Xinyang City is the main tea-producing area in Henan Province, accounting for more than 90% of the province's area, output, and output value. In the early years, there was a big gap between Xinyang Maojian and some other famous tea-producing areas in China. The main manifestations are: First, it is not famous enough. Compared with West Lake Longjing, Fujian Tieguanyin, and Yunnan Pu'er tea, which are also among the top ten famous teas in China, they are far less famous than others. Second, the output is not large. In 2005, the city's tea output was 15,000 tons, while during the same period, Yunnan Pu'er tea output was 52,000 tons, and Anxi Tieguanyin output was 45,000 tons. The output of these teas is much larger than that of Xinyang Maojian. Third, the output value is not high. In 2005, the total tea output value of Xinyang City was 1 billion yuan. Based on the unit output of 28.9 kilograms, the unit output value was 1,928 yuan. In 2005, the average unit output value of West Lake Longjing reached 10,591 yuan, and the output value of Yunnan Pu'er tea reached 3.9 billion yuan. Others include low market share and insufficient publicity. In April 2003, Xinyang Maojian Tea was approved by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to obtain geographical indication product protection. At the same time, the "Xinyang Maojian Certification Trademark Usage Management Rules" and the "Xinyang Maojian Tea Origin Marking Management Regulations" were also approved and implemented by the Xinyang Municipal People's Government. This will further standardize the production and market of Xinyang Maojian Tea, which will help protect the huge intangible assets of Xinyang Maojian, protect the Xinyang Maojian brand, protect the legitimate rights and interests of tea producers and consumers, and further develop the advantages of Xinyang Maojian Tea as a premium brand. It is of great significance and role to cope with the challenges of joining the WTO, make Xinyang tea industry bigger and stronger, and promote the development of tea industry.

Xiao Maojian has become a local pillar industry

Xinyang is located in the transition zone from subtropical to temperate zones. The climate is both north and south, with abundant light, heat and water resources, suitable for the growth of warm temperate zone grasses. . The Dabie Mountains in the territory are continuous and winding, forming a natural green treasure and the natural home of Xinyang Maojian tea. Xinyang Maojian, Dongting Biluochun and West Lake Longjing are the three famous green teas. Xinyang Maojian is famous at home and abroad for its "beautiful shape, green color, high aroma and strong taste". Xinyang is the tea-producing area with the highest northern latitude in China. It is located between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, at the junction of the Dabie Mountains and the Tongbai Mountains. It has many mountains, clouds and fog, abundant rainfall and humid air. The unique geographical environment and climatic conditions have laid the quality foundation for Xinyang Maojian tea's strong aroma and rich taste. In recent years, well-known tea brands such as Longtan, Wuyunshan, Jiuhuashan, Yangtian Xuelv, Qingfeng Yunwu, Xinlin Yulu, and Wenxin have emerged and won consecutive awards in various domestic and foreign exhibitions, which are enough to make Xinyang people Exciting and proud of it. After Xinyang Maojian obtained geographical indication product protection, it became a new member of the International Geographical Indication Network Organization (Origin) in 2005. Xinyang City cherishes these honors very much, and has taken a series of measures to carry out large-scale management of the quality and production technology of Xinyang Maojian tea, and vigorously promote the production model of "leading enterprises + tea farmers + geographical indications", which has increased the market visibility of Xinyang Maojian tea. , on the one hand, we carry out standardized management of the quality and production technology of Xinyang Maojian tea, and vigorously promote the production model of "leading enterprises + tea farmers + geographical indications". On the other hand, in cooperation with relevant government departments, we have severely cracked down on the illegal activities of counterfeiting Xinyang Maojian geographical indications, which has increased the market visibility of Xinyang Maojian tea, improved the order of fair competition, and significantly improved the business development environment, making it a major pillar industry in Xinyang , forming more than 10 leading enterprises with an annual output value of more than 10 million yuan, such as Xinyang Wuyun Tea Group Co., Ltd., Xinyang Wenxin Tea Co., Ltd., and Xinyang Lushi Tea Co., Ltd., and more than 100 tea enterprises with an annual output value of more than one million yuan. There are more than 200,000 tea farmers, and businesses operating Xinyang Maojian are spread all over the country. Xinyang Maojian has become a pillar industry in Xinyang.

