---
title: "Xīngyè chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/xingye-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Xīngyè chá (兴业茶)

*Xīngyè chá* (兴业茶) is a tea of Xingye County (兴业县), Yulin prefecture-level city, in the southeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Since 2022 the name has been protected as an agricultural product geographical indication, and since 2025 as a geographical indication product under an announcement of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). The 2025 protection document describes a red tea: withering, rolling, fermentation, drying; a black glossy leaf and a bright red liquor. The material on the agricultural registration on the Ministry of Agriculture website (2022) gives the same appearance. But in the county itself the name is broader than the document: Shanxin Town is called the “home of Guangxi green tea”, the county administration wrote in 2022 that “mainly green tea is produced” here, and white and other teas are also made under the name Xingye.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Red tea (红茶, *hóngchá*) — according to the protection document. The word “红茶” does not appear in it, but it gives a single technology — 萎凋 → 揉捻 → 发酵 → 干燥 → 包装, with fermentation — and the appearance is that of red tea: “色泽乌润，汤色红亮”, “叶底红匀明亮”.
* **Discrepancy with local usage:** The county agriculture administration (2022) — “主要生产绿茶”, mainly green tea; the *Renmin Ribao* website (2022) — green, red and white; in 2023 “兴业红茶” and “兴业绿茶” entered the national list of “famous, special, excellent and new” agricultural products separately. Different classes thus circulate under the local name, while the product protected by the document is red.
* **Category:** Guangxi red tea; agricultural product geographical indication (2022) and geographical indication product (CNIPA, announcement No. 640, 2025).
* **Origin:** China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西, *Guǎngxī*), Yulin prefecture-level city (玉林, *Yùlín*), Xingye County (兴业, *Xīngyè*).
* **Protection zone:** 13 towns of the county — Shanxin (山心镇), Gaofeng (高峰镇), Shinan (石南镇), Putang (蒲塘镇), Shatang (沙塘镇), Luoyang (洛阳镇), Maijiu (卖酒镇), Xiaopingshan (小平山镇), Beishi (北市镇), Chenghuang (城隍镇), Kuiyang (葵阳镇), Dapingshan (大平山镇) and Long'an (龙安镇): 210 administrative villages and 4 urban communities. The applicant is the People's Government of Xingye County. The 2022 agricultural registration names the same 13 towns and 214 villages and communities combined.
* **Geographic coordinates:** 109°42′31″–110°01′05″ E, 22°38′11″–22°54′23″ N — according to the protection document.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Song.** According to material by Xinhua and *Guangxi Ribao* (2025), the earliest mention of tea growing in the county is in the *Song Huiyao* (《宋会要·食货志》), more than 860 years ago. The text of the source itself is not found in the materials consulted.
    * **1980s.** According to the same material, the local broken red tea (红碎茶, *hóngsuìchá*) was exported; later many gardens became overgrown.
    * **Before the indication.** The county's tea was long sold as raw material. In Pengtang village of Shanxin Town mainly fresh leaf was sold until 2016; in 2016 a tea cooperative was set up there and took up hand processing.
    * **2020–2021.** The red tea “双魁峰红茶” of a company from Kuifeng Mountain received the title “good selenium-rich tea of China” (中国富硒好茶) two years in a row.
    * **2022.** In February — announcement No. 532 of the Ministry of Agriculture of the PRC, the year's first batch of agricultural product geographical indications: 56 products nationwide, 11 of them from Guangxi, among them *Xīngyè chá*.
    * **2023.** In May “兴业红茶” and “兴业绿茶” were entered into the national list of “famous, special, excellent and new” agricultural products (全国名特优新农产品名录). The *Renmin Ribao* website (December 2023) adds that the county's tea has been recognized in Guangxi as selenium-rich for the fifth year in a row, and gives the industry's total — 180 million yuan of total output value for the year; whether this figure refers to 2022 or to 2023 cannot be determined unambiguously from the text.
