---
title: "Píngnán xiǎozhǒng"
url: https://thetea.app/article/pingnan-xiaozhong
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Píngnán xiǎozhǒng (屏南小种)

*Píngnán xiǎozhǒng* (屏南小种) is a mountain red tea of the *xiǎozhǒng* type from Pingnan County (屏南县), Ningde prefecture-level city, Fujian Province. Pingnan, according to county data, is the highest county in Fujian by average altitude, 830 m, and local texts emphasize the “mountain character” (高山韵) of this tea. The name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark since 2018; the holder of the mark is the county tea association, which in 2024 also issued a group standard in which “屏南小种” is explicitly called a *xiǎozhǒng* red tea.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Red tea (红茶, *hóngchá*), xiaozhong (小种, *xiǎozhǒng*). The class is not recorded in the mark itself: the goods are listed simply as “茶”. The class is set by the group standard T/PNCX 0002—2024 “屏南小种红茶”: by its definition, as retold by a news portal, it is “小种红茶” under the certification mark “屏南小种”. Previously the class was confirmed only by sellers' descriptions.
* **Category:** Mountain *xiǎozhǒng* red tea of eastern Fujian; geographical indication certification mark (2018).
* **Origin:** China, Fujian Province (福建, *Fújiàn*), Ningde prefecture-level city (宁德, *Níngdé*), Pingnan County (屏南, *Píngnán*).
* **Zone:** The provincial list of marks names Pingnan County as the administrative affiliation of the holder — this is not the legal boundary of the zone. A reference portal on geographical indications gives the zone as the current administrative territory of the county; I have not seen the rules of the mark in which it would be fixed.
* **Protection regime:** Geographical indication certification mark (证明商标) No. 23702418, class 30, goods — tea. According to the provincial list as of 30 June 2026: registered on 28 October 2018, holder — the Pingnan County tea association (屏南县茶业协会), registration valid.
* **Geographic coordinates:** No data in the sources consulted.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The county.** According to the portal's reference note, from the Tang to the early Qing the lands of Pingnan were part of Gutian County of Fuzhou prefecture; a separate Pingnan County was created in 1735.
    * **1740.** According to a 2024 news publication, the first *Gazetteer of Pingnan County* writes about tea as follows: “茶之属，各山皆有，或似武彝，或似松萝，惟产于岩头云雾中者佳” — there is tea on all the mountains, some resemble Wuyi tea, others Songluo tea, and the best grows on the rocks amid clouds and mist.
    * **Qing and the early Republic.** The portal's reference note dates the beginning of Pingnan red tea production to the early Qing, and its heyday to the late Qing and the first years of the Republic, when it was, according to the note, the county's main commodity. The same text writes that in the early Qing the local red tea was called “外山小种” — “*xiǎozhǒng* of the outer mountains”, and that among the seals of the “六合春” tea shop of the Zhou family from Shuangxi, from the late Qing and early Republic, there is a seal reading “新山小种”.
    * **Revival.** According to a seller's description, *Píngnán xiǎozhǒng* was revived by the county tea bureau together with local masters.
    * **Heritage.** The technique of making Pingnan *xiǎozhǒng* red tea has been included in the city-level list of intangible cultural heritage (news publication, 2024); I have not found the year of inclusion.
    * **2018.** Registration of certification mark No. 23702418.
    * **2024.** On 13 March the county tea association published three group standards at once: “凤茶” (T/PNCX 0001—2024), “屏南小种红茶” (T/PNCX 0002—2024) and “鹫峰乌龙茶” (T/PNCX 0003—2024). According to a news publication, this was the first time the county tea association had issued standards for three kinds of tea at the same time.
* **Name:** “Pingnan” is the name of the county; *xiǎozhǒng* (小种) means “small variety”, the traditional name of Fujian red teas of this type.
* **Cultural significance:** According to a news publication, in Pingnan it is customary to cook tea with egg (蛋茶, *dànchá*), and almost every family knew how to make tea. Sellers write of “four hundred years of history”; this figure is not confirmed by any document.

