In 2017, work began to give GI status to white tea from Sangzhi. Sangzhi is a county in the Zhangjiajie prefecture-level municipality in the Chinese province of Hunan. Traditional white tea — Yin Zhen, Bai Mudan, Shou Mei in different variations — is produced in Hunan as well — but there is also a local white tea specialty. White tea from Sangzhi is most often pressed, but it can also be loose, its history is associated with the Bai people and dates back to the 13-14th centuries. Until recently, this tea had neither market success nor particular fame, and its production itself was, so to speak, pessimistic. Well, in 2017 everything came together: the government’s program to combat poverty; the idea to create a white vis-a-vis for Fu Zhuan dark tea, which is also from Hunan and is also pressed; and the comprehensive work to give GI status to several local products in those places.
In 2019, white tea from Sangzhi received a GI status, by which time the area of tea plantations in those parts had quadrupled, and more or less active actions began to promote the tea in foreign markets. However, in extremely small quantities this tea from Sangzhi got outside of China and is already familiar to tea connoisseurs. They say that the tea has a light fruity aroma, fruity-floral-honey tones on the palate and a lasting sweet aftertaste.
Olga Nikandrova & Denis Shumakov. Teatips.info. 2021