    * **2024.** According to the 2025 material, the red tea of the company from Kuifeng Mountain scored 93.5 points at the national quality evaluation of the China Tea Science Society — the highest result among the 47 red teas in the sample.
    * **2025.** CNIPA announcement No. 640 (signed on 16 July, published on 13 August) recognized the name as a geographical indication product — item 1156 of 1409.
* **Name:** 兴业 (*Xīngyè*) is the name of the county, literally “to raise up an enterprise”; 茶 means tea. The county plays on this in the slogan “以茶富农、以茶兴业” — “with tea enrich the farmers, with tea raise up the enterprise”.
* **Cultural significance:** Shanxin Town is the county's main tea district, nicknamed the “home of Guangxi green tea” (广西绿茶之乡). Pengtang village, according to a 2022 report, keeps about 2000 *mu* of old tea bushes, and its handmade tea is called the calling card of *Xīngyè chá*. The Yulin tax service (2021) names “山心[毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/mao-jian)” and “云雾茶” as local teas.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** According to the document — “本地传统品种当地[群体种](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong)、云南大[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu)”: the local traditional population and Yunnan large-leaf tea. The 2025 material lists the plantings of the county as a whole: 桂香22号 (*Guìxiāng 22*), 碧香早 (*Bìxiāngzǎo*), 尧山秀绿 (*Yáoshān xiùlǜ*), 玉笋 (*Yùsǔn*), 黄金茶 (*Huángjīnchá*) and 白叶一号 (*Báiyè yī hào*); the last is planted for a white tea project.
* **Propagation and planting:** According to the document — by seed (sowing in October–November) or by cuttings (from October to January); planting out — from March to the second half of April. Single-row — rows 1.5–2 m apart, plants 20–25 cm apart in the row, 1600–2000 bushes per *mu*; double-row — 2000–3000 bushes per *mu*.
* **Harvest:** Spring — February–May, summer — June–August, autumn — September–October; the document requires hand picking. The document does not set a raw material standard (how many leaves with a bud). A report on the *Renmin Ribao* website (December 2023) also finds a winter picking in Pengtang village — the last of the year; there is no winter season in the document.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Hills and low mountains; the main tea district is Shanxin Town with Kuifeng Mountain (葵峰山, *Kuífēng shān*). The 2025 material places the county in the “golden belt” of tea near the Tropic of Cancer and repeats the local formula “low latitude, high altitude, little sun, much fog”.
* **Growing altitude:** An exact range for the gardens is not found in the sources consulted. The viewing platform on Kuifeng Mountain, according to the 2025 material, stands at an altitude of more than 800 m; one of the 2023 reports gives the height of the mountain as 826.9 m.
* **Soils:** According to the document — slightly acidic, deep, loose, well drained, rich in organic matter; pH 5.5–6.5. A selenium content in the soil of 0.76 mg/kg is given by a master of a tea company from Kuifeng Mountain in the same 2025 material — these are words in the press, not a test report.
* **Scale, according to the county and the press:** 2022 — 18,000 *mu* of gardens, of which 1000 *mu* with organic and 1800 *mu* with “green” certification, and more than 640 t of dry tea; end of 2023 — more than 20,000 *mu*, of which more than 4000 *mu* with organic or “green” certification; 2025 — 30,000 *mu* and more than 2400 t.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection document sets the sequence without parameters. In the general scheme of red tea, the stages mean the following — these are not parameters of this particular tea:

