Píngjiāng yānchá (平江烟茶) is the “Pingjiang smoked tea” of Pingjiang County (平江县) in Yueyang prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hunan province. The character 烟 (yān) means “smoke”; the name merely sounds like the rock tea 岩茶. The leaf is rolled three times and smoked three times, and between the second and third smoking it is sealed and left to turn yellow. The geographical indication documents class the tea as yellow; its leaf is blackish-brown, the liquor golden, the aroma smoky. Since 2020 the name has been protected as an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), and since 2025 as a geographical indication product.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Yellow tea (黄茶, huángchá), smoked. The official scheme includes sealed yellowing (闷黄, mènhuáng), and the industry newspaper “中国食品安全报” states it directly: “属于黄茶类”, “belongs to the yellow teas”.
- Discrepancy: County materials call the tea sometimes “ripe” (熟茶), sometimes “unfermented”; these are local advertising phrases, and the class here is given according to the protection documents.
- Category: Smoked yellow tea from a bud with two to four leaves; geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Hunan province (湖南, Húnán), Yueyang prefecture-level city (岳阳, Yuèyáng), Pingjiang County (平江, Píngjiāng).
- Protection zone: Nineteen towns and townships of the county, 447 administrative villages — from Sanshi (三市镇) to Mujin (木金乡). According to reference data, in 2019 the tea was harvested from 8,000 ha and 1,500 t were produced; it was not possible to open the primary source of these figures.
- Geographic coordinates: 28°29′24″–29°10′16″ N and 113°15′30″–114°15′17″ E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Ancient roots. “中国食品安全报” cites the Western Jin work Jingzhou Tudi Ji (荆州土地记): tea planting in Pingjiang began in the Yuankang years (元康), 291–299. The quotation comes from a secondary source.
- 1875. According to the Hunan press, in the first year of Guangxu the tea shop “阜山青号” opened, which mainly processed smoked tea.
- 1884. In Danjiang village of Sanshi town (三市镇淡江村) a stele from the 10th year of Guangxu was found. The inscription, according to the same newspaper: “平江烟茶生幕阜与连云之间，上等茶谷雨前后采，煮捞揉捻凉爽后再烟焙” — smoked tea grows between the Mufu and Lianyun mountains, the best is picked around the Guyu festival (谷雨, gǔyǔ), the leaf is boiled and lifted out, rolled, cooled, and only then heated over smoke.
- Tea for home use. According to county publications, smoked tea was long made for the household, not for sale. In 2014, together with Danjiang village, a farmers’ cooperative was set up, and the tea began to be produced under the brand “谷雨烟茶”; according to the county press, the traditional 18 manual operations were reduced to ten, while keeping the rolling, sealed yellowing under natural conditions and smoking over charcoal.
- 2018. In December the Pingjiang County Smoked Tea Research Institute (平江县烟茶研究院) was established.
- 2020. On May 29 the tea passed the provincial review, and on September 28 the national panel of the China Green Food Development Center. A reference work dates the registration of the agricultural product geographical indication to December 25, 2020, and cites ministry announcement No. 378; it was not possible to open the text of the announcement.
- 2016 and 2021. According to the county press, “谷雨烟茶” was recognized in 2016 as an item of intangible heritage at the Yueyang city level, and in 2021 the technique of making it entered the fifth provincial list of Hunan.
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), by announcement No. 640, recognized the name as a geographical indication product; the applicant is the smoked tea research institute.
- Name: “Pingjiang” (平江) is the name of the county; “yan” (烟) means “smoke”; “cha” (茶) means tea.
