Xiaguan Compressed Tea

        The technique to produce Xiaguan Compressed Tea created as a result of creative work of the Bai people, representing the highest standard of conventional tea production process of the ethnic minorities in Yunnan province, is the typical example of the conventional technique of tea production in China. Xiaguan Compressed Tea is evolved from "Ball Tea" in the Ming Dynasty and "Mountain Tai Girl Tea" in the Qing Dynasty, and was successfully created by a firm called "Yong Changxiang" in Xiaguan Town in 1902. Xiaguan Compressed Tea takes Yunnan Big Leaf Species Sun-dry Tea as its basic raw material and is made through over ten processes including blending, screening, stalk extraction, blending semi-finished products, weighing, steamed kneading, compression molding, drying and packaging. Most of them are traditional manual operation which contains rich technical knowledge with regional characteristics. Over one hundred years, Xiaguan Compressed Tea has been constantly transported to the northwest of Yunnan, Tibet, Sichuan and other places through the "Ancient Tea Horse Road", promoting business relations among Bai, Tibetan and Han ethnic groups. It has been included in the third national Intangible Cultural Heritage protection list publicized by the State Council in May, 2011.