---
title: "Xiāngyáng hóng"
url: https://thetea.app/article/xiangyang-hong
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Xiāngyáng hóng (襄阳红)

*Xiāngyáng hóng* (襄阳红) is a red tea of Xiangyang (襄阳) prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hubei Province. The name means “Xiangyang red”. The prefecture has historically made green tea, and according to a local description, red tea under this name began to be developed in 2010 to make fuller use of the raw material of the summer and autumn harvest. Since 2014 the name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark; the holder of the mark is an industry association of Baokang County (保康县). I have not seen the document of the mark with a description of the product, so the appearance of the tea below is given according to a reference description, not according to the requirements of the mark.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Red tea (红茶, *hóngchá*), fully oxidized. The class is given in the name (“红”) and is confirmed by the reference description of the appearance: fine tight twists, a dark glossy leaf, a red liquor. I have not seen a document of the mark stating the class.
* **Category:** A red tea of northwestern Hubei; a product with a geographical indication certification mark (2014).
* **Origin:** China, Hubei Province (湖北, *Húběi*), Xiangyang prefecture-level city (襄阳, *Xiāngyáng*). The provincial register gives Baokang County (保康, *Bǎokāng*) as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder; this is not the legal boundary of the zone, and I have not checked that boundary.
* **Mark holder:** The “Xiangyang Hong” Tea Industry Association of Baokang County (保康县襄阳红茶业协会) — according to the provincial register of 2020.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Baokang County — about 31.9° N and 111.3° E. A local description places the tea areas of the prefecture at about 32° N.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Before the 1980s.** According to materials of the city tea association, retold by a reference description, the agricultural authorities of Xiangyang directed local enterprises to produce small batches of red tea, mainly for sale to the USSR. The basis of the industry, meanwhile, remained green tea.
    * **2010.** According to the same description, when the green tea market began to become saturated, the city's tea enterprises, together with the city academy of agricultural sciences, began to develop a new method of processing summer and autumn raw material and released a red tea under the name “襄阳红”.
    * **Presentation.** The description reports a presentation of “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng* in May in Wushan town (五山镇), Gucheng County (谷城县), and a first tasting in September of the same year in Xiangyang. The year is not stated in the text found.
    * **2014.** The geographical indication certification mark “襄阳红” was registered: according to the provincial register of 2020 — No. 12560461, class 30, goods — tea. The first term of the exclusive right — from 14 August 2014 to 13 August 2024.
* **Name:** “*Xiāngyáng*” (襄阳) is the name of the prefecture-level city, “*hóng*” (红) means “red”. The name is tied to the prefecture, while the holder of the mark is tied to one county; I have not established how the zone of the mark relates to the prefecture.
* **Cultural significance:** The city authorities, according to the description, build the industry on two pillars: the common prefecture brand “[襄阳高香茶](https://thetea.app/article/xiangyang-gaoxiang-cha)” and the high-grade line of red tea “襄阳红”. The formula of the description is “green tea as the main, red tea as the auxiliary” (绿茶为主、红茶为辅). The local text also links the region with Shennong, who, according to legend, tasted hundreds of herbs here, and with Zhuge Liang, who lived in Longzhong (隆中) near Xiangyang. These are images of the local text, not information about the tea itself.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** No varieties found in the sources consulted.
* **Raw material:** According to the reference description, raw material of the summer and autumn harvest (夏秋茶). For “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng* the description names “golden buds” (黄金毫), that is, the top batches contain buds with golden down; no harvest standard found in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest time:** No exact dates found in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** According to a local description, the main tea areas of the prefecture are the mountain counties of Nanzhang (南漳), Baokang and Gucheng, where the Jingshan (荆山) range meets the spurs of Wudangshan (武当山).
* **Growing altitude:** No data found in the sources consulted.
* **Climate and soils:** The description calls the climate “distinctive” but gives no figures. No data on soils found in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

According to the reference description, *Xiāngyáng hóng* is made by a new method of processing summer and autumn raw material, developed together with the city academy of agricultural sciences. The description does not give the method itself or its parameters, and I have not seen a document of the mark with requirements for the technology.

