山城沱茶? 敬世界一杯重庆好茶

刘丁睿

Shancheng (Mountain City Chongqing) Tuo Tea,

Chongqings Tea Gift to the World

By Liu Dingrui/The World and Chongqing

The shape of the tea is like a small bowl with a pitch-black and glossy look and a mellow and sweet taste...In the 4th “Chongqing Gifts” Tourism Commodities (Cultural and Creative Products) Competition, the Magic Tea Box Series launched by Chongqing Yifeng Tea Leaves Co., Ltd was listed as “Chongqing Gifts” for Foreign Affairs. On March 20, Lai Bingkun, Marketing Director of Chongqing Yifeng Tea Leaves Co., Ltd., was exclusively interviewed by the journalist, sharing the past and present of Chongqing Tuo Tea from its inheritance techniques to its innovative production.

Named from the Tea-Carrying Ship Docking at River Ports

It can be dated back to the Western Zhou Dynasty when Chongqing began to produce tea and bring tea as a tribute. According to Chronicles of Ba, Huayang State, “After King Wu defeated the Yin Dynasty, he enfeoffed the Ba State, the ancient Chongqing area, to his royal court, and delegated official positions...cinnabar, raw lacquer, tea, and sugar...were all brought as tributes.”

“The compressed tea boasts a long history. According to historical documents, Shuinan Tribute Tea, Duru Gaozhi Tea, Moon Rabbit Tea, etc. were born in the Song Dynasty, and the tea-making atmosphere flourished in the Ming Dynasty,” said Lai Bingkun. He also said that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chongqing people imitated the making techniques of Yunnan Puer Tea in Chongqing, one of the origins of tea in China, and steamed soft, kneaded, sun-dried or baked and stored a large number of tea leaves, giving birth to the tea leaves with fermented flavors, which is the predecessor of Chongqing Tuo Tea.

It looks like a steamed bread of corn and a steelyard weight (砣, which is pronounced as Tuo in Chinese), so it was initially called “Tuo（砣） Tea”. Water transportation took a major part in Chongqing then, and most tea-carrying ships docked at Shuiwan Ports. The names of many Chongqings Shuiwan Ports include the Chinese character “Tuo（沱）”, like Li Jia Tuo （李家沱）, Tang Jia Tuo（唐家沱）, etc. Therefore, tea transported from other places and locally produced tea were all gradually called Tuo（沱）Tea and were passed on to the present.

Winning the First World Gold Quality Award for Chongqing Tea

With the increasing market demand for Tuo Tea, the Southwest Tea Company set up the Chongqing Tea Factory in 1951 to adjust the initial tea-making techniques. This action greatly enhanced the quality of Chongqing Tuo Tea and realized mass production. In 1983, Tuo Tea researched and produced by the Chongqing Tea Factory won the Gold Quality Award at the 22nd Monde Selection held in Rome, Italy, representing the first world golden prize for Chongqing tea.

In 2004, the Chongqing Tea Factory was reformed and restructured into Chongqing Yifeng Tea Leaves Co., Ltd., and launched “Shancheng” serial tea, including Shancheng Tuo Tea, Shancheng Laoying Tea, Shancheng Black Tea, Shancheng Flower Tea, Shancheng Green Tea, etc., starting a new story chapter of Chongqing Tuo Tea.

Lai Bingkun said that Shancheng Tuo Tea adheres to the perseverance of craftsmanship, and uses the materials of middle-upper level sun-dried, baked and fried Gross Tea provided by Chongqing Banan Tea Production Demonstration Base, achieving the best qualities of different strains through complicated blending technologies.

Meanwhile, Tuo Tea is also renewing itself, creating new flavors of rose and tangerine peel based on the original flavors, winning great attention since its birth. In August 2019, Shancheng Tuo Tea of Chongqing Yifeng Tea Leaves Co., Ltd. was rated as a time-honored product of Chongqing.

Innovative and Inheritance Bringing Tuo Tea to “Bigger Market” and “Go Global”

The long 70-odd years have witnessed the endurance of the Chongqing Tuo Tea. In the view of Lai Bingkun, innovation is the key to inheriting it.

“To attract a wider age range of consumers, we have paid efforts to package and explored cooperation with other products besides diversifying tastes.” said Lai Bingkun. He shared that they are now working on developing serial products facing youngsters, like the Magic Tea Box series that combines factors of social medias popular city and leisure culture, building a new city name card integrating the beauty of Chongqings mountains and waters and the strong flavor of Tuo Tea. By cooperating with Chongqings famous hotpot brand, a new experience in catering has been born owing to the convergence of Shancheng Tuo Tea and hot pot, thus turning tea to be a flavor representing Chongqing that can be taken away. “We hope that Chongqing Tuo Tea can be welcomed by more youngsters, and inherit and pass on Tuo Tea culture to a wider range of groups.”

