---
title: "Chángdé hóngchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/changde-hongcha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Chángdé hóngchá (常德红茶)

*Chángdé hóngchá* (常德红茶) is a red tea of Changde prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan Province. It is a prefecture-level name covering parts of three counties — Shimen (石门), Linli (临澧) and Lixian (澧县): the gardens lie in the Wuling Mountains, the terrain descends to the southeast, and altitudes range from 100 to 1500 m. The best known of the three counties is Shimen: according to the county gazetteer, red tea began to be made there in the 1880s, when a Guangdong tea merchant invited masters from Qimen, and the tea went abroad via Hankou. Reference descriptions sum up its character in the formula “golden-red liquor, floral-honey aroma, sweet mellow taste”. Since 2020 the tea has been protected as an agricultural product geographical indication, and since 2025 as a geographical indication product.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Red tea (红茶, *hóngchá*), fully fermented. The class is stated in the name itself.
* **Category:** Hunan red tea; agricultural product geographical indication (2020) and geographical indication product (2025).
* **Origin:** China, Hunan Province (湖南, *Húnán*), Changde prefecture-level city (常德, *Chángdé*), the counties of Shimen (石门县, *Shímén Xiàn*), Linli (临澧县, *Línlǐ Xiàn*) and Lixian (澧县, *Lǐ Xiàn*).
* **Protection zone:** Not the whole prefecture, but parts of three counties. According to the description of the agricultural mark — 41 townships and towns, 3 farms and forest farms, 692 villages and communities. The description lists them by name: the townships and towns of Mengquan, Jiashan, Yijiadu, Xinguan, Zaoshi, Weixin, Taiping, Moshi, Hupingshan, Nanbei, Luoping, Yanchi, Xinpu, Baiyun, Sansheng, Ziliang, Suojie, Sheshiqiao, Taifu, Sixingang, Xiumei, Tingxiandu, Xin'an, Hekou, Kemushan, Fenghuo, Ganxitan, Huolianpo, Matoupu, Wangjiachang, Jinluo, Yanjing, Dayandang, Mengxi, Fuxingchang, Chengtoushan, Cennan, Rudong, Xiaodukou, Guanyuan and Linan, as well as the Datongshan and Baiyunshan forest farms and the Dongshanfeng state farm. The 2025 announcement begins the same list; I was unable to check it against this list in full.
* **Geographic coordinates:** 110°29′06″–112°05′22″ E, 29°16′22″–29°55′13″ N — according to the description of the agricultural mark.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The Jiashan legend.** The zone includes Jiashan (夹山) — a mountain whose monastery is linked by legend to the formula “Chan and tea are one” (禅茶一味, *chán chá yī wèi*). This is the context of the locality, not a characteristic of the product.
    * **1884 or 1892 — the beginning of red tea in Shimen.** According to the county gazetteer, quoted by the provincial union of supply and marketing cooperatives, in 1884 a Guangdong tea merchant invited masters from Qimen and opened the “Taihehe” tea house (泰和合) in the old town of Yisha (宜沙, now Hupingshan Town). The red tea was carried by water via Jinshi to Hankou and from there to Britain, France, Russia and the USA. Other publications, including biographies of the same merchant, date the founding of the house to 1892.
    * **Yihong.** Shimen historically belonged to the 宜红 (*Yíhóng*) red tea area, which lay on both sides of the border between Hunan and Hubei.
    * **1915.** The same source writes that Shimen red tea was exhibited at the Panama Exposition and received an award for quality; I have not seen a document about it.
    * **1951.** According to the same source — a gold award at the national gongfu red tea competition of the foreign trade system.
    * **1986.** According to the same source — a quality award from the Ministry of Commerce and Hunan Province.
    * **2020.** The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs registered *Chángdé hóngchá* as an agricultural product geographical indication, number AGI02963.
    * **2023.** In May, at the national red tea conference, the China Tea Marketing Association (中国茶叶流通协会) included Shimen in the country's top ten “key red tea areas” — the only one from Hunan.
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 640 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized *Chángdé hóngchá* as a geographical indication product; the same announcement contains 1409 names.
* **Name:**
    * “Changde” (常德) is the name of the prefecture-level city.
    * “Hongcha” (红茶, *hóngchá*) means “red tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** The prefecture-level name unites under one mark the red tea of three counties, of which the best known is Shimen. According to the description, producers obtain the right to use the mark through the Changde City Tea Industry Association (常德市茶业协会).

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** The description of the mark requires varieties suitable for red tea and names as examples 槠叶齐 (*Zhūyèqí*), 碧香早 (*Bìxiāngzǎo*) and local small-leaf populations.
* **Harvest:** Timing is not stated in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest standard:** According to the description of the mark, the raw material is divided into three grades by tenderness: for the premium grade — not less than 95% buds; for the first grade — not less than 90% “bud and leaf” shoots; for the second grade — not less than 85% “bud and two or three leaves” shoots and opened shoots of equal tenderness (对夹叶).
* **Raw material requirements:** Origin from the protection zone.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

According to the description of the agricultural mark:

* **Region:** The Wuling Mountains (武陵山); the terrain descends from northwest to southeast.
* **Growing altitude:** **100–1500 m**.
* **Forests:** Forest cover of more than 70%.
* **Climate:** Subtropical monsoon humid; mean annual temperature **16.8 °C**, accumulated active temperature about **5200 °C**, precipitation more than **1300 mm** a year.
* **Soils:** Red, yellow and sandy loam, slightly acidic, deep, rich in organic matter.
* **Scale:** The area of the zone is 14,000 ha; annual output at the time of registration was 10,200 t, according to the same description.