Below is the general scheme of red tea, not a description of the technology of this particular tea:

1.  **Withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*):** The leaf loses part of its moisture and becomes soft.
2.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** The cells of the leaf are broken, and the sap comes out onto the surface.
3.  **Oxidation (发酵, *fājiào*):** The leaf darkens, and the liquor becomes red.
4.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*):** Oxidation is stopped, and the tea is brought to dryness.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below is taken from a reference text on “襄阳红”; which batch it corresponds to and whether it matches the requirements of the mark is unknown.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Fine, tight, long twists with graceful tips, golden buds visible, the color dark and glossy (条索紧细秀长，金黄芽毫显露，锋苗秀丽，色泽乌润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** Fragrant, rich and lasting (香气芬芳，馥郁持久); the description does not specify to which stage the aroma belongs — the dry leaf or the liquor. For “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng*, the experts at the presentation, according to the description, noted a “tender sweetness of aroma” (嫩甜香).
* **Taste:** For “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng* — “mild and full” (滋味醇); for ordinary batches there is no separate description.
* **Liquor color:** Bright red and clear (汤色红艳明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Fresh red, bright (叶底鲜红明亮).

The description reduces the expert assessment of “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng* to four formulas: 黄金毫、嫩甜香、汤色艳、滋味醇 — golden buds, a tender sweet aroma, a bright liquor, a mild taste.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

No physicochemical data 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 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A gaiwan or a porcelain teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea and pour in water.
    3. First infusion — about a minute.
    4. Pour off the liquor completely.
    5. Make each following infusion a little longer.

**10. Storage:**

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

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

No price data found in the sources consulted.

* **Status of the mark:** According to the provincial register of 2020, the first term of mark No. 12560461 ended on 13 August 2024. Whether it has been renewed cannot be seen in the sources consulted. The 2026 register marks the name as registered as of the date of the source.
* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look on the packaging for the certification mark “襄阳红” and ask the seller whether the producer is authorized to use it.
    * Check that the producer is from Xiangyang prefecture. The mark holder is registered in Baokang County, but the reference description calls “襄阳红” a joint development of the city's tea enterprises; the boundary of the mark zone was not found in the sources consulted.
    * Do not confuse it with the prefecture brand “襄阳高香茶”: this is a different name with its own mark.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* According to a local description, red tea was made in Xiangyang earlier as well — in small batches for export to the USSR until the 1980s — but the industry long remained green.
* The name “襄阳红” refers to the whole prefecture, while the mark is held by the association of one county — Baokang.
* The presentation of “high-grade” *Xiāngyáng hóng*, according to the description, was held not in Baokang but in Wushan town of Gucheng County.
* In the provincial register of 2020, Baokang County has two tea marks with different holders: “襄阳红” is registered to the “Xiangyang Hong” association, and “[保康绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/baokang-lucha)” to another county tea association (保康县荆山锦茶业技术协会).

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

* **Xiangyang Gaoxiang Cha (襄阳高香茶):** The common brand of the same prefecture with its own mark; according to local descriptions, green tea occupies the main place in it.
* **Baokang Lücha (保康绿茶):** A green tea of Baokang County — the same county where the holder of the *Xiāngyáng hóng* mark is registered.
* **Xieshan Diecui ([薤山叠翠](https://thetea.app/article/xieshan-diecui)):** A green tea of the Xieshan Mountains of Gucheng County in the same prefecture.
* **Yihong Gong Fu ([宜红工夫](https://thetea.app/article/yihong-gong-fu)):** A red tea of Yichang with a long export history.
* **Lichuan Hong ([利川红](https://thetea.app/article/lichuan-hong)):** A red tea of the county-level city of Lichuan, Enshi prefecture, in the west of the province.
* **Wufeng Hongcha ([五峰红茶](https://thetea.app/article/wufeng-hongcha)):** A red tea of Wufeng County, Yichang prefecture.

**In Conclusion:**

*Xiāngyáng hóng* is a young red tea of a prefecture accustomed to making green tea. According to a local description, it was developed to make fuller use of summer and autumn leaf, and was built up alongside the prefecture brand “襄阳高香茶” as a high-grade red line: fine twists with golden buds, a bright red liquor, a mild taste. The mark on the name was registered in 2014 to an association of Baokang County; whether it remains in force after the end of the first term in 2024 cannot be said from the sources consulted.