MUZIChinese Matrix
Black Tea · FFET10403
A black tea from Tongmuguan in Fujian’s Wuyi Mountains, traditionally dried over pinewood for a smoky aroma.
Tea oxidised in full, with a bright red liquor, made in gongfu, souchong and broken styles.
Zhengshan xiaozhong is a black tea from Tongmuguan in Fujian's Wuyi Mountains. Traditionally, the leaves are dried over pinewood smoke, which gives the tea its smoky aroma. An unsmoked version was developed in Tongmu in the early 21st century.
Zhengshan xiaozhong is a black tea from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian. The traditional version is dried over pinewood smoke and has a smoky aroma; an unsmoked version also exists.1,2
Its history is traced to the late Ming or early Qing, but dates such as before 1640 and 1646 have no dated primary text behind them and do not establish an origin year. The 1781 Siku abstract for Xu chajing discusses Wuyi tea without naming Zhengshan xiaozhong.1,2,3
Production is at Tongmuguan in Fujian's Wuyi Mountains, with highland tea gardens around the borders of Chong'an, Jianyang and Guangze. This describes the production area; it does not establish an official geographical indication boundary for Zhengshan xiaozhong.1
Traditionally, the leaves are smoke-dried over pinewood in a smokehouse. An unsmoked version developed in Tongmu in the early 21st century.1,2
The aroma imparted by pinewood smoke is a distinctive feature of traditional Zhengshan xiaozhong. That feature does not describe the unsmoked version.1,2
Zhengshan xiaozhong is named alongside Da Hong Pao as a representative Wuyishan tea brand. Wuyishan's tea industry chain was worth 17 billion yuan in 2025, a figure for all teas combined with no separate total for Zhengshan xiaozhong.4
One tale says that villagers fleeing passing soldiers hurriedly dried their tea leaves over a fire, accidentally making smoky tea that later found favor with Dutch traders. The story is often set in 1646, but that is the tale’s setting, not evidence of the tea’s origin.
Told in: A tale associated with Tongmu tea; no specific place of telling is given and there is no primary account.
