Qimen, Anhui builds "the capital of black tea in the world"

　　China News Service, Hefei, September 4th, title: Qimen, Anhui builds "the capital of black tea in the world"

　　Author Liu Hao

　　"At present, Qimen County focuses on the overall goal of building the'World Black Tea City', and will focus on the five major improvement projects of Qihong base, brand, quality, leadership, and culture, focusing on strengthening tea garden safety and tea brand building, and realizing Qihong industry faster Better development." Wang Liangting, director of the Qihong Industrial Development Center in Qimen County, Anhui Province, said in an interview recently.

Workers encapsulate Qi Hong in a Qihong production workshop in Qimen County, Anhui Province on September 3.

Photo by Pan Cheng issued by China News Service

　　Qimen black tea is abbreviated as "Qihong", created in 1875.

Its shape is tight and thin, the peaks are beautiful, the golden hair is revealed, the color is dark, and the fragrance is long-lasting. It is known as "Qimenxiang" by the tea industry at home and abroad. In 1915, it won the gold medal at the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

Qi Hong's production skills were included in the list of representative items of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

　　Walking into a Qihong processing workshop in Qimen County, the fragrance of tea overflows.

In workshops such as shaking tea and sieving tea, the workers and masters still continue to work in traditional manual methods.

Workers are sifting Qihong in a Qihong production workshop in Qimen County, Anhui Province on September 3.

Photo by Pan Cheng issued by China News Service

　　"Traditional Qi Hong is hand-made, and its quality depends on the craftsmanship, so Qi Hong is also known as'Qimen Gongfu'." said Wang Chang, the representative inheritor of Qi Hong's production skills in China's national intangible heritage projects. Red production techniques are divided into two parts: primary production and refining. The primary production includes withering, rolling, fermentation, drying and other processes, and the refining includes screening, cutting, winnowing, sorting, refire, and even stacking.

　　Wang Chang said that the made Qi red color is dark, the soup color is red and transparent when brewing, and the bottom of the leaf is bright red. It is called "sugar fragrance" by tea masters at home and abroad. As a result, red is ranked first in the world for high-flavor black tea.

　　"The reason why Qimen black tea is rich and fragrant is that, in addition to the exquisite craftsmanship, it is also inseparable from the excellent local tea growing environment." Wang Liangting said that Qimen County has many mountains and few fields. There are nine mountains, half water and half fields. According to the report, the forest vegetation is dense, and the comprehensive score of ecological environment quality has been ranked first in Anhui Province for more than 10 consecutive years.

The favorable ecological environment has become an important production area for black tea. Castanopsis qimenii is one of the first national-level tea tree varieties recognized by the state of China. It has been introduced to dozens of countries and regions and bred as a female parent. There are "Anhui No. 1", "Anhui No. 3" and so on.

　　In recent years, Qihong's processing technology has made many breakthroughs on the basis of traditional technology. Through cooperation with the Tea Department of Anhui Agricultural University and the Tea Research Institute of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, it has developed 5 primary processing and 2 continuous refined processing. Chemical, clean and intelligent production line.

　　According to Wang Liangting, Qimen black tea is sold well in dozens of countries and regions including the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, and Denmark, and its price has consistently ranked first among high-flavor teas in the international market.

　　Currently, Qimen County has 190,000 mu of tea gardens and more than 100,000 people engaged in tea planting, production and processing.

In 2021, the first tea production in Qimen County has ended, the output is 7,100 tons, the first output value is 916 million yuan, and the per capita income of tea farmers is 6,540 yuan.

　　Wang Liangting said that despite the impact of the world trade situation, the share of tea exports has declined compared with previous years, but the cumulative exports from January to July this year are still US$2.0862 million.

　　Wang Liangting said that in the future, the county will focus on the goal of building a "world black tea capital", do a good job in upgrading the base, and promote the safe construction of tea gardens; improve the quality of Qimen black tea products; build the Qihong brand and expand the Qihong brand Influence; strengthen the cultivation of industry entities, help leading enterprises to grow bigger and stronger; deepen the integration of tea tourism, and develop and extend the Qihong cultural tourism industry.

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