- Cultural significance: County publications describe the local way of drinking smoked tea: a few grains of “tea pepper” (茶椒, chájiāo) are put in the cup, and at the end the leaf is eaten together with the rest of the liquor. This way of drinking is called 呷茶 (xiā chá); according to a county publication, this is how a guest expresses approval of the host’s tea, and a 2025 essay adds that in Pingjiang tea is not “drunk” but “eaten” (吃茶, chī chá). A 2021 county publication conveys the attachment to this tea with the saying “宁可一个月饭碗里无腊肉，不可茶碗里一日无烟茶” — “better a month without cured meat in the bowl than a day without smoked tea in the cup”; in another Hunan publication it is shorter: “宁可三日无肉，不可碗里一日无烟茶”. The 2025 essay also recalls that in the grandparents’ generation young holly leaves (枸骨, gǒugǔ) were mixed into the tea leaf during making, and the tea acquired a special aroma.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: The protection requirements name the local Pingjiang smoked tea population (平江烟茶群体品种) and the bred variety 槠叶齐 (zhūyèqí). Materials on the “谷雨烟茶” brand speak of a local wild large-leaf variety; the sources do not define the botanical basis more precisely.
- Harvest standard: Shoot tips from a bud with two leaves to a bud with four leaves, or of equal tenderness — whole, fresh, even and clean.
- Harvest time: The best harvest, according to the 1884 inscription, is around the Guyu festival.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The northeast of Hunan, at the junction with Hubei and Jiangxi: forests, hills, valleys. According to the county’s 2020 description, the Lianyunshan (连云山) and Mufushan (幕阜山) ranges, up to 1,600 m high, hold back warm humid air from the south and cold air from the north.
- Growing altitude: Garden altitudes are not found in the sources consulted.
- Climate: According to the same description — mean annual temperature 16.8 °C, frost-free period 295 days, sunshine 1,731 h, precipitation 1,450.8 mm; mountain mists and much diffused light.
- Soils: Sandy loams and yellow earths, a thick, loose, fertile layer with good aeration.
- Forest cover: 63.35 %; the Miluo River (汨罗江) runs 192.9 km through the county.
5. Production Technology
The scheme of fourteen operations is set by the protection documents; the parameters follow the 2025 requirements.
- Washing (水洗, shuǐxǐ): The fresh leaf is washed with mountain spring water — an operation rare for tea.
- Withering (摊青, tānqīng): A layer of about 5 cm, below 28 °C, 6–12 hours; the leaf loses 10–20 % of its moisture, and the grassy smell goes away.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): One of three options — pan-firing in a cast-iron pan at 160–200 °C, 1–1.5 kg at a time, 5–12 minutes; blanching in boiling water (捞青, lāoqīng), 1.5–2.5 kg at a time, until the leaf turns yellow-green; or a drum machine at 180–260 °C.
- First rolling (初揉) and breaking up of clumps (解块).
- First smoking (初熏, chūxūn): The leaf is spread evenly on a “chakang” (茶炕, chákàng) — a bamboo dryer shaped like an old-style official’s hat — and smoked; the fuel is tea-seed husks, liana, pine charcoal, sweetgum fruit clusters and aged tangerine peel; the liana in the list is named by species — 扁担藤 (biǎndanténg). 60–80 °C, 15–20 minutes, turning every 5–8 minutes.
- Second rolling and breaking up of clumps.
- Second smoking (复熏): 70–90 °C, 15–20 minutes.
- Sealed yellowing (闷黄, mènhuáng): The tea is raked into a heap 20–25 cm high in a dry, ventilated place out of direct sunlight for 1–4 hours.
- Third rolling and breaking up of clumps.
- Third smoking (三熏): 90–100 °C.
- Final drying (足干, zúgān): Dry to nine-tenths, then over low heat until the leaf rubs to powder between the fingers.
The sources name the fuel differently: the county — pine, sweetgum fruit clusters (枫球) and oil-camellia husks (油茶壳); one publication — liana roots (藤根). The 2025 requirements give their own list, cited above: it matches the county’s in sweetgum fruit clusters and pine (in the form of charcoal), and instead of oil-camellia husks names tea-seed husks (茶籽壳); liana is in it, but roots are not mentioned.
