Bǎisè hóngchá

Bǎisè hóngchá (百色红茶) is a red tea from Baise prefecture-level city (百色市) in the west of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, near the border with Yunnan and Vietnam. This is a prefecture-level name: the protection zone covers ten counties and districts, but not in full — 39 townships and towns and the 118 villages within them. The raw material is the local variety Lingyun Baihao (凌云白毫茶), also known as the national variety Huacha No. 26. Since 2016 the name has been an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), in 2024 a group standard was issued for it, and in 2025 it was included in the CNIPA list of geographical indication products.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Red tea (红茶, hóngchá), fully oxidized. The class is stated in the name and in the title of the 2024 group standard.
Category: Prefecture-level red tea of Guangxi; agricultural product geographical indication (2016) and geographical indication product in the CNIPA list (2025).
Origin: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西, Guǎngxī), Baise prefecture-level city (百色, Bǎisè).
Protection zone: According to Ministry of Agriculture announcement No. 2384 (2016) — 39 townships and towns and 118 administrative villages in ten counties, county-level cities and districts of the prefecture: Youjiang (右江), Pingguo (平果), Debao (德保), Jingxi (靖西), Napo (那坡), Lingyun (凌云), Leye (乐业), Tianlin (田林), Longlin (隆林) and Xilin (西林).
Geographic coordinates: 104°42′–107°48′ E, 22°53′–25°02′ N.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Early records. According to the description of the indication, written mentions of tea growing in the prefecture begin in the Hongzhi (弘治) years of the Xiaozong Emperor of the Ming dynasty — from 1488. The same source says that many wild old tea trees have survived in the prefecture.
- 1970s–1980s. According to the same description, Baise was a national production base for broken red tea for export (红碎茶).
- 2001. According to the description of the indication, “gongfu red tea, first grade” won gold at the 3rd International Famous Tea Competition.
- 2009–2014. According to the description of the indication, at the 8th–10th “Zhongcha Bei” (中茶杯) competitions of 2009–2013, 15 of the 79 top awards in the national red tea group went to Baise teas, and at the 1st–3rd “Guoyin Bei” (国饮杯) competitions of 2010–2014, 15 of 42.
- 2016. By announcement No. 2384 of 31 March 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture registered Bǎisè hóngchá in that year’s first batch of agricultural product geographical indications. The applicant was the prefecture’s tea development center (百色市茶叶开发中心); the number of the technical quality specification is AGI2016-01-1855.
- 2024. On 21 May, International Tea Day, the Guangxi Tea Industry Association issued the group standards T/TEAGX 006-2024 “Geographical indication agricultural product. Bǎisè hóngchá” and T/TEAGX 007-2024 on its processing technology; both have been in force since 21 June 2024. Judging by the titles, the first sets requirements for the product and the second for the processing technology. I have not seen the text of the standards.
- 2025. The name was included in the list of geographical indication products approved by CNIPA announcement No. 640.
Name: “Baise” (百色) is the name of the prefecture-level city; “hóngchá” (红茶) means “red tea”.
Cultural significance: A prefecture-level brand over the teas of ten counties and districts; in the 1970s–1980s the prefecture, according to the description of the indication, was a national base for export broken red tea.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety: Lingyun Baihao (凌云白毫茶) — in 1985 it was recognized by the national commission for crop varieties in the first batch of national tea varieties under the name Huacha No. 26 (华茶26号), number GS13026-1985. According to the description of the indication, the variety’s leaf is fairly thin and soft, the pubescence very abundant, and the buds large.
Different classes from one variety. Both green and red tea are made from Lingyun Baihao — see section 13. For Bǎisè hóngchá it is made into red tea.
Harvest standard and timing: No data in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

According to the description of the indication:

Topography: A transition from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the hills of Lingnan. In the center lies the basin of the Youjiang valley, flanked by mountains; limestone mountains predominate in the south, and mountains with soft soils in the north.
Growing altitude: 600–1800 m.
Climate zones: The subtropical monsoon climate here divides into three zones — the warm-to-hot Youjiang valley, the moderately warm mountains of the north and south, and the cool highlands. The gardens lie mainly in the moderately warm zone.
Climate of the moderately warm zone: Mean annual temperature 18–20 °C, frost-free period 340–350 days, sunshine 1400–1600 hours a year, precipitation 1600–1700 mm. Winters are warm, and the difference between day and night temperatures is large.
Forest and humidity: Forest cover about 75%, mean annual relative air humidity 80%, frequent fogs.
Soils: Red earths on sandstones and shales, yellow-red and yellow soils, more than 1 m thick, mainly loams.