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

* **Variety:** The group standard speaks of “varieties suitable for Pingnan mountain *xiǎozhǒng* red tea”, without naming them in the retelling. The portal's reference note names the local small-leaf “菜茶” (*[càichá](https://thetea.app/article/caicha)*) — a seed-grown population — as the historical basis.
* **Gardens:** According to a news publication, the county has preserved large plots of local 菜茶 older than 30 years, more than 10,000 mu by incomplete count; from this raw material *xiǎozhǒng* red tea, green tea and white tea are made. Alongside them, in recent years, the varieties Rougui ([肉桂](https://thetea.app/article/rou-gui)), Shuixian ([水仙](https://thetea.app/article/shui-xian)), Jinguanyin ([金观音](https://thetea.app/article/jin-guanyin)) and Jinmudan ([金牡丹](https://thetea.app/article/jin-mudan)) have been planted on almost 10,000 mu.
* **Harvest standard and timing:** No data in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Eastern Fujian, the mountains of Ningde prefecture; according to a news publication, the county lies “at the center of several famous tea districts”.
* **Altitude:** The average altitude of the county is 830 m, the highest among the counties of Fujian (a news publication citing the county tea industry development center). The altitudes of the gardens themselves are not found in the sources consulted.
* **Climate:** The local saying “一山有四季，十里不同天” — “one mountain has four seasons, ten li away the weather is different” — describes a varied mosaic of mountain microclimates. The county center links the fresh and sweet taste of the local tea with it.
* **Soils:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The 2024 group standard, as retold by a news publication, sets the following sequence — this is a description specifically of *Píngnán xiǎozhǒng*:

1.  **Primary processing:** picking, withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*), rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*), fermentation (发酵, *fājiào*), “passing through the red pan” (过红锅, *guò hóngguō*), smoke-baking (熏焙, *xūnbèi*), drying.
2.  **Refining:** sorting, aroma enhancement, packing.
3.  **Form:** loose or pressed tea.

The stages “过红锅” and “熏焙” bear the same names as in the Zhengshan Xiaozhong of Wuyishan. Parameters — temperature, duration, fuel for the smoking — are not in the retelling, and the texts found do not say whether there is smoke in the aroma.

The portal's reference note describes the historical technology more briefly: withering, rolling (or cutting), fermentation and drying — without smoking. How to reconcile it with the standard cannot be determined from the texts found.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

Descriptions from different sources diverge, above all in the liquor color; I have not seen a standard with requirements for the appearance.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tight, plump strands, black with a sheen (条索紧结肥壮，色泽乌润) — according to the portal's reference note.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No data in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** High, fresh and sweet (香气高而鲜甜) — according to the portal's reference note; a seller writes of a floral-fruity tone.
* **Taste:** The portal's reference note: “耐泡而不浓烈、厚重而不煞口、馨香而不生腻” — withstands many infusions but is not harsh, dense but not astringent, fragrant but not cloying; fresh, sweet and smooth.
* **Liquor color:** Here the sources diverge. The portal's reference note writes “红浓” — deep red; a seller — golden orange.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Plump, fairly red (叶底肥壮尚红) — according to the portal's reference note.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical 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.

* **Water temperature:** 90–95 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3–5 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A gaiwan or a porcelain teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Pour water over the tea.
    3. First infusions — 10–20 seconds.
    4. Pour off the liquor completely.
    5. Repeat, gradually lengthening the steeping.

**10. Storage:**

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

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the certification mark “屏南小种” No. 23702418.
    * Check that the producer is from Pingnan County.
    * Remember that the group standard is a voluntary document of the association, not a national norm.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The old name “外山小种” — “*xiǎozhǒng* of the outer mountains” — forms a pair with “[正山小种](https://thetea.app/article/zheng-shan-xiao-zhong)”, the “*xiǎozhǒng* of the true mountains” of Wuyishan.
* A single day in 2024 gave the county standards for three classes at once: *xiǎozhǒng* red tea, the oolong “鹫峰乌龙茶” and “凤茶” — a yellow tea with steam fixation and smothering.
* Among the local customs is tea cooked with egg.

**13. Comparison with Other Xiaozhong and Red Teas of Fujian:**

* **Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong (正山小种):** The smoked red tea of Tongmu in the Wuyi Mountains; the same stage names “过红锅” and “熏焙”.
* **Gankeng Xiaozhong Hongcha ([干坑小种红茶](https://thetea.app/article/gankeng-xiaozhong-hongcha)):** A *xiǎozhǒng* of Guangze County, neighboring Tongmu, also with its own protected name.
* **Tanyang Gong Fu ([坦洋工夫](https://thetea.app/article/tanyang-gong-fu)):** A gongfu red tea of the same Ningde prefecture-level city.
* **Tianshan Lü Cha ([天山绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/tianshan-lucha)):** A green tea of the Tianshan mountain massif, whose zone also takes in Pingnan County.

**In Conclusion:**

*Píngnán xiǎozhǒng* is a mountain red tea of the highest county in Fujian. The 2018 mark protects the name, and the 2024 standard fixes the class and the technology with the “red pan” and smoke-baking. The appearance is described differently in the sources, especially the liquor color, so it is better to judge the cup by a specific batch.