What do license plates and Chinese black teas have in common?

The almost systematic and somewhat complicated nomenclature of black teas, explained by Liyang Sheng, our t-columnist

Anyone who buys Chinese green tea may have already stumbled across the multitude of flowery names and designations, from long jing ("dragon well") to bi luo chun ("spring jade snail") to tai ping hou kui ("peace monkey chief"). Puerh lovers are familiar with the classification of tea according to tea village or region: Yiwu, Mengku, Youle, Nannuoshan, Laobanzhang, etc.

And black tea?

Our beloved black tea is called 红茶 hong cha (red tea) in China. [There is also a black tea, but more on that at another time.] The syllable hong therefore appears in many names. Basically, the nomenclature of black teas follows this principle: the first syllable as an indicator of origin (usually the province of origin) + the second syllable hong as an indicator of tea type.

Take, for example, the popular black tea from Yunnan: 滇红 dian hong. We have already explained hong, which is basically the short form of hong cha ("red tea" = black tea). Let's take a closer look at the first syllable, dian.

Abbreviations are often used in the Chinese language. How are characters abbreviated? We have already encounters one option. One of the two syllables is simply omitted. Instead of hong cha "red tea," one simply writes "red." This is especially the case when another descriptive word is added. In this case, we want to say that we have black tea from Yunnan. So, a Yunnan hong cha. The last two syllables have already been abbreviated into one. For symmetry reasons, the first two syllables must now also be abbreviated. Yun nan becomes dian. Why dian?! Why not 云 yun or 南 nan?

Well, for each of the Chinese provinces, self-governing cities, and regions, there is one or more abbreviated, monosyllabic names. Some are derived from the name, such as 川 chuan for 四川 Sichuan. Some are historical names. Some are simply alternative names when you want to express the name with one syllable.

Take German license plates, for example. Some abbreviations are easy to figure out, like B for Berlin or M for Munich, but others aren't so obvious, like FLÖ for Central Saxony or GC for Zwickau. British license plates also have a two-letter code for the region where the car was registered. In China, license plates feature a single-syllable designation for the province. A car from Sichuan therefore has the designation 川 chuan. A black tea from Sichuan is called 川红 chuan hong, to finally circle back on topic.

And what about the popular black teas from Fujian, the birthplace of black tea? Those that have no other name are grouped together as 闽红 min hong teas . Min, as you may have guessed, is the one-syllable designation for Fujian, and is also found on their license plates.

Black teas from Hubei are called 宜红 yi hong, black teas from Hunan 湖红 hu hong, from Zhejiang 越红 yue hong and from Jiangxi 宁红 ning hong. The first syllable indicates the origin, the second indicates that it is black tea. (Full disclosure: unfortunately, the syllables indicating the origin of the teas listed above do not correspond to the abbreviations on the license plates. Sometimes there are simply several abbreviations.)

But what about Keemun/Qimen tea, the famous tea from Anhui that used to be found in English Breakfast Tea and made a name for itself as a result? 祁门 Qimen, the city that gave the tea its name, is located in the Chinese province of Anhui. The abbreviation for Anhui is 皖 wan. Consequently, this tea should be called 皖红 wan hong. In fact, this name is extremely rare. This is probably because Anhui otherwise tends to produce green teas. Black Qimen tea is so famous that it is virtually synonymous with Anhui hong cha. The common abbreviation is actually祁红 qi hong, for qi men hong cha.

Other teas use (fantasy) proper names – much like the green teas mentioned in the beginning – if this makes them easier to market. For example, a special tea from Fujian is called zheng shan xiao zhong, better known in this country as Lapsang Souchong, named after the cultivar used. Another well-known tea from the same province has been selling very well for years under the name Jin Jun Mei – "golden horse eyebrow".

Confused? Don't worry, there is a small table below for reference.

PS: The license plates from Yunnan actually just use the first syllable 云 yun. Well then...

Names for Chinese black teas by region:

福建 Fujian 安徽 Anhui 云南 Yunnan 四川 Sichuan 江西 Jiangxi 湖北 Hubei 湖南Hunan 浙江Zhejiang

闽红 min hong 祁红Qi Hong 滇红 dian hong 川红 chuan hong 宁红 ning hong 宜红 yi hong 湖红hu hong 越红 yue hong

Liyang Sheng is a tea expert and columnist for t-Magazine. Under the name ‘teeregen’, she conveys tea culture in delicate, deeply researched images. You can find more on her website www.teeregen.de or on Instagram: @teeregen .