Wǔfēng hóngchá (五峰红茶) is a red tea of Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County (五峰土家族自治县) in the prefecture-level city of Yichang in western Hubei Province. The county is one of the province’s key tea areas, and its town of Yuyangguan (渔洋关) has been, since the 19th century, a hub of trade in Yihong — the red tea of Yichang, which in the Republican era was ranked alongside those of Qimen and Yunnan. Since 2017 the name “五峰红茶” has been protected by two geographical indication certification marks of the county tea association. The county’s red tea is also protected under a second name — 五峰宜红茶: according to China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Announcement No. 640 (2025), its applicant is the same association, and the zone covers all eight townships and towns of the county. The appearance and norms below are taken from CNIPA’s requirements for 五峰宜红茶; I have not seen the rules of use of the “五峰红茶” mark itself.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Red tea (红茶, hóngchá), fully oxidized. The class is stated in the name itself and is consistent with the county’s profile.
- Category: County red tea; geographical indication certification mark (2017). Under the name 五峰宜红茶 the same tea is an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI) and a CNIPA geographical indication product (2025).
- Origin: China, Hubei Province (湖北, Húběi), Yichang prefecture-level city (宜昌, Yíchāng), Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County (五峰, Wǔfēng).
- Zone: For the “五峰红茶” mark, the list of the Hubei Intellectual Property Administration (2020) gives Wufeng County only as the holder’s location (the 注册人行政区划 column); I have not seen the boundaries of this mark’s protected zone. For the name 五峰宜红茶, the 2025 CNIPA requirements name eight townships and towns of the county within their current boundaries — Caihua, Wufeng, Yuyangguan, Changleping, Renheping, Wantan, Fujiayan and Niuzhuang.
- Relation to 五峰宜红茶: Judging by the primary sources, this is the second protected name of the same county red tea. The holder of the “五峰红茶” marks according to the 2020 Hubei list is the Wufeng Tea Industry Association (五峰茶业协会); it is also the applicant for 五峰宜红茶 in CNIPA Announcement No. 640. Under the name 五峰宜红茶, the lists of users of the special geographical indication mark published by the Hubei Intellectual Property Administration (2023 and 2025) also show its own certification marks — No. 26667468 and No. 26667469, with a period of use until March 2031; the users include county tea companies. The consolidated catalogue of geographical indications keeps all these registrations as a single entry. Legally the registrations are different, and without the rules of use of the “五峰红茶” mark, no document confirms that the requirements under the two names coincide.
- Geographic coordinates: According to the 2025 CNIPA requirements for 五峰宜红茶 — 110°15′–111°25′ E, 29°56′–30°25′ N.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- 1824 — the beginning of red tea in Yuyangguan. According to material from the Hubei Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, in this year the Cantonese tea merchant “钧大福” brought masters from Jiangxi to Yuyangguan and taught the locals to pick and process red tea. Jingji Ribao (2024) writes that Yihong left Yuyangguan for the world market “as early as the 18th century”; I have not resolved the discrepancy.
- Late 19th — early 20th century — foreign houses. The same material says that in the Guangxu years and the early Republic, Yuyangguan had the tea houses 源泰 and 新泰, opened by Russian trading houses in Hankou, and the British merchants’ house 宝顺合 — about thirty tea houses in all. The material also mentions an announcement of the Hubei likin bureau (厘金局) on tax collection, published in Wanguo Gongbao (万国公报) on July 1, 1876.
- 1924. On behalf of the Chinese representative office of Tsentrosoyuz of the USSR, the Hankou firm 忠信昌 opened its tea warehouse in Yuyangguan.
- 1937–1938. The Hubei Tea Improvement Institute moved from Yangloudong to Yuyangguan and became the Yuyangguan Tea Improvement Station; in 1938 the China Tea Company opened the Wufeng Tea Refining Factory (五峰精制茶厂) here.
- Republican era. Yihong refined in Yuyangguan was ranked alongside the Qimen and Yunnan red teas — “the three great red teas of China”.
- 2017. On June 28, two geographical indication certification marks “五峰红茶” were registered — No. 17790712 and No. 17790713 (class 30, goods — tea); holder — the Wufeng Tea Industry Association (五峰茶业协会), valid until June 27, 2027. On the same day the same association received two “五峰毛尖” marks.
- 2018. Yuyangguan received from the International Tea Committee the title of “world tea-tourism ancient town”.
- 2025. By CNIPA Announcement No. 640 of July 16, the name 五峰宜红茶 was recognized as a geographical indication product (line 755 of a batch of 1409 products); the applicant is the same Wufeng Tea Industry Association.
- Name: “Wufeng” (五峰) means “five peaks”, the name of the county; “hongcha” (红茶) means red tea.
- Cultural significance: The Hubei government counts Wufeng among the five largest tea-producing counties of the province — together with Hefeng, Zhuxi, Dawu and Yingshan. Yuyangguan is called one of the hubs of the Great Tea Road (万里茶道).
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: The 2025 CNIPA requirements for 五峰宜红茶 name the cultivars 鄂茶7号, 五峰212, 五峰310 and the local population (五峰群体种).
- Raw material and harvest: According to the same requirements, a garden is opened for picking when 5% of the new shoots meet the picking standard; picking is done in good time and in several rounds, and leaf with pesticide residues or damaged by pests is not taken. For the “五峰红茶” mark itself, no requirements were found in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: A mountainous county in western Hubei, in the prefecture-level city of Yichang.
- Altitude: According to a Jingji Ribao article (2024), in the county tea is mainly planted below 1000 m, and medicinal herbs above.
