Types of Black Tea
The four world-renowned teas: Keemun Black Tea, Assam Black Tea, Darjeeling Black Tea, and Ceylon High-Grown Black Tea.
Chinese Black Tea Varieties
Beyond renowned single-origin teas like Fujian's Zhengshan Xiaozhong, Fujian's Minhong, Anhui's Qihong, Yunnan's Dianhong, and Guangdong's Yingde, China also produces blended teas combining different varieties and flavored teas.China boasts a diverse range of black teas produced across extensive regions. Alongside uniquely Chinese varieties like Gongfu black tea and small-leaf black tea, there are also black broken teas similar to those from India and Sri Lanka.
Unique Chinese Black Tea Varieties
Small-leaf Black Tea: Pioneered the era of Chinese black tea. Originating in the 16th century, it was first developed in the Wuyi Mountain area.In 1610, Dutch merchants first exported black tea to Europe—specifically the Xingcun Small-leaf Black Tea (now known as Zhengshan Xiaozhong) produced in Chong'an County, Fujian Province. By the mid-18th century, this variety evolved into Gongfu Black Tea. From the 1880s onward, Chinese black tea—particularly Gongfu Black Tea—dominated international markets.Small-leaf black tea is a specialty of Fujian Province, categorized into Zhengshan Xiaozhong and Wai Shan Xiaozhong. Zhengshan Xiaozhong originates from the Tongmu Pass area of Xingcun Township, Chong'an County, also known as "Tongmu Pass Xiaozhong" or "Xingcun Xiaozhong." Other regions like Zhenghe, Danyang, and Gutian also produce small-leaf black tea.Small-leaf black teas produced in places like Shaxian and Yanshan, Jiangxi, which imitate Zhengshan quality, are collectively called "Wai Shan Xiaozhong" or "artificial Xiaozhong." Among small-leaf black teas, only Zhengshan Xiaozhong has endured for centuries, primarily because it originates from the high mountains of Wuyi. The areas around Xingcun and Tongmuguan in Chong'an County are located in the northern section of the Wuyi Mountain range, at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 meters.with mild winters and cool summers, an average annual temperature of 18°C, and annual rainfall around 2000 mm. Between spring and summer, the area is shrouded in mist throughout the day. The tea gardens boast fertile soil, allowing tea plants to grow luxuriantly with thick leaves and excellent tenderness retention, resulting in tea of particularly outstanding quality.
Gongfu Black Tea: A uniquely Chinese black tea variety and a traditional export commodity. Currently, tea is produced in nineteen provinces across China (including experimental cultivation areas in Xinjiang and Tibet), with twelve provinces having successively produced Gongfu Black Tea.China's Gongfu black teas exhibit diverse varieties and widespread origins. Regionally named types include Dianhong Gongfu, Qimen Gongfu, Fuliang Gongfu, Ninghong Gongfu, Xiangjiang Gongfu, Minhong Gongfu (encompassing Danyang Gongfu, Bailin Gongfu, Zhenghe Gongfu), Yuehong Gongfu, Taiwan Gongfu, Jiangsu Gongfu, and Yuehong Gongfu. By variety, they are further classified as Large-leaf Gongfu and Small-leaf Gongfu.Large-leaf Gongfu tea is made from fresh leaves of arboreal or semi-arboreal tea trees; small-leaf Gongfu tea is produced from fresh leaves of shrub-type small-leaf tea varieties.