The Name Huo Shan Huang Ya

Huo Shan Huang Ya (霍山黄芽) gets its name from its location of origin which is Huo Shan (霍山) County, in western Anhui (安徽) Province. “Huang Ya” (黄芽) means “yellow buds.” Originally, it was called “Xian Ya” (仙芽). A xian 仙 is a celestial being, sometimes translated as “immortal,” so “Xian Ya” might be translated as “immortal buds.” 

Huo Shan Yellow Buds Production Environment

Huo Shan (霍山) is located in the western part of Anhui (安徽) Province near the juncture with Hubei (湖北) and Henan (河南) Provinces, and Dabie Mountain (大别山). The county is named after the mountain. The main peak "White Horse Point” (白马尖) is 1774 meters above sea level. The Dabie Mountains and Huo Shan Mountains in the southwest of Huo Shan County run through the whole territory from southwest to northeast. The terrain is high in the south and low in the north. Huo Shan has sharp rocky points, commonly known as the "Huo Shan Arc” (霍山弧).

The "Huo Shan Arc" forms a barrier connecting the mountains along the northwest, west, south, and southeast borders of Huo Shan County. The Zhongshan District, in the "Huo Shan Arc" with an altitude of more than 800 meters, has high mountains, steep slopes, deep valleys, and cold winters, and is a suitable environment for growing tea trees. This area is considered to have some of the highest-grade Huo Shan Yellow Buds. Another important production area for the tea is the low mountain valley basin in the upper reaches of the Dongpi River (东淠河), which has fertile, sloping land, and a climate regulated by the nearby Foziling and Mozitan reservoirs. 

The other main production areas of Huo Shan Yellow Buds are Dahuaping (大化坪), and Yaojiafan (姚家畈) in Huo Shan County (霍山县), Anhui Province (安徽). This area is north of Dabie Mountain, in the deep mountainous area that is in the southwest of the county. The whole area has high mountains and dense forests, with many springs and streams. Among them are the "Three Rivers" (Taiyang River 太阳河, Manshui River 漫水河, Shiyang River 石羊河) and "Two Reservoirs" (Foziling Reservoir 佛子岭水库, Mozitan Reservoir 磨子潭水库). Within these areas, the regions with the best quality tea are Jinji Mountain (金鸡山) in Dahuaping, Jinzhuping (金竹坪) in Taiyang, Jinjiawan (金家湾) in Zhufoan (诸佛庵), and Wumijian (乌米尖) in Yaojiafan. These four places are referred to as "Three Gold and One Black" (三金一乌) by the locals.

The Huo Shan area has a monsoon-influenced subtropical climate that is humid with hot summers and cool to cold winters. The area is generally mountainous and hilly with altitude ranging from 500-800 meters. The area has fertile soil, sufficient water, and is pollution-free which makes it suitable for tea farms. The average annual temperature is 15.0°C and the average annual precipitation is 140 cm. In 2017, there were 400 tea companies with an annual output of 6,300 tons of tea. In 2006, the Chinese government designated Huo Shan Huang Ya as a geographical indication (GI) product, offering it a protected status and acknowledging its quality and reputation as tied to its specific geographical origin. 

Huo Shan Yellow Buds History

It is said that people in the Huo Shan area in Anhui Province first planted tea trees as early as the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). 

In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xianzong ordered the tea gardens in the surrounding prefecture of Shouzhou (寿州), to be protected by three thousand soldiers. In Tang Li Zhao’s (唐李肇) “National History Supplement” (国史补), Shouzhou Huo Shan Huang Ya was listed among fourteen tribute teas to be offered to the emperor. Huo Shan Yellow Buds were often made into tea cakes (饼茶). The book "Shanfu Jingshou Lu” (膳夫经手录), meaning “Chef's Manual," records: “There are a small group of Huo Shan tea plants in Shouzhou. This tea was similar to small ‘Dragon Buds’ (龙芽) tribute tea, but there isn’t very much of it. The leaves are as soft as the wings of a cicada, and it is unpressed, loose tea." (有寿州霍山小团，此可能仿造小片龙芽作为贡品，其数甚微，古称霍山黄芽乃取一旗一枪，古人描述其状如甲片， 叶软如蝉翼是未经压制之散茶也.) 

