Changshengchuan chin-brick tea scores export success

By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio

In the workshop of Xinding Biological Technology, staff are busy preparing Changshengchuan “chin-brick” tea for export.

Changshengchuan chin-brick tea is a nutrient-rich tea made from fresh tea leaves grown in the Wuling Mountains near Yichang and refined into tea through six core processes. The tea leaves are pressed into high-density tea bricks. The compression process ensures that the color, aroma and taste of the tea are preserved against moisture for a long time. 


This type of tea has been sold abroad since the Ming Dynasty.

Huge quantities of tea were transported from China to Europe via Siberia along the Tea Road, an international trade route passing through 19th century China, Mongolia and Russia. Yichang was an important transport point on the Tea Road.

In 2017, the International Tea Committee recognized Changshengchuan chin-brick tea as a "world famous tea."

Every year, 8,000 tonnes of Changshengchuan chin-brick tea from Xinding Biological Technology is sold to Russia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and other countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative.


In February 2020, after the Mongolian government donated 30,000 sheep to Chinese medical workers to support them in their fight against COVID-19, Hubei province sent three brands of local tea to Mongolia – including Changshengchuan chin-brick tea – in return.

The development of this specialist tea owes a debt to He Jiangang, whose clan has been making tea for nineteen generations. In 2013, He set up the Hubei Changshengchuan chin-brick Tea Research Institute in Yichang.

The company built a 15,000 mu (1000 hectares) tea demonstration base and some primary processing plants in the Wuling mountains. More than 100,000 tea growers collaborate with the company.


In recent years, in order to woo younger customers, the company has created products such as tea granules, tea bags, as well as portable, ready-to-drink products.