Farmers prepare to pick tea leaves at a garden in Anhua.

Workers make tea baskets at a local factory.

Residents transport tea along the ancient path in Anhua.

Tea plants and flowers grow on hills in Anhua.

Dark tea from Anhua county in Hunan province is one of the most iconic products to carry forward the traditional tea culture of Hunan in Central China.

Often mistaken for black tea, dark tea is named for leaves that blacken after special treatment.

With its unique growing environment, exquisite processing skills and long history, Anhua dark tea has been approved as a national geographical indication product, and has gained increasing popularity among consumers worldwide.

Anhua is surrounded by undulating mountains and boasts crisscrossing rivers and streams.

The county's subtropical monsoon climate brings a long succession of wet days and a short period of cold weather.

This enables the growing period of local tea trees to last more than seven months, and meet all the requirements for the growth of high-quality tea leaves.

Moreover, the most distinctive feature lies in the unique moraine gravel of Anhua. The soil weathered by this plate shale has suitable acidity and is extremely rich in organic matter, an ideal environment to plant tea trees, according to The Classic of Tea.

The book written by Lu Yu (733-804) is the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea. Lu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to the Chinese tea culture.

Liquid of Anhua dark tea is red-yellow and bright. It smells thick and has long-lasting mixed aromas of medicine, stewed fruit and wood.

The dark tea can be divided into seven varieties in three categories, all of which use the raw dark tea (without compression) as the material.

Production of the Anhua raw black tea needs six procedures, each with a strict process. Even the slightest mistake will affect its quality and taste.

The first step is to divide fresh leaves into four levels to produce different qualities of dark tea. The leaves will then be watered and steamed to become more soft. When finished, they will be rolled into strips and prepared for the next step.

As the most critical procedure, the fourth step is important for the formation of dark tea's color, aromas and taste.

The leaves will be placed in dark and clean rooms in huge piles, all at a height of less than 1 meter. They will be covered with wet cloth or straw rain capes to help control temperature and humidity.

After fermentation, the leaves will be kneaded and twisted again for six to eight minutes before being dried. Smoking or drying the leaves over pinewood gives Anhua dark tea its unique characters.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn