By Helen Xu Fei
From May 1 to October 31 Shanghai will host the World Expo 2010. The Expo site is spreads out over 3.28 sq km along both sides of the Huangpu River in downtown Huangpu district, the original industrial and trade center of old Shanghai. The event has attracted 241 participants and is expected to be the largest in the history of World Expos. As the world’s largest tea producer, home to many unique specialty teas, China has successfully negotiated a 100 sq m show space in the UN pavilion to showcase genuine Chinese specialty teas at this high profile international event.
Shanghai Tea Institute (STI) has been appointed by the Expo organizer to orchestrate the Expo tea project. STI is an independent organization established in 1983 that promotes tea and provides business services for the tea industry. After half a year’s planning and designing, on October 12, 2009, representatives from both STI and the UN pavilion signed a cooperative agreement to exhibit 10 famous Chinese specialty teas recommended by STI under the umbrella name of China tea.
On the same day, STI signed separate agreements with nine qualified Expo tea participants: Tie Guanyin (iron goddess of mercy) from Anxi County, Rock Tea (red robe) from Wuyi Mountain City, Xi Hu Longjing (West Lake dragon well) from Hangzhou City, Maojian (pekoe tip) from Duyun City, Chinese Black Tea from Hunan Tea Company Limited, Keemun black from Anhui Guorun Tea Industrial Co. Ltd., Liuan Guapian (melon seed) from Anhui Yixiaotang Tea Co. Ltd., white tea (white-leaf tea) from Jiangsu Tianmuhu Eco-Agriculture Co. Ltd., and Jasmine tea from Beijing Zhangyiyuan Tea Co. Ltd.
The last entry was finalized in November, with Taimu white silver needle from Fuding City being added to the mix.
"It is a tough job to select only 10 out of numerous famous Chinese specialty teas. The selection is based on complex criteria, such as distinguishing cupping character, quality, production volume, brand awareness, the balance of tea categories and production provinces, and the cooperation level of candidates, etc." Huang Hangqing, chairman of the Expo tea committee and director of STI, told Tea & Coffee Asia.
"We’d picked six out of the traditional 10 well-known China specialty teas, and screened four from a larger number of more recently established specialty teas," Huang said. "Due to time constraints, the application deadline was quite tight; we regret that some famous brands that responded too slowly lost their chance."
Five basic categories and jasmine tea
Expo tea nonetheless offers a fair representation of Chinese numerous specialty teas.
Green tea is the best selling type of tea in China, and Xi Hu Longjing, Duyun Maojian, Liuan Guapian and white-leaf tea belong to this category.
Xi Hu Longjing is a famous ‘geographical indication’ (GI) gourmet green from Westlake district in Hangzhou, the municipal capital of Zhejiang province. It is a slender, flat shape tea with a prominent sweet-fruity aroma, and is perhaps the most famous green tea in China.
Maojian is a vigorous GI green from Duyun City in Guizhou province, and is a curly tippy tea covered with white hairs.
Guapian is a full-mouthed green tea from Liuan County in Anhui province, and is a broad-leaf flat shape tea. The tea is so named as it was traditionally produced from pieces of tealeaf with no tea bud, and the infused broad leaves looked like watermelon seeds.
White-leaf tea is a mellow gourmet green made from the temperature-sensitive albescence Anji white tea clone. It is often simply referred to as white tea in China, but it does not belong to the basic category of white tea.
Oolong tea is the third most popular tea in China, and Tie Guanyin and Rock Tea are both GI specialty oolongs. Tie Guanyin is a semi-ball, light to medium level oxidized oolong from Anxi in Southern Fujian, and is well known for its exquisite residual fragrance and sweet aftertaste. It is the most popular oolong in China. Rock tea is a voluminous twisted leaf type dark oolong from Northern Fujian’s Wuyi mountain natural reserve zone. It is a robust oolong with slightly roasted taste and subtle floral note.
