Dark tea originated in Sichuan Province, China. Ya'an with its long history, is renowned for its dark tea, which has been popular in the Tibetan region since the Tang and Song dynasties. Since ancient times, it has been closely linked to the daily lives of the Tibetan people and other ethnic groups in northwestern China, including the Mongol, Uyghur, Hui, and Qiang peoples. Ya'an dark tea has been known by various names throughout history, including black tea, dark tea, border tea, border trade tea, Southern Sichuan border tea, Southern Sichuan road border tea, large tea, and Ya tea. These ethnic groups have a deep understanding and appreciation for tea, expressing sentiments such as, "We would rather go without food for three days than without tea for one day," and "Without tea for a day, we feel sluggish; without tea for three days, we fall ill."
According to the *Records of the Grand Historian* (Shiji), in 1066 BC, during the Zhou Dynasty's conquest of the Shang Dynasty, "eight tribes from the south (Sichuan) offered tea to King Wu." The *History of the Ming Dynasty* (Ming Shi) records that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang "issued an edict to the people of the six prefectures of Tianquan, exempting them from corvée labor and ordering them to exclusively produce dark tea for exchange with horses." Dark tea refers to Tibetan tea or border tea, and Tianquan is now Tianquan County in Ya'an City. The *Appendix to the History of Tibetan Politics and Religion* states that "tea was introduced to Tibet by Princess Wencheng," referring to the Longtuan and Fengbing teas produced in Ya'an, which were offered to the imperial court and then taken to Tibet as gifts. Since then, Ya'an black tea has been continuously supplied to Tibet for over 1300 years. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the imperial court implemented policies such as "tea-horse trade," "tea monopoly system," and "tea distribution system" to "govern the border regions with tea," leading to the rapid development of Ya'an dark tea. The *History of the Ming Dynasty* (Ming Shi) records that Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty "established tea-horse trading offices in Qin, Tao, He, and Ya prefectures, from Diaomen (present-day Tianquan), Li (present-day Hanyuan), and Ya (present-day Yucheng) to Duogan and U-Tsang (Kang and Tibetan prefectures), covering over 5,000 li of tea trading routes..." In the seventh year of Xining (1074 AD), a tea-horse trading office was established in Ya'an, located in present-day Xindian, Mingshan County. Its ruins are the only verifiable tea-horse trading office site in my country today.
The Ya'an tea-making techniques were primarily passed down orally from generation to generation by traditional artisans and craftsmen in tea companies and factories, with written records only appearing in modern times. Before the Ming Dynasty, the production of Ya'an Tibetan tea was carried out by scattered processing units, with the imperial court centrally purchasing and managing the trade. The *Ya'an County Gazetteer* (Republican era edition) records that the earliest Tibetan tea processing enterprise was the "Yixing Tea Shop" established in the 25th year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1546), followed by "Tianxing," "Hengtai," and "Jucheng" tea shops. During the Qing Dynasty, private Tibetan tea trade was permitted, leading to an increase in private tea enterprises. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 200 tea shops in Ya'an, Tianquan, Yingjing, Mingshan, and Qionglai counties. In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1907), to resist British aggression, boycott Indian tea entering Tibet, and revitalize the status of Ya'an border tea in the Tibetan region, Zhao Erfeng, the Minister of Border Affairs of Sichuan and Yunnan, and the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Industry jointly organized tea merchants from Ya'an, Mingshan, Tianquan, Yingjing, and Qionglai counties to raise 335,000 taels of silver to establish the "Border Tea Co., Ltd." in Ya'an, a company jointly managed by the government and merchants. After the Xinhai Revolution, the company dissolved.
In the early years of the Republic of China, private tea shops recovered to more than 100. However, due to warlord conflicts and heavy taxes, many Tibetan merchants fled with their funds, causing many tea shops to close. By 1935, only about 30 remained. In 1939, the Xikang Province was established, and the Nationalist government, in order to monopolize the border tea trade, prepared to establish the "China Tea Company Xikang Branch" in Ya'an. Subsequently, private tea shops took the lead in forming the "Kangzang Tea Co., Ltd.," which monopolized all tea permits, leading to the closure of tea shops in Mingshan and Qionglai counties, leaving only Ya'an and Tianquan tea shops to acquire raw materials and process finished tea.
In February 1950, Ya'an was liberated, and there were 48 tea shops, including 30 in Ya'an (now Yucheng), 10 in Tianquan, and 8 in Yingjing.
After the founding of PRC, bureaucratic capital was confiscated and converted into state-owned tea factories, including four state-owned tea factories: Caoba, Hebei, Wending Street, and Dabai Street. In 1953, through public-private joint ventures, the 48 original Tibetan tea processing factories were merged into three: the state-owned Ya'an Tea Factory, the state-owned Yingjing Tea Factory, and the state-owned Tianquan Tea Factory. The state-owned Mingshan Tea Factory was established in 1972, and the state-owned Ya'an City (now Yucheng District) Tea Factory was established in 1985.
In 2002, seven national ministries and commissions announced 25 designated production enterprises for border-area tea, six of which were in Ya'an, accounting for approximately one-quarter of the national total. These enterprises benefited from support policies for designated producers of special ethnic goods.
In 2005, Ya'an had 15 Tibetan tea production enterprises (including 6 state-designated enterprises). In 2006, in accordance with the State Council General Office's "Notice on Implementing the Food and Drug Safety Project" (Guo Ban Fa [2003] No. 65) and the implementation of the tea market access system, 10 enterprises had obtained QS certification.
In 2007, the city's total tea production reached 56,000 tons, of which nearly 30,000 tons were Tibetan tea, accounting for 80% of the province's border-area tea production and more than 40% of the national border-area tea production. Of this, 60% was sold to Tibet, approximately 9% to Qinghai and Gansu, approximately 20% to Ganzi and Aba, and approximately 12% for other domestic regions.
The series of new Tibetan tea products developed using traditional production principles not only inherits the unique taste, flavor, efficacy, and components of traditional Tibetan tea, but also better suits the lifestyle needs of modern urban dwellers in terms of variety, packaging, consumption methods, storage, and decoration. The production and sales strategy of "border-area tea for domestic consumption" and "Tibetan tea for shared enjoyment" has promoted the innovation of Tibetan tea products and the transformation of marketing concepts. Ya'an Tibetan tea products have been sold to domestic cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Chengdu, as well as to countries such as Russia, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia, and Australia, and to Southeast Asia and the Taiwan and Hong Kong regions.
