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Changes in Manufacturing Processes The increased demand for Liubao tea abroad has boosted its exports, strengthened the Liubao tea industry, and driven continuous improvements in its manufacturing processes. According to "A Brief Record of Guangxi's Special Products," historically, early Liubao tea was made from fresh leaves through a process that included killing the green, initial kneading, heap fermentation, secondary kneading, and drying. This, however, was only the preliminary processing. As the overseas market expanded and Liubao tea needed to be transported by ship along the ancient tea route, local tea makers developed a refined processing technique. This involved using the coarsely processed green tea as raw material, sorting it, blending it according to different grades, heap fermenting it, and then steaming and compressing it multiple times. This traditional refined technology not only facilitated transportation but also allowed the tea to age well over time, making it suitable for shipping. According to "Guangxi Agricultural Communications," this technique had become the standard refined process for Liubao tea by the 1930s. Traditional tea utensils used by Singaporean Chinese families for drinking Liubao tea However, during the war years and into the late 1940s, the quality of Liubao tea produced in Wuzhou plummeted. A…

In the "world" of Pu'er tea, 8582 is like a reclusive master with unparalleled skills—his name is well-known, yet few have seen his true form. But whenever he appears, he commands attention, and those in the know can recognize him at first glance, thanks to his unique mark—the "Purple Heaven." Both 8582 and its sibling 8592 were born in 1985. Among Yunnan Seven Sons cakes, they stand out. While both hail from Menghai Tea Factory, they are exclusively custom-made for a Hong Kong-based trader—Nantian Trading Company. Because the purple "Heaven" character was stamped on their wrapping paper, a practice unprecedented at the time, these teas are commonly known as "Purple Heaven Cakes." The Purple Heaven Cakes now sell for over 100,000 RMB per cake, and various accounts related to them abound, often leaving people unsure of what to believe. Recently, our editorial team interviewed Chang Jinqiang, the former manager of the Specialized Tea Department at Yunnan Provincial Tea Import and Export Corporation, who witnessed the birth and export of 8582 and 8592 to Hong Kong. He shared stories about the legendary history of these Purple Heaven Cakes. The Beginnings and Endings of 8582/8592 Image The birth of the Purple Heaven…

In recent years, Duyun City has thoroughly implemented the important instructions of President Xi Jinping on "promoting the Duyun Maojian brand" and the concept of integrating tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology (the "three teas"). By focusing on Duyun Maojian as its core industry, the city has adopted a comprehensive approach that includes year-round harvesting, full utilization of the tea plant, and development of the entire industrial chain. This approach focuses on infrastructure construction, cultivation of market entities, marketing strategies, and brand promotion. As a result, sales and the reputation of Duyun Maojian tea have steadily increased each year. Strengthening Production Foundations and Enhancing Raw Materials Focusing on key tea-producing areas such as Tuan Mountain, Snail Shell Mountain, Doupeng Mountain, and Guilan Mountain, a total of 50,000 mu of tea gardens have been designated. The city has integrated efforts from various levels of government, enterprises, and farmers to rehabilitate neglected tea gardens, replant in aging tea gardens, and improve those already in production. A total of 71,600 mu of tea gardens have been managed, leading to a significant increase in tea yield year after year. Based on the principle of connecting points and maximizing service radius, 35 tea industry…

Amidst sea of clouds on the tea mountains, the Maojian sprouts verdantly. In Douyun, located along the 30th parallel north – a “Golden Belt” for green tea production favored by nature – the region continues to write its millennia-old story of tea fragrance and charm, with clouds as its attire and Maojian as its soul. August in the Douyun tea gardens of Guizhou Province. On August 4th, the 2024 Seventh China Tea Import and Export Trade Annual Conference and Douyun Maojian Tea People’s Meeting officially opened in Douyun City, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Hosted by the Tea Industry Branch of the China Agricultural International Cooperation Promotion Association and the Guizhou Provincial Tea Association, and organized by Guizhou Douyun Maojian Tea Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., the conference theme was "Shared Success, Creating New Opportunities for Global Tea Trade; Douyun Maojian Scenting the World, Gathering Tea and People for the Benefit of All." The aim was to enhance the international competitiveness of Douyun Maojian, promote high-quality, leapfrog development of the Douyun Maojian, Guizhou tea industry, and even the Chinese tea industry. The opening ceremony scene. Over 300 guests, including representatives from the media and various sectors, gathered at…

