First Guzhang Black Tea Competition kicks off

The first Guzhang Black Tea Competition as well as the Agricultural Specialty E-commerce Promotion Event was held in front of the Tea Culture Museum of Guzhang County on November 21.
After preliminary sample collection and experts’ initial evaluation as well as re-evaluation, the top 10 samples were finally selected from over 150 samples and entered the final. Seven tea experts from the tea research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Xiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences as well as Hunan Agricultural University evaluated the black tea samples by observing the differences of various tea samples in terms of their appearances, aromas, tea soup, taste, and tea leaves. And then, awards such as the Excellence Award, Silver Award, Gold Award, and Special Gold Award were given on the site.

In the end, Guzhang County Yizhanqing Tea Industry Co., Ltd. won the special gold medal in this competition, and Zhang Wenbo was awarded the title of the Golden Tea King.

After the competition, the leader of the judging panel said that this tea competition is not only a major review of the quality of Guzhang black tea, but also a powerful promotion of black tea production skills and cultural heritage. The processing technology and quality level of Guzhang black tea have now reached the top level in the province. Efforts will be made to develop it into a benchmark for black tea processing technology and quality in Hunan and even in China, so that tea farmers, tea workers, and tea enterprises can benefit more from the development of the tea industry. “The title of ‘Golden Tea King’ is not only a recognition of my personal skills, but also a reward for the hard work of our entire team. We strive for perfection in every step from withering, and rolling to fermentation, and drying, so that every tea leave emits a tempting aroma and presents the best taste. Tea making is a complex and delicate process, and in the future, we will continue efforts to improve the quality and taste of black tea,” said Zhang Wenbo.

The competition aimed to promote communication and exchanges among tea farmers, tea merchants, and tea enterprises, improve the quality of Guzhang black tea, and enhance the tea making skills. In order to expand the brand influence of “Guzhang Maojian”, more than ten well-known streamers were invited to live stream at the competition site. At the same time, on-site exhibitions and sales of agricultural specialty products were carried out at crowded places such as Morong Miao Village, Hangwu Miao Village, and Zuolong Gorge Scenic Area in Guzhang County, better promoting the high-quality agricultural specialty products of Guzhang County nationwide and advancing the development of rural e-commerce. In recent years, Guzhang County has made efforts to develop the tea industry to promote rural revitalization and increase villagers’ income. It has 205,000 mu (about 13666.67 hectares) of tea gardens, ranking first in the province in terms of per capita tea plantation area.

A number of enterprises and cooperatives have stood out in the tea industry. Niujiaoshan Ecological Agriculture has been rated as a national key leading enterprise. And four tea enterprises have been listed as “little giant” enterprises. Zhengshantang Guzhanghong Digital Factory has driven the digitization of the tea industry in the county. Guyanghe Tea Industry Co., Ltd. has made innovation in the taste of black tea.

Guzhang tea has been exported to Hong Kong for the first time through the Single E-lock Scheme. The county has achieved the tea export value of 3.06 million yuan and the agricultural product e-commerce sales of 225 million yuan. The tea production and output value have maintained high-speed growth for many years.


Chinese source: hunantoday