Geographical indications promote the development of characteristic economies

The regional characteristics of geographical indication products determine that the benefits they generate will benefit all people in the region, not only increasing the income of individual farmers, but also It has also effectively promoted the overall regional poverty alleviation and prosperity. At present, geographical indication products have become an important means to improve the organization and marketization of farmers, driving the coordinated development of multiple industries. Geographical indications play a connecting and linking role in the production and market of agricultural products. Farmers participate in market competition through company orders, and trademark awareness gradually increases. Markets organize farmers through geographical indications. An agricultural industry management model of "company + geographical indication (trademark) + farmers" has been formed.

At present, the tea garden area in Xinyang City has reached more than 50,000 hectares, and the mining and production area is nearly 50,000 hectares. The annual output is more than 8 million kilograms of spring dry tea and more than 6 million kilograms of summer tea. The total output value is more than 800 million yuan. The total social investment (including Processing, packaging, storage, sales and operation value added) of more than 1.2 billion yuan. At present, there are nearly 130 towns and towns with large-scale tea production in the city, nearly 1,300 administrative villages, and more than 1,200 state-owned, collective, and individual tea farms of various types, forming a new pattern of large-scale development and industrial management of tea.

Brand effect boosts the process of agricultural industrialization

The most basic function of agricultural product certification marks is to ensure that the goods or services they point to are of unique and high quality. On the one hand, they can remind the production of goods Authors and sellers pay attention to ensuring the quality of goods and services; on the other hand, it allows consumers to immediately know where the agricultural products pointed to by the trademark are produced and what their quality is, creating a sense of trust and desire to purchase. This trust based on the quality of Xinyang Maojian's famous brand agricultural products has established Xinyang Maojian's position in the market, increased its market share, and further promoted the process of agricultural industrialization. After Xinyang Maojian obtained geographical indication product protection in 2003, Xinyang City promulgated the "Xinyang Maojian Tea Origin Marking Management Regulations", which strictly implemented the product quality certification system of the origin region within the delineated Xinyang Maojian Tea origin region. These measures fully ensure the high effectiveness of the tea brand. Up to now, Jiuhuashan brand Xinyang Maojian from Jiuhuashan Tea Farm in Gushi County, Wenxin brand Xinyang Maojian from Xinyang Wenxin Tea Co., Ltd., Yangtianxuelu tea from Yangtianwa Tea Farm in Gushi County, Henan Xinlin Tea Industry Co., Ltd. The company's Xinlin Yulu brand steamed green tea and Henan Xinyang Wuyun Tea (Group) Co., Ltd. Longtan brand Xinyang Maojian were awarded Henan Province famous brand agricultural products. The popularity of Xinyang Maojian tea has further increased, the production scale has been expanding, the industrial chain has been rapidly lengthened, and the economic benefits It's impressive. Tea has become an important pillar industry in revitalizing Xinyang's rural economy.

Xinyang Tea Culture - The Origin and Development of Maojian

According to legend, a long time ago, there was no tea in Xinyang. Under the pressure of the government and old money, the villagers did not have enough to eat or wear. Nuan, many people suffered from a strange disease called "fatigue Sha". The plague became more and more severe, and villagers in many places were wiped out. A girl named Chun Gu saw this and was anxious. In order to treat the villagers, she ran around looking for capable people. One day, an old man collecting medicine told the girl that if she climbed over ninety-nine mountains and crossed ninety-nine rivers to the southwest, she could find a precious tree that could eliminate diseases. In accordance with the old man's request, Chun Gu climbed ninety-nine mountains, crossed ninety-nine rivers, and walked on the road for ninety-nine and eighty-one days. She was exhausted and contracted a terrible plague. Her nephew By a creek. At this time, a leaf floated from the spring water, and Chun Gu held it in her mouth. She immediately felt refreshed and full of energy. She searched upwards along the spring water, and sure enough she found a big tree with life-saving leaves, and picked a golden leaf. seed. The old man Shennong who took care of the tea tree told the girl that the estimated seeds must be planted in the soil within 10 days, otherwise all the efforts will be wasted. Thinking that she would not be able to go back within 10 days, she would not be able to rescue the villagers. Chun Gu was so sad that she cried. When the old man Shennong saw this, he took out his magic whip and whipped it twice, and Chun Gu turned into a sharp-mouthed dog. , a thrush with big eyes and bright yellow feathers all over its body. The little thrush quickly flew back to his hometown and planted the tree seeds. When he saw the green saplings protruding from the soil, the thrush laughed happily. At this time, her efforts and strength had been exhausted, and she turned into a stone that looked like a bird but not a bird next to the tea tree. Soon the tea trees grew up, and groups of little thrushes flew out of the mountains. They pecked off pieces of tea leaves with their pointed mouths and put them into the mouths of the patients who had the plague. The patients recovered immediately. From then on, those who planted tea trees More and more, there are tea gardens and tea mountains.