Incorporated into Daily Life Singapore's Guangzhen Tea Shop has been in business for over 80 years, consistently trading in Liubao tea. Soon after opening, workers doing manual labor, such as construction, began purchasing Liubao tea from the shop. Gradually, the group of female workers, primarily Cantonese Chinese, became the main consumers of Guangzhen Tea Shop, according to its manager, Liu Xiufeng, who said, "In the past, much of our Liubao tea was sold to the 'Red Turbans.' Even now, their descendants remain our customers." Purchase contract for Liubao tea signed in 1973 between Guanghui Feng Tea Shop in Malaysia and the Guangxi Branch Company of the China National Native Products and Animal By-Products Import and Export Corporation in Wuzhou. Liubao tea samples sent from Hong Kong to Liang Ruisheng Tea and Cigarette Shop in Ipoh, Malaysia, in 1971. Entering the 20th century, the development of Southeast Asia entered a new phase, with rapid advancements in urban and port construction. Ports in cities like Singapore, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta developed at an increasingly faster pace, and many Chinese workers participated in these developments. The second wave of Chinese workers moving to Southeast Asia starting in the 1920s brought large numbers…

After the mid-Qing dynasty, Wuzhou became an important commercial port along the Xijiang waterway. Part of the Liubao tea was transported upstream from Jiangkou and Doucheng docks in Guangdong, converging in Wuzhou before being sent to major ports in the Pearl River Delta region, forming a new form of transportation and trade for Liubao tea. In the Liubao tea culture exhibition hall of the Wuzhou Tea Factory, there is a cultural wall reflecting the development journey of the Liubao tea industry, displaying many old photos of the factory in its early days. Recently, Mr. Liu Fusheng revisited the Wuzhou Tea Factory and specifically came to this cultural wall, gently touching one of the photos displayed on it. In this photo, workers at the tea factory are pushing Liubao tea packed in large bamboo baskets to the triangular mouth dock next to the factory using wooden carts. He gazed for a long time before speaking: “After the Liubao tea produced by the Wuzhou Tea Factory was transported to the dock, it would be loaded onto cargo ships waiting there, which then carried it batch by batch down the Xijiang to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and even further abroad…” Selling Tea at…

Production of Sichuan black tea began in Yibin during the spring and summer of 1951. However, at that time, only rough black tea could be produced locally, which then had to be transported to the Chongqing Tea Factory for refinement before being exported to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, increasing costs. Therefore, in March 1952, the Southwest Regional Company of the China Tea Corporation dispatched 36 technical staff and workers from Chongqing to Yibin to establish a refined tea factory. The site chosen for the Yibin Tea Factory was located at the Nan'an Shangdu Port, facilitating the loading of tea onto ships for freight. During construction, 20 acres of land were allocated by the Yibin Special Administrative Region, along with the purchase of one warehouse from the Bao Yuantong Company and one building from the Dian Dong Company (a Yunnan-based business that opened a branch in Yibin during the Republican era and later became state-owned). These facilities were renovated to serve as workshops, warehouses, offices, and temporary dormitories. Initially, the Southwest Regional Company of the China Tea Corporation invested 66,500 yuan, and due to limited funds, bamboo fences were used as walls around the factory. Before the official sign…

In order to carry out the "Procuratorial Protection for Enterprises" special work solidly and promote the optimization of a legal business environment, on August 9th, Xu Jianping, a dedicated member of the Procuratorial Committee of the Enshi Prefecture People's Procuratorate, conducted special research on tea industry development under the "Procuratorial Protection for Enterprises" initiative at He Feng County's Kai Rong Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Procuratorial "Protection for Enterprises" specialists from the Enshi Prefecture People's Procuratorate, as well as those from Xianfeng County, Lai Feng County, and He Feng County, participated in the research, with people's supervisors also invited to join. "Kai Rong Company was established in October 2019 and is the largest investment enterprise in He Feng County for Zhejiang tea entering Hubei Province, as part of the county's key investment promotion efforts. Its products are primarily sold in North Africa, West Africa, Western Europe, and other regions. It is the largest tea export company in Hubei Province, exporting over 6,600 tons of tea in 2023, generating foreign exchange earnings of $32 million. It ranks among the top in the province, and it is expected that in 2024, foreign exchange earnings from exports could reach $50 million." During the research,…

Along with the rise and fall of Liubao tea industry, the ancient tea ship route has gone through phases of formation, prosperity, dormancy, revival, and decline, leaving a splendid chapter in China's tea transportation history. The ancient route is vast and time has passed slowly. The development of the Liubao tea industry has undergone changes over several hundred years, and the tea ship route has also gone through a long journey from its formation to prosperity, dormancy, revival, and decline. Today, the Liubao tea industry is experiencing a comprehensive revival, but the ancient tea ship route mostly remains as traces of the past. However, there is no doubt that in the course of history, this ancient route, which coexisted with Liubao tea, has written a unique and splendid chapter in China's tea transportation history. The name "Tea Pavilion" can be seen on a map of Cangwu from the 32nd year of the Kangxi era (1693) of the Qing dynasty. 1. The "Annals of Cangwu County" compiled during the Tongzhi era of the Qing dynasty contains records about Liubao tea. 2. On the attached map of Cangwu County in the "Annals of Cangwu County" compiled during the Tongzhi era of the…

