Jīnxiù hóngchá · thetea.app

Jīnxiù hóngchá (金秀红茶) is a red tea of Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County (金秀瑶族自治县), Laibin prefecture-level city, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The county lies in the Dayaoshan mountains (大瑶山) with the main peak Shengtangshan (圣堂山, 1979 m); mountains take up almost three quarters of its area. At the end of 2014 the name received a certificate of agricultural product geographical indication, and in 2025 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized it as a geographical indication product. The protection document requires an even black leaf with a sheen, a bright red liquor and a rich aroma with honey and floral notes.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Red tea (红茶, hóngchá) — the class is stated in the name itself, and the protection document specifies the technology of red tea: withering, rolling, fermentation, drying.
Category: Guangxi red tea; agricultural product geographical indication (2014) and geographical indication product (2025).
Origin: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西, Guǎngxī), Laibin prefecture-level city (来宾, Láibīn), Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County (金秀, Jīnxiù).
Protection zone: The annex to the CNIPA announcement lists ten townships and towns of the county — Jinxiu, Luoxiang, Dazhang, Sanjiao, Sanjiang, Tongmu, Zhongliang, Changdong, Liuxiang and Toupai — and 77 village committees within them.
Geographic coordinates: 109°50′–110°27′ E, 23°40′–24°28′ N — according to the same annex.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- The Classic of Tea. The county writes that Jinxiu is one of the 42 tea regions mentioned in The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu (陆羽).
- Qing dynasty. According to the descriptions of the county and of the Guangxi brand catalog, Bainiu tea (白牛茶) from Luoyun village of Luoxiang Township and Dongwen tea were supplied to the court as tribute. The sources write the second name differently: 东温茶 and 冬温茶.
- Republican era. The county cites the gazetteer of Xiang County (象县志): the best are “青山茶” of Zhongping Township, yellow-green and fragrant, “东温茶” of Dazhang Township and “瑶茶” of the Yaoshan mountains — “微红”, reddish, whose taste “隔宿其味不变” — does not change if the liquor stands overnight. The places Qingshan, Dongwen and Yaoshan, according to the county, are now within Jinxiu. The quotation is given with a discrepancy: on the county page the taste is “香滑”, in the Guangxi brand catalog “香清”.
- 2011. According to a 2025 report, from this year the county began purposefully expanding its tea industry.
- 2014. At the end of the year the name received a certificate of agricultural product geographical indication from the Ministry of Agriculture (number AGI01554). In the same year the tea was recognized as a “national ecological origin protection product” (国家生态原产地保护产品) — this is a separate system, not a geographical indication.
- 2018. Included in the first list of Guangxi agricultural brands.
- 2020. According to Guangxi Ribao, at the 10th national tea quality competition “中茶杯” three “Jīnxiù hóngchá” products received gold awards.
- 2025. By announcement No. 640, CNIPA recognized the name as a geographical indication product — among the 1,409 products of a single announcement. The May 2025 press contradicts itself: it writes of a “double recognition” in 2014 and in the same breath — that the county is still preparing to file an application.
Name: “Jinxiu” (金秀) is the name of the county; “hóngchá” (红茶) means red tea.
Cultural significance: Jinxiu is an autonomous county of the Yao people. According to a Xinhua publication (2025), the Yao in the Dayaoshan mountains have long gathered and made tea for everyday drinking.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: According to the protection document — selected varieties suitable for red tea, and local populations of wild tea: Bainiu (白牛茶), Dongwen (东温茶), old trees of Liuxiang (六巷古茶). The document does not list named cultivars.
Wild and old trees: According to the county, there are many wild tea communities in Jinxiu, and the age of individual old trees, as estimated by specialists, ranges from several hundred to a thousand years. According to Xinhua, the county has four large communities of old trees, including those at Shangguchen, Liuxiang and Bainiu on the slopes of Shengtangshan; the survey was carried out together with South China Agricultural University.
Bainiu tea: The Guangxi brand catalog calls it a “rare famous variety” (名枞珍稀品种).
Harvest standard: According to the document — mainly a bud with one or two leaves; it is picked in batches, in several rounds, leaving leaves on the bush according to its vigor and age. The document gives no dates; Guangxi Ribao mentions spring and autumn harvests.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The Dayaoshan mountains in the central part of Guangxi, closer to the east. The main peak is Shengtangshan, 1979 m; around it is a national nature reserve.
Growing altitude: According to the Guangxi brand catalog — 500–1979 m; a publication by the Guangxi market supervision administration (2024) writes that the gardens usually lie at 1000–1200 m. The county seat, according to Xinhua, is at an altitude of about 800 m, near the Tropic of Cancer.
Climate: According to the catalog — mild, rainy, with high air humidity. Figures are not found in the sources consulted.
Soils: According to the document — slightly acidic, pH 4.5–6.5, deep, loose, well drained, rich in organic matter. The document does not name the soil type.
Forest: According to county data, forest cover is 87.99%, and for every mu of garden there are 56 mu of forest.
Area and output: The data diverge. Guangxi Ribao (2020) — about 60,000 mu in eight of the ten townships, 120 million yuan; the Guangxi market supervision administration (2024) — at the end of 2023, 39,000 mu in seven townships, 1,192 t, about 143 million yuan; the 2025 press, citing the county — 55,000 mu, about 200 million yuan and the same 1,192 t.