Of course, this is just a beautiful myth that reflects the good wishes of the ancient working people, but Xinyang Maojian does have a long history.

Archeology has proven that the cultivation of tea in Xinyang originated from the middle and late Warring States Period, more than 2,000 years ago. The "Tea Classic" written by Lu Yu, the tea saint of the Tang Dynasty, listed Xinyang as one of the eight major tea-producing areas in the country; Drinking Xinyang tea cured gastrointestinal diseases, and a Thousand Buddha Pagoda was built on Cheyun Mountain, where Maojian is produced, to show the power of tea. Su Shi, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, tasted all the famous teas and praised: "Huainan tea is the best in Xinyang." ; In 1915, Xinyang Maojian traveled across the ocean and participated in the Panama International Exposition, winning the gold medal in one fell swoop; in 1958, "Longtan Brand" special grade and first-class Xinyang Maojian won the National Silver Medal; in 1988, it won the gold medal at China's first Food Expo. In 1990, Longtan brand special-grade Xinyang Maojian won the first place in the national famous tea competition for its "beautiful shape, green color, high aroma and strong taste" and won the national gold medal. There are only two gold medals for famous teas in the country. "Longtan Brand" Xinyang Maojian is not only on par with "West Lake Longjing", but also superior in color, aroma and taste. Xinyang Maojian is not only popular domestically, but also enjoys a high reputation internationally. It is exported to more than 10 countries and regions including Japan, the United States, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong

Xinyang Tea Culture-The Functions of Maojian

Xinyang Maojian is of high quality, with a thin, round, smooth, straight shape and a lot of pekoe. The tea is fragrant, rich and green in color. It is called "Maojian" because the hairs on the nodes of the tea leaves are exposed and the peaks are tight and straight. Xinyang Maojian has multiple functions. It has the effect of strengthening the body. Xinyang Maojian is rich in protein, amino acids, alkaloids, tea polyphenols, sugar tips, organic acids, aromatic substances, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, K, P, PP, etc. and water-soluble minerals. It has many functions such as producing fluid and quenching thirst, clearing the mind and improving eyesight, refreshing the brain, removing greasiness and digestion, inhibiting atherosclerosis, preventing cancer, preventing and treating scurvy and protecting radioactive elements. Has medical benefits. Drinking Maojian tea regularly can lower blood pressure. The caffeine and catechins contained in tea can promote the relaxation of human blood vessel walls, increase the effective diameter of blood vessels, maintain a certain elasticity of blood vessel walls, and eliminate vasospasm. The monoaminobutyric acid in Maojian tea has a more significant effect on relaxing blood vessel walls; it has been clinically proven that the increase in blood pressure in most patients with hypertension is controlled by angiotensin. Once the activity of angiotensin is inhibited, the blood pressure reduction effect can be achieved; drink Tea can lower blood cholesterol levels. The catechins in tea can significantly reduce the total cholesterol, free cholesterol, total lipids and triglyceride content in the human body. People who regularly drink tea have blood cholesterol levels that are about one-third lower than those who don't drink tea.

Drinking tea can promote the conversion and absorption of lipid substances. Since tea contains purine bases, adenine and other alkaloids, these alkaloids can form nucleotides with phosphate, pentose sugar and other substances. Compounds such as ATP and GTP in nucleotides play an important role in the metabolism of lipids. In particular, it has excellent decomposition and transformation effects on nitrogen-containing compounds, decomposing and transforming them into soluble absorbable substances, thereby achieving the effect of cellulite elimination.