Chongqing Tuo Tea also represents a significant carrier of culture. Recent years have seen Chongqing Yifeng Tea Leaves Co., Ltd. try to bring Tuo Tea to go global. Tuo Tea of Shancheng series was exhibited in events such as the 2018 Belt & Road Brand Expo Chongqing, the World Food and Agricultural Expo (Shenzhen) 2023, the Chongqing-Russia Economic and Trade Negotiation and Products Exhibition and Trade Fair, winning a wide range of attention and affection.

“We will continue to strengthen the inheritance and popularization of Chinese tea culture, and strive to build the memory gift representing Chongqings culture, thus enabling Chongqing Tuo Tea to be the first strong fragrance for friends at home and abroad to learn Chongqing,” said Lai Bingkun.

Photos/The Interviewee

茶形似碗臼，色澤乌黑油润，滋味醇厚甘和……在第四届“重庆好礼”旅游商品（文创产品）大赛中，重庆益丰茶叶有限公司推出的魔方茶盒系列沱茶成功入选“重庆好礼”外事礼品。3月20日，重庆益丰茶叶有限公司市场总监赖秉坤接受记者专访，从传承技艺谈到创新生产，将重庆沱茶的前世今生娓娓道来。

沱茶因货船停靠水码头得名

巴渝产茶，并将茶作为贡品进贡，可追溯至西周时期。《华阳国志·巴志》记载：“武王既克殷，以其宗姬封于巴，爵之以子……丹、漆、茶、蜜……皆纳贡之。”

“紧压茶历史悠久，根据史料记载，早在宋代就出现了水南贡茶、都濡高枝、月兔茶等，到了明代制茶之风更盛。”赖秉坤介绍，重庆是我国茶叶的原产地之一，清朝末期，重庆人就仿照云南普洱茶制作工艺，将大量的茶叶蒸软、揉团、晒干或烘烤后保存，制出的茶叶味道陈香，这便是重庆沱茶的前身。

因其长相像窝窝头又像秤砣，最初被叫做“砣茶”。当时重庆运输以水路居多，运送茶叶的船只多停靠在水湾港内，而重庆的水湾港地名多带“沱”字，比如李家沱、唐家沱等，因此，不管是外来茶还是本地制作的砣茶，慢慢被通称为沱茶，延续至今。

获得重庆茶第一个世界级金奖

随着市场对沱茶需求的日益增长，1951年，西南茶叶公司成立重庆茶厂，对原有的制茶工艺进行调整，极大地提高了重庆沱茶的质量，并实现大批量投产。1983年，由重庆茶厂研制生产的沱茶在意大利罗马荣获第22届世界食品博览会金奖，这也是重庆商品获得的第一个世界级金奖。

2004年，重庆茶厂改制重组为重庆益丰茶叶有限公司，陆续推出“山城”系列茶，包括山城沱茶、山城老鹰茶、山城红茶、山城花茶、山城绿茶等，重庆沱茶的故事至此开启新篇章。

赖秉坤介绍，山城沱茶秉持工匠精神的坚守，原料由重庆巴南茶叶生产示范基地供应，选用中上等晒青、烘青和炒青毛茶，通过复杂的拼配技术，以实现不同品系的最佳效果。

2019年8月，重庆益丰茶叶有限公司山城沱茶被评定为重庆老字号产品。

创新传承带沱茶“破圈”“出海”

悠悠岁月七十余载，重庆沱茶经久不衰。在赖秉坤看来，传承的关键在于创新。沱茶不断推陈出新，在原味的基础上增加玫瑰花、陈皮等新口味，一经面世便备受关注。

“为了吸引了更多年龄层次的消费者，除了丰富口感，我们还在包装上下功夫，并探索跨界联名款产品。”赖秉坤说，目前正着力开发面向年轻人的系列产品，比如魔方茶盒系列包装，融合了重庆山水和城市元素，富于美感，便于传播。联合重庆知名火锅品牌，让山城沱茶与火锅碰撞出餐饮新体验，让茶成为更多人可以带走的重庆味道。“希望重庆沱茶更加年轻化，让沱茶文化在更广泛的群体中传承与延续。”

重庆沱茶也是承载文化的重要载体。近年来，重庆益丰茶叶有限公司也在尝试推动沱茶出海破圈。山城系列沱茶在2018“一带一路”名品展·重庆、2023全球高端食品及优质农产品（深圳）博览会、渝俄经贸洽谈暨产品展销会等活动上展出，广受关注和喜爱。

“我们将持续加强中国茶叶文化的传承与推广，努力打造代表重庆城市文化的记忆礼品，让重庆沱茶成为国内外朋友们了解重庆的第一口浓香。”赖秉坤表示。

图/受访者提供