In the mountainous northwest of Hubei, on the "Roof of Gucheng" at an average altitude of over a thousand meters in Zhaowan Township, there are two brothers who serve as the Party branch secretaries of two adjacent villages. Their story of sharing resources and collectively developing the tea industry to lead the locals to prosperity and a moderately prosperous life is widely known. "How's the quality of the tea processed by the mechanical arms?" "Not bad, I'll come and process a couple of batches myself then." At the end of June, Wang Anjun, the Party branch secretary of Taozhuang Village, brought his younger brother Wang Anhua to visit the newly purchased equipment in the village. Wang Anhua is the Party branch secretary of Changling Village, and had been worried about the tea production due to insufficient funds to build a new production line. "Brother, can we join forces to build a medium-sized tea processing factory? This way, we can share equipment and labor, saving costs and increasing efficiency," Wang Anhua asked, looking at Wang Anjun. Wang Anjun nodded in agreement, saying, "That's exactly what I was thinking. Let's do this together." Taozhuang Village and Changling Village are both high-altitude villages,…

Black tea is the second largest category of teas in China and the most widely sold type of tea worldwide. The origin of black tea can be traced back to China, where it was first produced over 400 years ago during the Ming Dynasty by tea farmers in Wuyi Mountain, Fujian Province, as Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. In terms of processing techniques, due to differences in rolling methods and fresh leaf varieties, black tea can be classified into: Gongfu Black Tea, Xiao Zhong Black Tea, and Broken Black Tea. Xiao Zhong Black Tea is the oldest type of black tea, originally produced in Wuyi Mountain, and is also the progenitor of other black teas; Gongfu Black Tea comes in many varieties, produced in different regions, such as Qimen Gongfu Black Tea mainly produced in Qimen County, Anhui Province, and Dian Hong Gongfu from Yunnan Province; Broken Black Tea is produced across a wide range of areas and is primarily for export. Although there are different classifications of black tea, the basic process generally includes "withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying." As a fully fermented tea, the core and soul of black tea is its "fermentation," which is a critical step in…

The Glorious Journey of "A Tree" Green Big Tree 99 From the comprehensive cancellation of the unified purchase and sales policy in 1993, to the full implementation of the Pu'er tea national standard in 2008, during these 15 years, the Pu'er tea market entered a new era of diverse voices and perspectives. The dominant position of "China Tea" had changed with the times, and new theories were constantly being proposed. Amidst the transition between old and new systems, there might have been some dark chaos, but it was during this "darkness before dawn" that custom-made teas sparked a prairie fire, ultimately igniting a new era for Pu'er tea. Like the protagonist of today's story, "Green Big Tree", after it, custom-made teas ushered Pu'er tea into a world of diverse blooms, especially from the late 1990s to 2004, it was practically the domain of factory custom-made teas. Peacock, White Vegetable, Red Ribbon series, Yiwu Zhengshan Collection, Green Big Tree, 7262, and more, too numerous to list, after washing away the leaden hues of time and standing the test of the market, these products commanded high prices, with prices easily reaching several thousand yuan per cake, or tens of thousands, even hundreds…

Liubao tea, named after Liubao Town in Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is unique as a low-temperature fermented tea stored in bamboo baskets, cellars, caves, or wooden dry warehouses (other dark teas are typically border trade teas). Its distinctive taste has garnered many fans.Historically, there was not only the Tea Horse Road but also a Tea Ship Ancient Route, which started right here in Liubao, Guangxi. The people of Wuzhou used inland waterways to transport goods such as tea and porcelain to all corners of the world, establishing extensive trade relations with the outside world, forming a profound historical legacy known as the “Ancient Tea Ship Route.” The route began in Dabao, Guangxi, followed the Liubao River, proceeded along the Dong'an River, passed through the Hejiang River, entered the Xijiang River, and reached Guangzhou, connecting to the maritime Silk Road for tea shipments. This route was unique in linking Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and directly reaching Southeast Asia. Through this ancient tea ship route, Liubao tea emerged from the mountains, crossed oceans, and became one of the key commodities on the maritime Silk Road. The history of tea production and processing in Liubao can be traced back…