**5. Production Technology:**

The description of the agricultural mark sets the order: withering → rolling → fermentation → drying → finishing → blending → finished tea — and the signs of readiness at each step.

* **Withering (萎凋 — *wěidiāo*):** In troughs, indoors by the natural method, or combined. The leaf loses its luster and darkens, the grassy smell weakens, the leaf wrinkles and softens, the stalk bends without breaking; ready at a moisture content of 60–62%.
* **Rolling (揉捻 — *róuniǎn*):** On rollers, 60–90 minutes, with pressure on the “light — heavy — light” scheme; not less than 90% of the leaf is twisted into tight strands, and juice comes out.
* **Fermentation (发酵 — *fājiào*):** In fermentation machines or chambers; ready when 70–80% of the leaf is colored from red-orange to orange-red, the grassy smell has disappeared and a clean or floral-fruity aroma has appeared.
* **Drying (干燥 — *gānzào*):** In two stages: first to a moisture content of 25–30%, then to 5–7%.
* **Finishing (整形 — *zhěngxíng*):** Removing stalks, color and air sorting, sifting — to an even appearance.
* **Blending ([拼配](https://thetea.app/article/chunliaopinpei) — *pīnpèi*):** Combining batches according to the requirements of each grade.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the description of the agricultural mark: 条索紧细匀整，色泽乌黑油润，金毫显露，甜香高长，汤色红浓明亮，滋味甘鲜醇厚，叶底嫩匀红亮. The short reference formula is “golden-red liquor, floral-honey aroma, sweet mellow taste” (金红汤、花蜜香、甘醇味).

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Thin, tight, even twists (条索紧细匀整), black and oily (乌黑油润), with visible golden buds (金毫显露).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** Sweet, high and long (甜香高长); the short formula calls it floral-honey (花蜜香).
* **Taste:** Sweet, fresh, mellow and full (甘鲜醇厚).
* **Liquor color:** Deep red and bright (红浓明亮); the short formula — “golden-red”.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender, even, red and bright (嫩匀红亮).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The description of the agricultural mark sets norms by grade:

| Indicator | Premium grade | First grade | Second grade |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Extractives, not less than | 35% | 34% | 32% |

Other physico-chemical data are not found in the sources consulted.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for red tea.

* **Water temperature:** 90–95 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3–5 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** White porcelain gaiwan or teapot — it shows the golden buds and the color of the liquor.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea.
    3. Briefly wet the leaf with hot water and pour it off.
    4. First infusion — 15–30 seconds in a gaiwan.
    5. Pour out completely.
    6. Four or five repeat infusions, adding 10–15 seconds each time.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In tight packaging, in a dry, cool, dark place, away from foreign odors. A refrigerator is not needed.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted; the norms by grade speak of three quality levels.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication mark on the package.
    * Check that the producer is from Shimen, Linli or Lixian County: other counties of the prefecture are not in the zone.
    * The leaf — thin, tight black twists with golden buds.
    * The liquor — deep red and bright, the aroma — sweet, with a floral-honey tone.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The protection zone is inter-county: one prefecture-level name covering parts of three counties.
* Neighboring Taoyuan County of the same prefecture is not in the zone: its red tea is protected by a separate name — [桃源红茶](https://thetea.app/article/taoyuan-hongcha).
* According to the county gazetteer, red tea in Shimen was started by masters invited from Qimen.
* The zone includes Mount Jiashan, with which legend associates the formula “Chan and tea are one”.
* Shimen is the only Hunan county in the 2023 top ten “key red tea areas”.

**13. Comparison with Other Red Teas:**

* **Qimen Hongcha ([祁门红茶](https://thetea.app/article/qimen-hongcha)):** The classic gongfu red tea of Anhui; masters who started red tea in Shimen were invited from Qimen.
* **Lichuan Hong ([利川红](https://thetea.app/article/lichuan-hong)):** A gongfu red tea of western Hubei — from the Hubei side of the old 宜红 area.
* **Jietan Hongcha ([碣滩红茶](https://thetea.app/article/jietan-hongcha)):** A red tea of Yuanling County in the west of Hunan, made by Hunan gongfu technology.
* **Shimen Yinfeng ([石门银峰](https://thetea.app/article/shimen-yin-feng)):** Not a red but a green tea of the same Shimen County — another branch of local tea growing.

**In Conclusion:**

*Chángdé hóngchá* is a prefecture-level red tea of northwestern Hunan, assembled from parts of three counties near the Wuling Mountains. The best known of the three counties, Shimen, according to the county gazetteer, has made red tea since 1884, when masters from Qimen came there; other publications give 1892. The description of the name depicts thin black twists with golden buds, a sweet high aroma, a deep red bright liquor and a sweet-fresh full taste; the extractives norms define three grades.