Tea has the effect of purifying the human digestive organs. The flavanols in tea can relax the human digestive tract and purify microorganisms and other harmful substances in the digestive tract organs. At the same time, it also performs a special purification effect on the stomach, kidneys, and liver. It not only helps in the digestion of fat and other substances, but also Can prevent the occurrence of digestive organ diseases.

The antioxidant combination extract GAT in tea has a significant mutation effect of anti-cancer substances. Because GAT can inhibit the mutation of carcinogens such as aflatoxin and benzopyrin, it has the effect of inhibiting tumor metastasis; tea contains a large amount of EGCG, which can effectively inhibit the activity of tumor-promoting agents in the human body and can effectively prevent cancer. The formation of cells; tea extract T-8750 has a significant inhibitory effect on gastric adenocarcinoma cells; nitrosamines and nitroso compounds are recognized as major carcinogens, and the tea polyphenols contained in tea are responsible for blocking nitrosamines. The main active substance of the base compound. The more tea polyphenols in tea, the stronger the anti-cancer effect.

Xinyang Tea Culture - Overview of the Distribution of Xinyang Maojian

Xinyang tea resources are extremely rich and are grown in the hills and mountains of Huainan. The raw materials of the Longtan brand Xinyang Maojian, which won the National Gold Medal, are Mainly from the southwest area of ??Xinyang County, commonly known as "Five Clouds, Two Pools and One Village", namely Cheyun Mountain, Lianyun Mountain, Jiyun Mountain, Tianyun Mountain, Yunwu Mountain, Bailongtan, Heilongtan and Hejiazhai. As the saying goes, high mountains and clouds produce good tea. The altitude of "Five Clouds, Two Pools and One Village" is between 300 and 800 meters, and the quality of Maojian tea produced is the best.

First, there are many clouds and fog in the mountains, and the lighting is suitable. The short-wavelength blue, purple, and red light are easily absorbed by chlorophyll, which enhances photosynthesis, making the tea rich in organic matter, and the tea has a strong flavor. Second, the fog in the mountains is thick, the air is moist, the buds and leaves are tender and have less crude fiber. Third, the temperature difference between day and night in high mountains is large, and tea leaves accumulate substances through photosynthesis and effectively accumulate more, so high mountain tea leaves have a rich flavor. Fourth, the mountains are densely forested, and most of the fallen leaves rot into soil, which is rich in organic matter. The soil is deep, soft, and acidic, which is conducive to the growth of tea trees. Fifth, the air and water are clean with little pollution, and the tea is of pure quality and has no odor.

Except Xinyang County, Shangcheng, Guangshan, Luoshan, Xinxian, Huangchuan, Gushi, Xinyang City and other places all produce tea, and many of them are famous. Shangcheng County's Jingangtai and Dasu Mountains are surrounded by green mountains and shrouded in fog. The "Bird's Tongue Tea" they produce is shaped like the tip of a bird's tongue. Its soup is light yellow and slightly green, and its taste is mellow. "Silver Needle" tea is made from young buds picked before Grain Rain and roasted. It has a thin, straight shape, green soup color and a fragrant mouthfeel. "Jingang Green" and "Dabie Mountain Longjing" also have their own characteristics. Gushi County has "Snow Green", Guangshan County has "Sushan Mingya", "Jingju Maofeng", "Saishan Green", "Saishan Maofeng", Xin County has "Xiangshan Cuifeng", the region There is a "Thunder Marsh Spraying Cloud" at the tea testing ground. "Lingshan Cloud Tea has been around for thousands of years and has a good reputation at home and abroad. Its fragrance improves eyesight and prolongs life. What is the elixir of longevity?" Lingshan tea in Luoshan County also has distinctive characteristics. "Lingshan Jianfeng" was rated as a provincial new famous tea at the Henan Province Famous Tea Competition in 1990, and high-quality tea represented by "Tianshan Xiang" has been released one after another. Currently, Xinyang has 1 national-level famous tea, 14 provincial-level famous teas, and 11 regional-level famous teas.