Soil indicator	Value
pH	4.5–6.5
Organic matter	20–35 g/kg
Total nitrogen	0.6–1.0 g/kg
Total phosphorus	0.35–0.80 g/kg
Total potassium	8–15 g/kg
Available potassium	40–80 mg/kg

The description of the indication calls the soils selenium-rich but gives no figures.

5. Production Technology

The technology is set by the group standard T/TEAGX 007-2024; I have not seen its text, so I do not give parameters. Below is the general scheme of gongfu red tea, not a description of this particular tea:

Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo): The leaf loses moisture and becomes soft.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): The leaf cells are broken, and the sap comes out onto the surface.
Fermentation (发酵, fājiào): The leaf turns red; theaflavins and thearubigins form.
Drying (干燥, gānzào): Oxidation is stopped, and the leaf is dried completely.

In the 1970s–1980s the prefecture, according to the description of the indication, made broken red tea for export, while the 2001 award was given to gongfu red tea.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

According to the description of the indication:

Dry leaf appearance: Strands tight and large, the color dark with a sheen, the golden tips clearly visible (色泽乌润，金毫显露，条索紧结肥壮).
Dry leaf aroma: No separate description in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Sweet, with a clear “downy” aroma (甜香，浓毫香显).
Taste: Rich, strong and fresh, mellow-sweet, with a sweet aftertaste (浓强鲜爽，甜醇回甘). The tea holds up to many infusions.
Liquor color: Bright red, clear (红艳明亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Red, bright, even (红亮匀整).

7. Chemical Composition

Physicochemical norms are not found in the sources consulted; the quality requirements are set by the 2024 group standard, which I have not seen. The description of the indication calls the tea rich in selenium and in “internal substances” (内含物丰富), but gives no figures.

8. Brewing

Class practice for red tea.

Water temperature: 90–95 °C.
Tea amount: 3–5 g per 150 ml.
Teaware: Gaiwan or porcelain teapot.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Add the tea.
3. Quickly rinse the leaf with hot water and pour it off.
4. First infusion — 10–20 seconds in a gaiwan or about a minute in a teapot.
5. Pour out the liquor completely.
6. Repeat, lengthening the infusion.

9. Storage

Class practice. In a dry, dark place at room temperature, in tight packaging, away from odors and moisture.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the agricultural product geographical indication mark and check that the raw material comes from the zone — the 118 villages of the ten counties of Baise prefecture.
- Do not confuse it with county-level names: Lingyun Baihao has its own registration.
- The leaf — tight dark strands with golden tips; the liquor — bright red.

11. Interesting Facts

The zone spans more than three degrees of longitude, but only 118 villages within it are protected.
Within the zone lies Lingyun County — the home of the variety and of a separate protected name. The names protect different products rather than divide the land.
The group standards for the name were issued on 21 May 2024, International Tea Day, in one package with the technical regulation for processing West Guangxi dark tea (桂西黑茶).

12. Comparison with Other Teas

Lingyun Hongcha (凌云红茶): Red tea of Lingyun County from the same variety; a county-level product, whereas Bǎisè hóngchá is a prefecture-level name that includes Lingyun as one of its ten counties.
Lingyun Lücha (凌云绿茶): Green tea from the same variety — an example of how Lingyun Baihao goes into different classes.
Zhaoping Hongcha (昭平红茶): Gongfu red tea of eastern Guangxi.
Qimen Hongcha (祁门红茶): The best-known gongfu red tea of China, from Anhui Province.

In Conclusion:

Bǎisè hóngchá is the prefecture-level red tea of western Guangxi: one name for ten counties, 118 villages and altitudes from 600 to 1800 m, one variety — Lingyun Baihao — and a 2016 registration. The documents describe it in detail at the level of the land — climate, soils, coordinates — and sparingly at the level of the cup: tight dark strands with golden tips, bright red liquor, a sweet aftertaste. The quality figures are in the 2024 standard.