Yunnan Local Standards, Group Standards, and Other Related National Standards

Codes on packaging that start with DB53/T, T/YNTCA, or Q/ often leave people baffled. These codes represent standards at different levels, each covering its own area. Once you recognize them, you can tell which set of rules a tea was made by.

The Levels of Standards

The "/T" in a code means recommended; codes without /T are mandatory.

What Is DB53?

DB is the pinyin abbreviation for "difang biaozhun" (local standard), and 53 is Yunnan Province's administrative division code, so DB53 means a Yunnan provincial local standard.

Before pu'er had a national standard, Yunnan already had local standards. In 2006, Yunnan issued a series of pu'er local standards; the mandatory DB53/103-2006 Pu'er Tea was retired after the national standard took effect and was abolished in 2014, while the recommended DB53/T 171–173-2006 cover pu'er's environmental conditions, cultivation, and processing techniques respectively.

Several figures from DB53/T 173-2006, the processing technical code, are often cited: fresh leaves are spread until moisture content is about 70%, sun-dried until moisture is below 10%, the pile temperature in wodui is kept below 65°C, and compressed tea is dried at no more than 60°C. Public information on the current status of these recommended local standards is incomplete, so when citing them it's best to rely on a lookup with Yunnan's market regulation authorities.

Prefectures and cities can also issue local standards, such as Pu'er City's DB5308 and Xishuangbanna Prefecture's DB5328; the two storage-related ones are covered in Storage Standards.

What the Sun-Dried Tea Group Standard Sets Out

Group standards are drawn up by associations or societies and adopted voluntarily by members. The one most relevant to pu'er is the Yunnan Tea Circulation Association's T/YNTCA 001-2021 Sun-Dried Tea (Large-Leaf Variety):

• Processing: Spreading, shaqing, rolling, breaking up clumps, drying in sunlight.
• Explicitly excluded methods: Withering, low-temperature long-duration pan-firing for shaqing, yellowing (menhuang), red fermentation (wohong), and tossing (yaoqing). These are steps in making white, yellow, black (red), and oolong teas, and adding them means the result is no longer sun-dried tea.
• Physicochemical indicators: Moisture ≤ 10%, total ash ≤ 7.5%, water extract ≥ 35%.
• Evaluation: 5 grams of tea, 250 milliliters of boiling water, steeped for 4 minutes; dry leaf appearance, aroma, taste, liquor color, and infused leaf are weighted at 20%, 25%, 30%, 15%, and 10% respectively.

This standard effectively turns "what counts as authentic sun-dried maocha" into a checklist; maocha is introduced in Sun-Dried Maocha.

What Are Enterprise Standards?

Companies can set standards for their own products, with codes starting with Q/, which in Yunnan must be filed with the health authorities. Enterprise standards are usually stricter than national standards, for example setting a lower moisture limit, while the requirements of mandatory national standards must always be met. If the standard listed on a package starts with Q/, the tea was produced to that company's own standard.

How the National Tea Classification Standard Divides Tea

GB/T 30766-2014 Classification of Tea, published March 27, 2014 and in effect October 27, divides tea into six major categories, green, black (red), yellow, white, oolong, and dark tea, plus reprocessed tea. Ripe pu'er undergoes post-fermentation involving microbes and is generally placed under dark tea; where raw pu'er belongs has long been debated in the tea world; see Which Tea Category Does Pu'er Belong To?.

Is There a National Standard for Tea Evaluation?

Yes, two in fact:

• Methods: GB/T 23776-2018 Methodology for Sensory Evaluation of Tea, published February 6, 2018 and in effect June 1, sets out the equipment, tea-to-water ratio, steeping time, and scoring for evaluation. A common practice for loose dark tea is 5 grams of tea to 250 milliliters of water, a ratio of 1:50; compressed tea needs a longer steep.
• Terminology: GB/T 14487-2017 Tea Sensory Evaluation Terminology, published November 1, 2017 and in effect May 1, 2018, replaced the 2008 edition and standardizes the words used to describe dry leaf appearance, liquor color, aroma, taste, and infused leaf.

How evaluation is done in practice is in How Professional Tea Evaluation Works.

Does Pu'er Have Its Own Terminology?

The GB/T 14487-2017 edition added terms related to dark tea and pu'er. Words often heard at the tea table, such as "chenxiang" (aged aroma), "chunhe" (mellow and smooth), and "hongnong" (deep red), are the terms used in evaluation to describe ripe and aged tea. How to use these words in everyday tasting is covered in The Vocabulary of Tea Tasting.

Are Local Standards Still in Force?

Local standards get reviewed, revised, or abolished, so they aren't necessarily valid forever. DB53/103-2006 was abolished in 2014, and Pu'er City's 2020 storage specification DB5308/T 53-2020 was abolished on August 20, 2026. When you see a standard cited, it's best to check its current status.

FAQ

What does DB53 mean? DB means local standard and 53 is Yunnan's code, so DB53 is a Yunnan provincial local standard; with /T added, it's a recommended standard.

What does the sun-dried tea group standard set out? T/YNTCA 001-2021 specifies the processing of sun-dried tea, excludes methods such as withering, yellowing, red fermentation, and tossing, and sets moisture at ≤ 10% and water extract at ≥ 35%.

What is an enterprise standard? A standard a company sets for its own products, with a code starting with Q/; it's usually stricter than the national standard, and the requirements of mandatory national standards must always be met.

Is there a national standard for tea evaluation? Yes. The method is GB/T 23776-2018 and the terminology is GB/T 14487-2017, which added terms related to pu'er.

How does the national tea classification standard divide tea? GB/T 30766-2014 has six major categories, green, black (red), yellow, white, oolong, and dark, plus reprocessed tea.