Xinyang Tea Culture-Xinyang Maojian Picking and Production

In March of Yangchun, tea buds begin to germinate. Picking begins after the "Qingming Festival" and is generally mined before the "Grain Rain". The picking time of spring tea is about 40 days. Spring tea picked before the end of May is also called "first tea". In the first two days of mining, the quantity is very small, which is called "Paoshanjian", mostly before "Grain Rain". The harvesting and processing is also called "Rainqian Maojian". At the end of May, the harvesting of spring tea is stopped for 5 to 5 days, and then it is harvested as summer tea. The picking time is about one month. In August and September, when autumn buds sprout, it is called "autumn tea". Most of the buds sprout in autumn to nourish the trees without picking them, so there is a saying that "the first tea is bitter, the second tea is astringent, and the autumn tea is so delicious that you can't bear to part with it."

When picking tea, do not pick old (leaves), do not pick small, do not pick water chestnut leaves (fish leaves), do not pick tea fruits (buds, small tea fruits), and pick all the clipped leaves in time. . To make super-grade Maojian, only 1 bud and 1 leaf are picked at the beginning of development; for first-grade tea, 1 bud and 2 leaves are picked at the beginning of development; for second-grade tea, 1 bud, 2 to 3 leaves are mainly picked at the beginning of development, and 2 leaves are paired with pinched leaves. The third-grade tea picks 1 bud with 2 to 3 leaves, including the younger 2 leaves and the pinched leaves. In the fourth and fifth levels, 1 bud, 3 leaves and 2 to 3 leaves are picked.

Fresh buds and leaves need to be fried in time after being picked. The process of frying is: put the green leaves into the raw pot-cook the pot-initially bake-stand to cool-re-roast-select-re-roast-pack and store. The frying in the "raw pot" plays the role of greening and initial kneading. The leaves are soft and soft, and the pine strips are initially formed. The tender stems are constantly folded, that is, they are all transferred to the "cooked pot". In addition to continuing to evaporate water, it is mainly used to make strips, shape them, and develop their aroma. After frying in a cooked pot, initial baking is carried out in a timely manner to completely destroy the activity of residual enzymes in the tea leaves, prevent oxidative deterioration, and initially exert its color, aroma and shape fixation effects. After initial baking, let it cool for 2 to 2 hours before re-baking. After re-baking, select and reheat and bake once to seal. In addition to manual frying of tea leaves, there is also a mechanism. In the Tang Dynasty, waterwheels were used to drive tea mills, and the ground tea leaves were made into tea balls; in the 1950s, simple cylindrical tea kneading machines and water-operated tea kneading machines were used, which greatly improved the work efficiency. In particular, the tea mechanical preliminary processing technology developed and researched by Xinyang County Tea General Company and Longtan Tea General Factory has ended the history of Xinyang Maojian having to rely on manual frying, and raised Xinyang Maojian's frying technology to a new level.

Xinyang Tea Culture-Xinyang Maojian Drinking Health Care

Good tea requires good water, and good water makes good tea. The tea sage Lu Yu once wrote in "Six Envy Songs": "I don't envy the golden base, I don't envy the white jade cup... I envy the water of Jiangxi..." Emperor Qianlong drank tea in order to seek good water. A specially made silver bucket is used to evaluate the spring water based on its weight. Miaoyu in "A Dream of Red Mansions" cooks tea with snow water on the treasured plum tree to entertain guests.

The story of Wang Anshi, a great statesman and poet in the Song Dynasty who drank tea from the Three Gorges water is even more popular: Legend has it that Wang Anshi suffered from phlegm-fire syndrome and needed to brew "Yangxian tea" with "Qutang Zhongxia water" to cure it. When Su Dongpo wanted to cross the Three Gorges, Wang Anshi asked him to bring a jar of water to the middle gorge. Su Dongpo waited until the boat passed the Zhongxia Gorge before he remembered the incident. Since he could not return, he brought a jar of water from the Lower Gorge to Wang Anshi. After Wang Anshi drank the tea, he shouted that the water was not Zhongxia water. Su Dongpo was shocked and asked why. Wang Anshi said: The water in the upper gorge has a strong flavor for making tea, while the water in the lower gorge has a light color and is noble. Only the water in the middle gorge is suitable for making tea. The water becomes colored after brewing tea for a long time, so it is known as Xiaxia water. Although this story is a bit exaggerated, water quality is indeed crucial to making tea. Xinyang has many mountains, so there are many springs, which are clear and green, with absolutely no pollution. Make camellia from the mountain springs, sip slowly and carefully, and enjoy it. Lu Yu's "The Book of Tea" once described it this way: Sitting in the mountain hall at night, brewing tea from the spring, until the water and fire are fighting, it is like listening to the pine waves pouring into the cup, and the clouds are shining. It is so quiet and interesting at this time that it is difficult to describe it to ordinary people! You can see the joy of drinking tea.