- Climate and soils: The description of the 五峰宜红茶 agricultural product geographical indication (2013), as relayed by reference summaries: subtropical monsoon climate, about 1554 sunshine hours a year, mean annual temperature 13.1 °C, precipitation 1588 mm, frost-free period about 250 days; soils — mainly mountain yellow-brown, pH mostly 4.5–6.0. The soils and pH are also repeated in the 2025 CNIPA requirements: mainly mountain yellow-brown, with a deep, loose layer. There is no separate description for the “五峰红茶” mark.
- Scale: According to the same 2024 article, the county’s tea gardens cover 220,000 mu, of which 73,000 mu are in Caihua Township; the township harvests 60,000 t of fresh leaf and produces 15,000 t of dry tea a year — half of the county’s output. How much of this is red tea is not stated.
5. Production Technology
No detailed technology under either of the two names was found in the sources consulted. The general scheme for red tea is as follows:
- Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo): The leaf loses part of its moisture and becomes soft.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): The leaf cells are broken and the juice comes to the surface.
- Oxidation (发酵, fājiào): The leaf turns red, and the aroma and taste take shape.
- Drying (干燥, gānzào): Heat stops oxidation.
This is the general scheme for the class. The description of the 五峰宜红茶 agricultural product geographical indication in reference summaries names the same stages and adds sorting (精选, jīngxuǎn). The 2025 CNIPA requirements on processing speak only of leaf delivery: quickly, by dedicated transport, without squeezing, heating, sun or rain.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
Below is the description from the 2025 CNIPA requirements for 五峰宜红茶, the second protected name of the same tea; reference summaries cite the same words from the 2013 agricultural indication document. No separate description for the “五峰红茶” mark was found in the sources consulted.
- Dry leaf appearance: For 五峰宜红茶 — tightly and finely rolled, with golden tips, black and glossy in color (条索紧细有金毫，色泽乌润).
- Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions were found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: For 五峰宜红茶 — sweet, pure, high and long (香气甜纯高长).
- Taste: For 五峰宜红茶 — rich, mellow and fresh (滋味醇厚鲜爽).
- Liquor color: For 五峰宜红茶 — red, bright (汤色红亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): For 五峰宜红茶 — red, bright, soft (叶底红亮柔软).
According to the same description, the cooling liquor produces “cold turbidity” (冷后浑, lěng hòu hún) — a milky haze. The local press describes the best batches of 五峰宜红茶 in other words: a deep red, clear liquor, a rich, fresh taste, a high, brisk aroma (汤色红浓透明，滋味浓厚鲜爽，香气高爽持久).
7. Chemical Composition
No analyses under the name “五峰红茶” were found in the sources consulted. According to a report by the Yichang agricultural bureau (2021), when 五峰宜红茶 was included in the national list of famous, special, high-quality and new agricultural products (全国名特优新农产品), testing found that its water extract, tea polyphenols, zinc and gamma-aminobutyric acid are above the reference values; the report does not give the figures themselves.
The 2025 CNIPA requirements for 五峰宜红茶 set moisture at no more than 6.5%, ash at no more than 6.5%, and water extract at no less than 32% per 100 g of dry tea. This is the norm for the product under this name; I have not seen norms for the “五峰红茶” mark itself.
8. Brewing
Standard practice for red tea as a class.
- Water temperature: 90–95 °C.
- Tea amount: 3–5 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: Gaiwan or porcelain teapot.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Add the tea and pour in water.
- First pour-off — after 30–60 seconds.
- Subsequent ones — gradually longer.
- Five to six pour-offs.
9. Storage
Standard practice for the class. In tight packaging, in a dry, dark place, away from odors.
10. Price and Counterfeits
No price data were found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication certification mark “五峰红茶” (No. 17790712 or No. 17790713).
- Check that the producer is from Wufeng County and is authorized by the county association.
- Remember that the same tea may also appear under the name 五峰宜红茶 — with its own certification mark or with the special geographical indication mark. According to the 2025 CNIPA requirements, a producer from the zone obtains the right to the special mark through the county intellectual property authority, after review by the Hubei Intellectual Property Administration and approval by CNIPA (see section 1).
- Do not confuse it with the prefecture-level Yihong of Yichang (宜昌宜红): this is a separate registration with a wider zone.
11. Interesting Facts
- In the 2020 provincial list, five tea marks are registered to a single county association: “五峰绿茶” (2012), two “五峰红茶” and two “五峰毛尖” (both 2017).
- Wufeng should not be confused with Mount Wufengshan (五峰山) in the suburbs of the county-level city of Enshi — it is part of the zone of the green Enshi Yulu, an entirely different tea and a different prefecture.
12. Comparison with Other Hubei Teas
- Yihong Gongfu (宜红工夫): The regional gongfu red tea of Yichang and Enshi; Wufeng is one of its historical counties, and Yuyangguan a hub of its trade.
- Wufeng Maojian (五峰毛尖): Green tea of the same county; the marks were received by the same association on the same day.
- Caihua Maojian (采花毛尖): Green tea of Caihua Township in Wufeng County.
- Lichuan Hong (利川红): Red tea of the neighboring Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.
In Conclusion:
Wǔfēng hóngchá is a county name for red tea with a deep local history: according to provincial material, from 1824 Yuyangguan learned to make red tea, traded it with Russian and British houses, and in the 1930s hosted the provincial tea institute. The mark itself is young — 2017 — and the tea’s appearance is described under its second protected name, 五峰宜红茶: tightly and finely rolled leaf with golden tips and a bright red liquor that turns cloudy as it cools.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page