The China Tea Company was founded in November 1949, and in 1951 it launched the "Zhongcha" trademark, 8 red "中" characters encircling a green "茶" character, often called New China's first tea trademark. Every state-owned tea factory in Yunnan used the Zhongcha brand, which is why the "Eight Zhong" design became a symbol of an era.
The predecessor of the Menghai Tea Factory was the experimental tea factory founded in Fohai by Fan Hejun and others; records give its founding as either 1939 or 1940. The factory stalled during the war, reopened in 1952, and was later renamed the Menghai Tea Factory, which is the predecessor of today's Dayi (Taetea).
Fohai is today's Menghai County in Xishuangbanna. In the Republican era, a new tea route through Burma and India into Tibet started here, shipping jincha by the truckload to Tibetan regions. Menghai replaced Pu'er as the tea trading center of southern Yunnan and laid the foundation for the later Menghai Tea Factory.
Tongqing Hao, Songpin Hao, Fuyuanchang, and Cheshun Hao were private tea firms in the Yiwu area from the late Qing through the Republican era, and the tea they left behind is known as Hao-grade tea. Their founding dates are disputed, very little survives, and some has sold at auction for tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars. Most of today's same-name brands are later trademarks.
In the Jiaqing and Daoguang eras of the Qing, the Six Ancient Tea Mountains produced over 100,000 dan of tea a year, with Yibang as the center of tribute tea. Epidemics, feuds, war, and shifting trade routes left them quiet for a long time, until a slow recovery began after the 1980s. Today, ancient-tree tea has brought them back to life.
Ruan Fu wrote the Record of Pu'er Tea in 1825, recording 2 lists of the six tea mountains, the 8 tribute items, and names such as maojian and daughter tea. Tan Cui's 1799 Dianhai Yuheng Zhi lists the six mountains as Youle, Gedeng, Yibang, Mangzhi, Manzhuan, and Mansa.
From around 1729 to the end of the Qing, pu'er was sent as tribute for about 180 years. Each year 1,000 liang of silver went to producing 8 items: tuan (ball) teas in 5 sizes plus bud tea, pistil tea, and tea paste. The Guangxu-era "Wanshou Longtuan" in the Palace Museum is nicknamed the "human-head tribute tea" for its shape.
In 1729 (the seventh year of Yongzheng), as part of replacing native chieftains with court-appointed officials, the Qing established Pu'er Prefecture, seated in today's Ning'er, and set up the Simao General Tea Office to buy tea centrally and tax it by the tong. Pu'er Prefecture lasted nearly 200 years before it was abolished in 1913 and became Ning'er County.
In the Song, the tea-horse trade exchanged Sichuan tea for horses from the northwest, and Yunnan tea rarely appears in the records. The Yuan-dynasty Yunnan Zhilüe describes markets trading in tea and salt; the Ming Yunnan Gazetteer notes "Pu'er of Cheli, where tea is produced," and Xie Zhaozhe's Dian Lüe first records the term "Pu tea."
Around 863, Fan Chuo completed the Manshu, whose Volume 7 records that "tea comes from the mountains within the bounds of Yinsheng City." Yinsheng City is generally placed around today's Jingdong, and the Mengshe Man boiled tea with Sichuan pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. It's the earliest reliable written record of Yunnan tea.
The tea plant's native range is generally believed to lie between southwest China, northeast India, and northern Myanmar, with Yunnan at its core. The ancient Pu people are regarded as ancestors of the Blang, Wa, and other peoples; the story of Kongming spreading tea is a legend recorded in Qing-dynasty local gazetteers.
Liubao, Anhua dark tea, Qianliang tea, Fu brick, Tibetan tea, and ripe pu'er all belong to the dark tea family, but their origins, raw materials, and processing differ. We compare their flavors and brewing methods, and explain what the "golden flowers" in Fu brick are and whether pu'er has them.
Thank you for your order!
Order no. , Amount .
A confirmation email is on its way to your inbox.
The shop will contact you about payment and start preparing your order once payment is received.
This order is cash on delivery: pay at the convenience store when you pick it up. No need to pay now.
This order is cash on delivery: pay the courier when it arrives. No need to pay now.
Please transfer the payment to this account
Your cart is empty.
View my ordersYour receipt and shipping updates will be sent to this email.
Pickup store
No store selected yet.
The map opens in a new window. Your choice will be brought back here automatically.
This is cash on delivery: pay at the convenience store when you pick it up. No need to pay online.
This is cash on delivery: pay the courier when your order arrives. No need to pay online.
The final total (including shipping and discounts) is confirmed when you place the order.
By placing this order, you agree that we use the contact details you entered to process it. See our Privacy Policy and Returns Policy.