1.  **Withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*):** The leaf loses some of its moisture and softens.
2.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** The juice comes out onto the surface of the leaf.
3.  **Fermentation (发酵, *fājiào*):** Oxidation turns the leaf and the liquor red.
4.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*) and packing (包装, *bāozhuāng*).**

The press also describes hand processing of a different kind: in the cooperative of Pengtang village the leaf is spread out on bamboo winnowing trays, fixed in an iron wok while being turned by hand, rolled, and then given “three pan-firings, three rollings” — about two hours per wok. From the same bushes the cooperative makes six kinds of handmade tea, among them red, green, yellow and white.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the protection document:

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tightly rolled, black with a sheen (外形条索紧结，色泽乌润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Rich and sweet, with a note of floral honey (甜香浓郁带花蜜香).
* **Taste:** Full, mellow, sweet and refreshing (滋味醇厚甜爽).
* **Liquor color:** Red, bright (汤色红亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Evenly red, bright (叶底红匀明亮).

The material on the Ministry of Agriculture website (2022) describes the tea in the same way. The description on the *Renmin Ribao* website — a green liquor that withstands many infusions, a long sweet aftertaste — refers to the county's green tea. A producer named the weak point himself (2025): the taste is not inferior to well-known brands, but the leaf is uneven, with a lot of crumbs.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical requirements of the protection document:

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 30.5 % |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 9.5 % |
| Amino acids, total | not less than 15.5 g per 100 g |
| Caffeine | not less than 3.0 % |

The amino acid threshold looks anomalous. For the neighboring Guangxi teas of the same announcement it is several times lower: for the red Muzi Apo Cha — more than 2.5 %, for the green Gupa Cha — not less than 4 %. A misprint or a different unit in the document itself cannot be ruled out; this figure should not be used as a measurement.

Selenium: according to the material on the Ministry of Agriculture website (2022), the product is recognized in Guangxi as a selenium-rich tea; a figure for the selenium content of the tea is 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 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. First infusion — about a minute.
    4. Pour out completely, without leaving the tea in the water.
    5. Four or five further infusions, each one longer.

**10. Storage:**

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

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

According to a 2023 magazine article, the handmade tea of the Pengtang cooperative was sold at 120–200 yuan per jin (500 g); which class this price refers to is not stated. Other data on prices are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: a producer from the zone obtains the right to it through the intellectual property office of Xingye County, the Guangxi administration and CNIPA.
    * Check the origin: one of the 13 towns of Xingye County.
    * Look at the class on the packaging: the protection document describes a red tea, while the county's green and white tea under the same local name are not described by it.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* According to the *Renmin Ribao* website (2023), “兴业茶” received the top award (特等奖) of the Guangxi Liu Bao Cha ([六堡茶](https://thetea.app/article/liu-bao-cha)) competition in the modern technology category. The material does not specify which tea exactly stood behind the award. A master of handmade tea from Pengtang village, in the material on the Ministry of Agriculture website (2022), says that after red, green and white tea he mastered oolong, Liu Bao Cha and yellow tea.
* In the 2023 list the county entered not one name but two — “兴业红茶” and “兴业绿茶”.
* The brand's fame, according to the 2025 material, is still regional. The head of one of the local companies said that at a tea fair in Shenzhen buyers who knew Anji Bai Cha ([安吉白茶](https://thetea.app/article/anji-baicha)) asked what *Xīngyè chá* was.
* For the white tea project the county plants 白叶一号; according to the head of a company, the spring picking here lasts about a month longer than in other areas.

**13. Comparison with Other Guangxi Red Teas:**

* **Muzi Apo Cha ([木梓阿婆茶](https://thetea.app/article/muzi-apo-cha)):** A red tea of Gangnan District, Guigang prefecture, from the same announcement No. 640; its document, unlike the document of *Xīngyè chá*, explicitly writes “红茶” and gives parameters for each stage.
* **Jinxiu Hongcha ([金秀红茶](https://thetea.app/article/jinxiu-hongcha)):** A red tea of the Dayaoshan Mountains, also recognized by announcement No. 640.
* **Lingyun Hongcha ([凌云红茶](https://thetea.app/article/lingyun-hongcha)):** A red tea of the high-mountain Lingyun County in northwestern Guangxi.

**In Conclusion:**

*Xīngyè chá* is a name with two faces. The 2025 protection document describes the red tea of Xingye County: the local population and Yunnan large-leaf tea, hand picking from February to October, withering, rolling and fermentation, a black glossy leaf, a bright red liquor and a honey-floral aroma. In the county itself both green and white tea live under the same name, and the main tea town bears the nickname of the home of green tea. Buyers should look not only at the name but also at the class on the packaging.