 taels and has a large output. "Jiangzhou Juan" is operated by tea merchants in Jiangzhou. Each bottle weighs 1,100 taels and has a smaller quantity. The tea leaves are made into the shape of a vertical column and undergo several processes such as frying, fermenting, steaming, and stamping. On the one hand, the weight of the tea leaves is increased within a limited volume; on the other hand, it is necessary for the quality of dark tea. The "Hundred Liang Tea" and "Qian Liang Tea" series have a general name - Hanamaki. It has three meanings: first, it is bundled with bamboo strips to form a lattice basket for packaging; second, the raw material of black tea contains flowery white stems, which has obvious characteristics; third, the finished tea has patterns formed by bundling and pressing. The tea is in the shape of a cylinder, like a rolled book, so it is called "Huajuan". In addition, in addition to "Qizhou rolls" and "Jiangzhou rolls", there is the old brand Jiangzhou roll with added ingredients, which has the highest quality and is known as the "King of rolls". Historically, the output has been very small. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the main sales area of ??Anhua dark tea was still in the areas where ethnic minorities live in the northwest. Local people in Hunan rarely drank it. In some years, the dark tea production was abundant, and a lot of dark tea could not be sold, so local tea farmers turned it into Tea roots and tea leaves are used as firewood. In recent years, with the rise of Pu'er tea's reputation and its huge economic benefits and social effects, the Anhua government has continuously reported to the Hunan Provincial Government, requesting support for the development of Anhua's dark tea industry. Today, Anhua dark tea has gone from being a tea variety unknown to most people in Hunan to becoming the first choice for many Hunan people as gifts. Although Anhua dark tea is not mainstream in many teahouses in China, I believe that the Hunan people who are united will definitely make it. Anhua dark tea is comparable to Pu'er tea in the past and has become a favorite among Chinese tea drinkers.

The protection scope of Anhua dark tea geographical indication products is Qingtangpu Town, Meicheng Town, Le'an Town, Xianxi Town, Changtang Town, Dafu Town and Yangjiaotang Town, Anhua County, Yiyang City, Hunan Province , Lengshi Town, Longtang Township, Xiaoyan Town, Taoxi Town, Jiangnan Town, Tianzhuang Township, Dongping Town, Zhexi Town, Malu Town, Kuixi Town, Yanxi Town, Pingkou Town, Qujiang Town, Nan Jinxiang and Gulou Township, Taohua Town, Shiniujiang Town, Fuqiushan Township, Cormorant Town, Daligang Town, and Majitang Town in Taojiang County, Xinshidu Town, Nijiangkou Town, and Cangshan Town in Heshan District Shuipu Town, Xinqiaohe Town, Ziyang District, ***32 towns currently have administrative areas under their jurisdiction.