page_title: Pu'er tea
section_title: Tea factories
hierarchical_section_title: Pu'er tea / Tea factories
caption_attribution_description: English: Protection Ticket from Menghai 7742 bingcha, 2006 Production. Prominently features Dayi brand logo.
context_page_description: Pu'er or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation, and is typically applied after the tea leaves have been sufficiently dried and rolled. As the tea undergoes controlled microbial fermentation, it also continues to oxidize, which is also controlled, until the desired flavors are reached. This process produces tea known as 黑茶 hēichá. Pu'er falls under a larger category of fermented teas commonly translated as dark teas.
  Two main styles of pu'er production exist: a traditional, longer production process known as shēng pu'er and a modern, accelerated production process known as shóu pu'er. Pu'er traditionally begins with a raw product called "rough" chá and can be sold in this form or pressed into a number of shapes and sold as "shēng chá. Both of these forms then undergo the complex process of gradual fermentation and maturation with time. The wòduī fermentation process developed in 1973 by the Kunming Tea Factory created a new type of pu'er tea.
context_section_description: Factories are generally responsible for the production of pu'er teas. While some individuals oversee small-scale production of high-quality tea, such as the Xizihao and Yanqinghao brands, the majority of tea on the market is compressed by factories or tea groups. Until recently factories were all state-owned and under the supervision of the China National Native Produce & Animal Byproducts Import & Export Corporation (CNNP), Yunnan Tea Branch. Kunming Tea Factory, Menghai Tea Factory, Pu'er Tea Factory and Xiaguan Tea Factory are the most notable of these state-owned factories. While CNNP still operates today, few factories are state-owned, and CNNP contracts out much production to privately owned factories.
  Different tea factories have earned good reputations. Menghai Tea Factory and Xiaguan Tea Factory, which date from the 1940s, have enjoyed good reputations, but in the twentyfirst century face competition from many of the newly emerging private factories. For example, Haiwan Tea Factory, founded by former Menghai Factory owner Zhou Bing Liang in 1999, has a good reputation, as do Changtai Tea Group, Mengku Tea Company, and other new tea makers formed in the 1990s. However, due to production inconsistencies and variations in manufacturing techniques, the reputation of a tea company or factory can vary depending on the year or the specific cakes produced during a year.
  The producing factory is often the first or second item listed when referencing a pu'er cake, the other being the year of production.
caption: A Menghai microprinted ticket, first appearing in 2006
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