In the Song Dynasty, according to Shen Kuo’s (沈括) book, “Dream Creek Essays” (梦溪笔谈), Huo Shan sold more than 500,000 catties of tea annually, accounting for 5% of the total tea sold in the country at that time

In the Ming Dynasty, according to the "Huo Shan County Chronicle'' (霍山县志), the Zhu Ming (朱明) Dynasty listed Huo Shan Huang Ya as a tribute tea. In the early Ming Dynasty, the annual tribute was 20 catty. In the tenth year of Zhengde 正德 (1515), 1,200 catty of bud tea and 6,000 catty of fine tea were produced in Gongning Wangfu. One jin of bud tea costs one tael of silver. Wang Xiangya’s (王象亚) “Quanfang Register'' (群芳谱) stated that the tea was the “best product from Huo Shan in Shouzhou.” The tea’s prized status throughout history earned it recognition as one of the “Three Yellows'' (三黄) of Anhui. It was probably the Huo Shan Huang Ya of the Ming Dynasty that more closely resembles the tea by this name today, and so it can also be said that in this sense Huo Shan Huang Ya originated in the Ming Dynasty. 

Origin Legends of Huo Shan Huang Ya 

In the first legend, it was said that there used to be a tea tree on Jinji Mountain in Dahuaping, which grew a very vibrant green color. It was only a single tea tree that was incredibly fragrant, and could be harvested inexhaustibly, so it was called "shen cha" (神茶), meaning “spirit tea.” It is said that this divine tea can cure all diseases and is regarded as a treasure among the Yellow Bud teas of Huo Shan. Only one lucky person can pick this divine tea every year.

The patron saint of this tea tree is a golden rooster, hence the name of Jinji Mountain (“jin” 金 meaning “gold,” and “ji” 鸡 meaning “rooster”). Every year before the Grain Rain (谷雨) seasonal node, after hearing the first call of the golden rooster, the tea-pickers would rush to the mountains to pick tea, hoping that the tea would bring them good luck.

The second story is the legend of Emperor Tang Xuanzong’s (唐玄宗) younger sister Princess Yuzhen (玉真), who gave up a life of royalty and shaved her head to become a nun in a temple on Huo Shan. Later, she became the abbot of the temple. In addition to chanting and spreading the Dharma, Princess Yuzhen regularly led the nuns to pick tea leaves and make tea. Later, she learned that Bao'er Peak (抱儿峰) had very nice tea plants. She then led her nuns to pick tea leaves there every spring before the Grain Rain and carefully bake them to make tea. 

In AD 641, before Princess Wencheng (文成), the daughter of Emperor Taizong (唐太宗), was to marry Songtsan Gampo of Tubo, Princess Yuzhen sent the Bao’er Peak yellow bud tea to the imperial family to taste along with a bag of tea seeds as a gift for her niece's marriage. After the emperor tasted it, he personally gave it the name "Bao'er Zhongxiu” (抱儿钟秀), and at the same time accepted it as a tribute tea for the imperial court, with an annual tribute of 300 patties.

Yellow Tea (黄茶) Processing

Yellow tea “Huang Cha” (黄茶) is produced in a similar way to green tea, but with an additional step called “men huang” (闷黄), which translates to “sealed yellowing.” While yellowed leaves on a green tea would be considered an error, a yellowing effect is purposely sought for yellow tea, but only by creating the right conditions to carefully produce the intended outcome. In the “men huang” step the tea leaves are wrapped in cloth bundles after the fixing step. The amount of time left in the cloth bundles depends and can vary from tens of minutes to several hours. While wrapped, the leaves turn from green to yellow-green due to chlorophylls breaking down. The leaves partially oxidize and the fresh, grassy taste characteristic of green tea mellows out. The men huang process is difficult, labor-intensive, and expensive. 

The unique quality of yellow tea can be seen as being brought about by alternating applications of damp heat and dry heat. Damp heat causes components in the tea leaves to undergo a series of oxidation and hydrolysis reactions and is what develops the yellow tea’s mellow taste and yellow tea liquor. The effect of dry heat during processing is mainly to develop the aroma of the yellow tea. 

Yellow Tea History

Yellow tea has existed for a long time in China, but different eras endowed the concept of “yellow tea” with different meanings. What is called yellow tea today is not exactly the same as what was referred to in the earliest records of yellow tea. Earlier in history, tea was often referred to as “yellow tea” because of certain characteristics of the tea tree, such as the fact that the leaves and buds on the tea tree were yellow colored. Examples of this include the Anhui Shouzhou yellow tea (寿州黄茶) that was famous in the Tang Dynasty and the tribute tea called Sichuan Mengding Yellow Bud (四川蒙顶黄芽), which were both given the name “yellow tea” because of the natural yellowing of the buds and leaves. Today these teas would be referred to as green teas based on the processing method, and so this creates some confusion when using historical records to determine the origins of yellow tea. Regardless, the origin of yellow tea is usually said to be the Tang Dynasty. The most prized color of the Tang Dynasty was yellow (or gold), which represented royalty, power, and prosperity.