5. Production Technology

The protection document sets out the scheme “fresh leaf → withering → rolling (or rolling with cutting) → fermentation → drying” and its parameters:

Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo): Natural — in a cool, ventilated room — or in troughs. The layer in a trough is no thicker than 12 cm in the cold rainy season and 20 cm in the hot dry season, at 20–30 °C; below 20 °C the air is heated.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): First without pressure, then with pressure, until the sap comes out and the strands curl; the lumps are broken up, and the leaf is cooled and rolled again.
Fermentation (发酵, fājiào): In a separate room at 22–26 °C and a humidity of about 95%, 5–8 hours, with two or three turnings. It is finished when the leaf is evenly copper-bronze, the grassy smell has gone and a rich smell of ripe apple has appeared.
Drying (干燥, gānzào): In two stages. The first — a layer of about 1 cm, hot air at 105–115 °C, 20–25 minutes, then 40 minutes of cooling; the second — a layer of about 2 cm, 90 °C, 15–20 minutes.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The description is from the protection document unless stated otherwise.

Dry leaf appearance: Strands or granules, even, black with a sheen (外形（条形、颗粒）匀整，色泽乌润).
Dry leaf aroma: No data in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Rich, with honey and floral notes (香气浓郁，突显蜜韵花香); the document does not specify whether of the dry leaf or of the liquor.
Taste: Mellow and full, with a sweet aftertaste (滋味醇厚回甜).
Liquor color: Bright red, brilliant (汤色红艳明亮). The Guangxi market supervision administration (2024) calls it now red, now “golden yellow” (茶汤金黄清秀).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): No data in the sources consulted.

7. Chemical Composition

Physicochemical requirements of the protection document:

Indicator	Norm
Ash	not more than 6.5%
Water-soluble extractives	not less than 35%
Free amino acids	not less than 2%

According to a report on the launch of the brand “圣堂山1979” (2025), it contains 3.1% theaflavins; these are data for one product from a press release, not a norm for the name. Data on caffeine are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

Class practice for red tea.

Water temperature: 90–95 °C.
Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
Teaware: Gaiwan or porcelain teapot.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Add the tea.
3. A short rinse — optional.
4. First infusion — about a minute.
5. Pour out completely, without leaving the tea in the water.
6. Four or five further infusions, lengthening each one.

9. Storage

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

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted. According to Guangxi Ribao (2020), buyers from Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi itself bought up local tea without packaging and sold it under their own brands.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark and check that the producer is from Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County.
- Do not confuse it with “Dayaoshan sweet tea” (大瑶山甜茶): this is a separate protected product of the same county, and it is not made from the tea bush Camellia sinensis.

11. Interesting Facts

The brand “圣堂山1979” was named after the main peak of Dayaoshan and its height.
According to the Guangxi market supervision administration (2024), at the wall of the cup the liquor forms a golden rim — the “golden ring” (金圈).
A mountain autonomous county as the zone of a tea name occurs in Guangxi more than once: Rongshui Miao Autonomous County has its own Damiaoshan Hongcha (大苗山红茶).

12. Comparison with Other Guangxi Red Teas

Zhaoping Hongcha (昭平红茶): Red tea of Zhaoping County in eastern Guangxi from the Fuyun No. 6 variety (福云六号).
Lingyun Hongcha (凌云红茶): Red tea of northwestern Guangxi from the Lingyun Baihao variety (凌云白毫).
Baise Hongcha (百色红茶): A prefecture-wide name for Baise red tea in western Guangxi, also with an exact list of townships in the zone.

In Conclusion:

Jīnxiù hóngchá is a red tea of a Yao county in the Dayaoshan mountains, where forest covers almost nine tenths of the territory and the main peak rises to 1979 m. The 2025 protection document specifies raw material from selected varieties and local wild tea, the picking of a bud with one or two leaves and the technology of red tea, and expects from the finished tea a black leaf with a sheen, a bright red liquor and a honey-floral aroma.

Sources

Geographical indication

CNIPA 地理标志产品认定 №640

Full list — on the Sources page