Guangdong

Guangdong lies at China's far south, home to the fertile Pearl River delta and a long southern coastline. Its finest tea land is the Phoenix Mountains of Chaozhou, where year-round mist embraces the high slopes.

Phoenix tea has a history of over 700 years, said to reach back to the Song dynasty. On the mountain still stand Dancong trees several centuries old, each named, tended, and picked apart — a living heritage of the Phoenix oolong craft.

The mineral-rich weathered mountain soil, high elevation, thick mist, and temperature swings together create a sharply defined fragrance. It is precisely these conditions that let Dancong 'mimic' a myriad of natural floral and fruit scents.

Phoenix Dancong is famed for its aroma 'types': Honey Orchid, Almond, Orchid, Osmanthus and more. The liquor is amber-gold, the fragrance high, the taste firm and full, with a deep sweet finish and a marked 'returning sweetness' — an oolong for those who love a bold yet refined aroma.

The Teochew people raised gongfu brewing into an art of living: a small pot, jackfruit-seed cups, an even circling pour — 'Lord Guan patrolling the city wall'. Tea is the centre of Teochew sociability, hospitality, and identity.

Thanks to its coastal position and role as an engine of China's economy — with cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen — Guangdong is both a great consumer of tea and a gateway of trade. Premium Dancong and aged teas are ever more sought after, commanding high value on the market.

Dancong is picked in late spring on the Phoenix Mountains; the older the tree (old and ancient bushes), the deeper the aroma, each tree bearing its own named 'aroma type' such as Honey Orchid, Almond and Magnolia.

Genuine Dancong has a high yet lasting fragrance, a firm full taste and a clear, enduring returning sweetness; single-ancient-tree lots are rare and costly. Brew gongfu-style in a small pot at 95–100°C, keeping steeps short so the aroma is not 'scorched'.