"Tea is new and valuable." It is not easy to make tea, and it is even more difficult to keep the color, aroma, taste and shape of the tea unchanged. After the tea farmers on the tea mountain fry the tea, they seal it tightly in tin cans that can hold dozens or even hundreds of kilograms, and store it in a dark and dry warehouse where it will remain unchanged for a long time. There are many ways to store the tea at home, including putting the new tea into a tin can, wrapping it in rice paper with charcoal that has been burned to remove the smoke, placing it among the tea leaves, and sealing it tightly. Instead of using an iron can, you can use a non-destructive warm water bladder. Avoid using small cans, bottles, or small boxes as they may deteriorate easily if stored after opening. But now it’s fine! Xinyang County Tea General Company's Longchao Tea General Factory has introduced the upstream advanced technology and used advanced equipment to build my country's first tea preservation warehouse, which can keep the three green colors of tea (strip green, soup green, and leaf bottom green) and aroma all year round. It has the characteristics of lasting and refreshing taste. Also note that tea has a particularly strong adsorption force and must not be stored together with items with strong odors such as soap and camphor.

From May 15th to 22nd, 1992, the first China Xinyang Tea Festival was held grandly in Xinyang. More than 5,000 guests from home and abroad attended the Tea Festival. At the opening ceremony, an unprecedented theatrical performance was held, and famous artists and singers were invited to join in the fun. The tea festival used tea as a stage to perform business and trade, with a total transaction volume of more than 700 million yuan. Starting from 1992, the Xinyang Tea Festival will be held in May every year. Xinyang Tea Festival has become an important window for Xinyang to the world.

Xinyang Tea Culture-How to Buy Xinyang Maojian

Generally speaking, the quality of tea is composed of four factors: color, aroma, taste and shape.

1. Do a dry look and evaluate the appearance

First, hold a handful of tea leaves with both hands, put it at the end of your nose, and inhale the aroma of the tea leaves deeply. The first is to see if it has the aroma of ripe chestnuts; the second is to identify the level of the aroma; the third is to smell the purity of the aroma. Any tea with high aroma and positive smell must be high-quality tea.

Secondly, grab a handful of tea leaves and spread them flat on white paper, and look at the color, tenderness, cord, and thickness of the dry tea. Tea with uniform color, high tenderness, tight strands, consistent thickness, and less broken tea is the best tea.

2. Wet looking to know the inner quality

Wet looking is to open the soup to review. Opening soup is commonly known as making tea or making tea. Generally, first take 3-5 grams of tea leaves, put them into a white porcelain cup, and then add about 200 ml of moderately boiling water. After opening the soup, you should first smell the aroma, then look at the color of the soup, taste first, and then comment on the bottom of the leaves.

(1) Smell the aroma

After the tea leaves are brewed in the cup, immediately pour out the tea soup, put the tea cup with the bottom of the leaves into the nose and smell the aroma. Tea is considered good tea if its aroma is pure and pure, making people feel relaxed and happy.

(2) Check the soup color

Looking at the soup color should be done in time. Generally, after brewing the tea for 3-5 minutes, pour the tea soup in the cup into another bowl, immediately before and after smelling the aroma. For high-quality tea, the color of the soup should be light green or yellow-green, and it should be clear but not turbid, bright and clear.

(3) Taste

Taste is distinguished by human taste organs. It is generally believed that if the green tea soup is strong and refreshing, it is considered to be the best green tea; if the tea soup is dull and astringent, it is mostly coarse and old green tea.

(4) Evaluate the leaf base

Evaluate the leaf base left after the tea is brewed and the soup is removed, looking at the tenderness, wholeness, color, uniformity, softness and hardness, etc. In order to determine the quality of the product, attention should also be paid to whether there are other adulterations.