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Pronounced flavor
Black tea is classified as "Red Tea" in China due to the reddish liquid color, and keemun is the most famous black in China and a GI tea from Anhui Province. It is a small-leaf wiry tea with a pronounced flavor, praised as the Keemun flavor, which resembles a mixture of sweet rose, dried apple chunks and caramelized honey.
Chinese black tea is not the fully oxidized black tea popularly known in the West but a post-fermented tea that undergoes an "ageing" stage. Chinese black tea has much darker liquid color than black tea, and that’s why it was classified as "Black Tea" and then later as "Red Tea" in China. It possesses an unmistakable nutty or earthy flavor and is commonly produced in compressed forms.
Jasmine tea is the most popular tea in Northern China. Authentic Chinese jasmine tea is produced by scenting green tea with batches of fresh jasmine flowers repeatedly to ensure that the tea absorbs the lovely jasmine aroma. Jasmine tea is a mood-lifting tea with less ‘green’ sensation.
White tea is the least processed of all teas. Taimu silver needle is a gourmet white from Taimu Mountain in Fuding City of east Fujian province. It is a needle shape tea made exclusively from voluminous spring tea buds, and tastes extremely delicate.
Participant profiles
The Expo teas are sent by either local county or city level administrative governments or tea companies. Iron goddess, rock tea and silver needle are signature GI teas from the respective county level districts in Fujian province. This southeast coastal province leads in both the total volume and the varieties of tea produced, according to local government statistics,
Anxi produced 60,000 tons of tea in 2009, the majority of which are oolong teas. Wuyi produced 5,100 tons of oolong out of a total of 6,335 tons output in 2008 while Fuding produced 4,000 tons white tea out of a total output of 16,200 tons in 2008.
Longjing is the most renowned gourmet green from Zhejiang province. This eastern coastal province ranks second in tea output and tops in green tea exportation. Maojian is Guizhou province’s number one tea product. The southwest inland province is an undeveloped agricultural province with a high percentage of minorities in its population. Although its tea production scale is relatively small, it has a high potential for developing organic plantations.
Anhui Guorun Tea Industrial Co. Ltd. was established in 1951 as a manufacturer of Keemun black. The Chizhou City-based company is now a tea planter, producer, trader and exporter, and is China’s leading producer of Keemun tea. Guorun produces black, green, organic, specialty tea and tea powder under the Runsi brand name with an annual production of 6,000 tons.
Hunan Tea Company Ltd. is Hunan province’s top tea trader with a comprehensive range of tea products. It has two Chinese black tea factories, Baishaxi tea factory and Yiyang tea factory, which are the oldest and the largest Chinese black tea factories respectively.
Beijing Zhangyiyuan Tea Co. Ltd is a famous tea shop chain in the capital city, the history of which can be traced back to 1900 when the first Zhangyiyuan shop was opened selling Fujian jasmine tea. In 1992 the tea shop was incorporated into a company under the same name and expanded its line of business to jasmine tea production and beverage manufacture.
Anhui Yixiaotang Tea Co. Ltd. is a major trader and retailer of Liuan Guapian, the company was established in 2005, and has since uplifted Guanpian’s influence and market share in the domestic market.
Jiangsu Tianmuhu Eco-Agriculture Co. Ltd. is an eco-agriculture and eco-travel company. It has a developed area of 656.7 ha out of a total planning area of 1,366.7 ha on the northern shore of Tianmu Lake, one of China’s AAAA class travel site. Tea and fruit are two key products of the company. Its Fuzi brand of white leaf tea comes from the first GAP (good agricultural practices) certified tea estate in China, and complies strictly with sustainable agricultural methods.
According to Huanghanqing, STI will organize a series of activities during the expo period to further enhance its attraction. The planned events including daily tea ceremony shows, tea sampling sessions, an international tea forum and a ‘World Harmony’ tea party that aims to invite a guest from each of the 241 Expo participants.
Helen Xu Fei is a China tea specialist and consultant and special correspondent/representative of Tea & Coffee Asia.