The Geographical Indication Protected Area: 11 Prefectures, 75 Counties
"Pu'er" is a place name, and it's also a protected product name. The point of the geographical indication system is to tie that name to a specific piece of land: tea has to be grown on this land and made on this land to be called pu'er.
Which Prefectures and Cities Are in the Protected Area?
On April 28, 2009, the General Office of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government issued the Measures for the Protection and Administration of Pu'er Tea as a Product of Geographical Indication, effective June 1, 2009. The protected area specified in the measures is 11 prefectures (cities), 75 counties (cities, districts), and 639 townships (towns, subdistrict offices):
| Area | Prefectures and cities |
|---|---|
| Main producing areas, southern and southwestern Yunnan | Pu'er City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Lincang City |
| Central Yunnan | Kunming City, Chuxiong Prefecture, Yuxi City |
| Southern and southeastern Yunnan | Honghe Prefecture, Wenshan Prefecture |
| Western Yunnan | Dali Prefecture, Baoshan City, Dehong Prefecture |
Yunnan has 16 prefectures and cities in all; the five not included are Qujing, Zhaotong, Lijiang, Nujiang, and Diqing, which are broadly higher in latitude, higher in altitude, or toward the northeast.
Even within these 11 prefectures and cities, not every county is included: the 75 counties, cities, and districts were drawn one by one based on conditions for growing tea trees.
Why Is the Area So Large?
Many people think pu'er is grown only in Xishuangbanna or Pu'er City, but Yunnan large-leaf tea trees are actually widely distributed. Tea gardens and processing plants in some counties around Kunming, Chuxiong, and Yuxi have historically taken part in pu'er production, and the Kunming Tea Factory was one of the birthplaces of ripe tea processing. When the area was drawn, the actual distribution of growing and processing was taken into account. The main producing regions are introduced in An Overview of Yunnan's Pu'er Regions.
Can Tea from Outside the Area Be Called Pu'er?
Under the national standard GB/T 22111, pu'er's raw material must be sun-dried tea from Yunnan large-leaf varieties within the protected area, and it must be processed within the protected area. Tea made outside the area, even if pressed into cakes or pile-fermented the same way, doesn't meet the definition of pu'er.
So "pu'er-style" teas made outside Yunnan, or even abroad, strictly speaking should go by other names, such as the place of origin plus "dark tea" or "compressed tea." The standard's clauses are in GB/T 22111 in Detail.
What Yunnan's Protection Measures Say
The measures have 30 articles. Key points include:
- Division of responsibilities: The provincial quality and technical supervision department is in charge, assisted by the department responsible for the tea industry; prefectures and cities accept applications, and county-level tea departments handle tea garden registration.
- Product requirements: Must meet GB/T 22111, with all raw material from within the protected area, produced using the specified processing methods.
- Applying for the special mark: Businesses apply voluntarily, submitting a production license, business license, tea garden registration certificate, quality inspection report, and other documents; the initial review is completed within 15 working days, and once approved, the mark may be printed or affixed on packaging.
- Ongoing administration: Unauthorized use or forgery of the mark is investigated and dealt with according to law; registration is canceled if the mark goes unused for two consecutive years after approval; use is suspended if quality fails twice or more, and canceled if it still fails after corrective action.
The measures were issued right after the 2007 market bubble, and one of their aims was to clean up confusion over origin and naming; for background, read The 2007 Pu'er Bubble.
What the GI Mark Looks Like
The mark in use today is the special geographical indication mark issued by the China National Intellectual Property Administration on October 16, 2019 (Announcement No. 332); the old mark was retired on December 31, 2020. The new mark is easy to recognize:
- In the center is a red globe with lines of latitude and longitude;
- Above the globe are the golden letters GI;
- Below is a white Great Wall;
- Golden ears of wheat encircle both sides;
- Arched across the top are the words "中華人民共和國地理標誌" (Geographical Indication of the People's Republic of China), with the English GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION OF P.R.CHINA along the bottom.
The mark is usually printed on the packaging or outer box, alongside the business's approval information. Not every compliant pu'er carries this mark, because using it requires the business to apply and be approved.
What the Mark Means for Tea Buyers
- Confirms the area of origin: Approved products bearing the mark have raw material and processing within the protected area.
- An extra layer of verification: Use of the mark is registered and administered, and forgeries are prosecuted.
- Not a quality ranking: A geographical indication is about "where it comes from and how it's made," not which tea tastes better. Differences in mountain, tree age, and storage still have to be judged by tasting.
Smaller Geographical Indications
Within pu'er, there are geographical indication products covering even smaller areas, such as Bingdao Old Village tea from Shuangjiang, Lincang, whose protected area is limited to Bingdao natural village; see Bingdao Old Village Tea's Geographical Indication. Guyuntang's Bingdao Old Village Dragon Pearls take their name from Bingdao Old Village; please confirm details of raw material and labeling with our staff.
FAQ
Which prefectures and cities are in pu'er's area of origin? Kunming, Chuxiong, Yuxi, Honghe, Wenshan, Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Dali, Baoshan, Dehong, and Lincang: 11 prefectures and cities, 75 counties and districts, and 639 townships and subdistricts.
Does tea from Lijiang or Qujing count as pu'er? Lijiang, Qujing, Zhaotong, Nujiang, and Diqing are outside pu'er's geographical indication protected area, so under the national standard their tea doesn't meet the definition of pu'er.
When were Yunnan's protection measures issued? Issued April 28, 2009, effective June 1, 2009, with 30 articles.
What does the GI mark look like? A red globe with the golden letters GI, a white Great Wall, golden ears of wheat on both sides, and "Geographical Indication of the People's Republic of China" across the top; it's the new mark in use since October 2019.