A 2022 county publication describes the home method. The order of work in ordinary households is picking, washing, sorting, blanching (捞), rolling, rinsing (涤), heating. They smoke over whatever is at hand — sweetgum fruit clusters, the roots of a plant the publication calls 翘栗, tea-seed husks and charcoal — slowly, “so that the smoke is seen but not the fire”, usually for 8–10 hours. The finished tea is left to rest until the “fire” (火气) goes away, and is picked over (拣茶): thick stalks and yellow leaves are picked out. According to the same publication, 1 jin of dry tea comes from 6 jin of fresh leaf of the early harvest and from 4 jin of the late harvest, and the more rinses, the lighter the liquor.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
Description according to the protection documents.
- Dry leaf appearance: Blackish-brown, fairly lustrous (乌褐尚亮); the strands tight, even, with tender stalks (条索紧实，匀整有嫩梗). According to county materials, the tea is kept as loose tea (散茶).
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Smoky, rich and lasting (熏香浓郁持久).
- Taste: Full, mellow, with a sweet aftertaste (滋味醇厚回甘).
- Liquor color: Golden yellow and bright (汤色金黄明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Even, clean, soft, brownish-yellow and bright (叶底匀净柔软、褐黄明亮).
According to “中国食品安全报”, in the first year the tea is black with a greenish tinge, and over time it becomes raven-black. A 2021 county publication compares the color of the dry tea to black iron (黑如玄铁) and writes that when brewed strong the liquor is thick, “like sauce” (茶汤如酱), and when brewed light it is golden with a greenish tinge (金黄透绿).
7. Chemical Composition
Indicators from the protection documents:
| Indicator | Norm |
|---|---|
| Total ash | not more than 7.0 % |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 10 % |
| Free amino acids | not less than 1.5 % |
| Water extract | not less than 16 % |
The norms are given according to the 2025 requirements. Reference data on the 2020 registration give a different threshold for water extract — not less than 32 %; it was not possible to open the text of the 2020 regulation, so the discrepancy is not resolved.
8. Brewing
Class practice for yellow tea.
- Water temperature: 85–90 °C.
- Tea amount: 3–4 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: Gaiwan or porcelain teapot.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Add the tea and pour in the water.
- First infusion — about a minute.
- Add more water.
- Repeat while the taste and the smoke hold.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a dry, cool, dark place, separate from other teas and odorous foods. There are no data on how the taste changes with aging.
10. Price and Counterfeits
A 2023 county publication gave a price of 200 to 1,600 yuan per jin (500 g) for tea of the “谷雨烟茶” brand; these are the prices of one brand, not of the market as a whole.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark and a producer from the protection zone of Pingjiang County.
- Compare the appearance with the description in the documents: blackish-brown leaf with stalks, smoky aroma, golden liquor.
11. Interesting Facts
- The fresh leaf is washed with spring water before processing.
- The 1884 inscription begins the processing with the words “boil and lift out” (煮捞), and the 2025 requirements still allow fixation in boiling water (捞青).
- The list of fuels for smoking includes aged tangerine peel.
- Home smoking, according to a 2022 county publication, takes 8–10 hours over a gentle fire; the protection requirements allot 15–20 minutes each to the first and second smoking.
12. Comparison with Other Teas
- Weishan Maojian (沩山毛尖): A Hunan yellow tea with sealed yellowing and pine smoking; it is described as the only smoked yellow tea, but according to the protection documents Píngjiāng yānchá is also a smoked yellow tea, with three smokings.
- Yueyang Huangcha (岳阳黄茶): The prefecture-wide name for the yellow tea of Yueyang, which includes Pingjiang.
- Pingjiang Gaoshan Cha (平江高山茶): A county brand of “high-mountain tea” with no stated class.
- Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong (正山小种): A Fujian red tea with pine smoke — the same smoke, a different class.
In Conclusion:
Píngjiāng yānchá is a village smoked yellow tea of northeast Hunan: the leaf is washed with spring water, rolled three times and smoked three times, and between smokings it undergoes sealed yellowing. The result is a blackish-brown loose tea with a rich smoky aroma, golden liquor and a sweet aftertaste.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page