Pu’er Tea Acronyms & General References

Puerh and other heicha
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phyllsheng
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Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:01 pm

Pu’er Tea Acronyms & General References

Introduction

To help members of English-speaking pu’er tea fora decode the many oft-used abbreviated terms and acronyms when referring to tea names, regions, and tea vendors, their unabbreviated forms can be found in Sections II through V below. I hope they are helpful to grease the wheels of discussion, or at the very least, a useful reference when those terms and acronyms are mentioned in discussion threads. Generally, these oft-used acronyms are based on the first letter of the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of each Chinese character of the tea names, trademarks, and regions.

This reference does not represent a complete and exhaustive encyclopedic information, so please feel free to suggest any addition/modification/correction as necessary.

Note: Please refer to the Endnote of this post on the use and purpose of the forward slash symbols (/) in this document.

I. Haoji Era Pu’er Tea Companies / Trademarks (號級茶)
In alphabetical order
  • Che Shun Hao (車順號)
  • Chen/yun Hao (陳雲號)
  • Ding Xing Hao (鼎興號)
  • Fu/yuan Chang Hao (福元昌號)
  • Hong Tai/chang Hao (鴻泰昌號)
  • Jiang/cheng Hao (江城號)
  • Jing Chang Hao (敬昌號)
  • Ke/yi Xing (可以興)
  • Meng Jing Hao (勐景號)
  • Pu Qing Hao (普慶號)
  • Song/pin Hao (宋聘號)
  • Tong/chang Hao (同昌號)
  • Tong/qing Hao (同慶號)
    • a.k.a. Yi/wu Tong/qing Hao (易武同慶號)
    • Originally trademarked as Long/ma Tong/qing Hao (龍馬同慶號 -- Dragon & Horse Tong/qing Hao) since its founding in 1736.
    • Amended its trademark in early 1920's to become Shuang Shi Tong/qing Hao (雙獅同慶號 -- Double Lion Tong/qing Hao) due to rampant counterfeiting of its products with the original trademark.
  • Tong/xing Hao (同興號)

Note: within the context of Haoji era trademarks as listed above, the character 號 (hào) is short-hand for 商號 (shāng/hào): a "business establishment", “company”, "firm", and/or “trade name".

II. Post-Haoji Era Tea Factories & Trademarks
In alphabetical order, except for CNNP
  • CNNP = China National Native Produce & Animal By-Products Import & Export Corporation (see Zhongcha below).
  • 6FTM = Six Famous Tea Mountains (Liu Da Cha/shan)
  • BHYJ = Bao/hong/yin/ji
  • BYH = Bi/yun Hao, the abbreviated moniker of an independent Taiwanese producer, which produces its teas under Bi Yun Zhen Cha/zhuang (碧雲珍茶莊) name.
  • CT or CTH = Chang/tai or Chang/tai Hao (official company name is Chang/tai Cha Ye Ji/tuan [昌泰茶業集團] = Changtai Tea Group). It is also the producer of tea products under the Yi Chang Hao (易昌號) brand. (see "YCH" below)
  • CGHT = Chen/guang/he/tang
  • CYH = Chen/yuan Hao
  • CSH = Che/shun Hao (車顺號) or Chen/sheng Hao (陳昇號), depending on the context.
    • Note: Che/shun Hao (車顺號) of Yiwu is one of the most famous historical tea producers. It was established in 1839, ceased to exist in the late 1940's, and it was re-established in 2005 by a group of entrepreneurs (a trademark acquisition with tea production supervised by a 5th generation descendant of the original Che family). On the other hand, Chen/sheng Hao (陳昇號) is a tea company that was started in 2007 by Mr. Chen Shenghe (陳昇河), a Guangdong-based real estate millionaire.
  • DY = Da/yi or Meng/hai Da/yi. Also known as TaeTea. (also see MHTF below).
  • FT = Fei Tai Tea Company.
    • Note: Fei Tai special-orders and distributes teas made by Xiaguan, Menghai Dayi and Zhongcha. "FT" designation on the product description and/or packaging indicates Fei Tai products. Example: Xiaguan FT8653, Xiaguan FT Baoyan, etc.. An FT-designated product is perceived by the market to be of superior quality than their non-FT counterpart.
  • FQ = Feng/qing
  • HL = Hua/lian, a.k.a. Macao Hua/lian Tea Co. (澳門華聯茶葉公司)
  • KMTF = Kunming Tea Factory
  • MHTF = Menghai Tea Factory (also see DY above).
  • NJ = Nan/jian
  • NQ = Nan/qiao
  • TQH = Tong/qing Hao
  • ZTL or WH or WS = Ziteng/lu or Wistaria Hao (both refer to Wistaria Tea House in Taipei, Taiwan)
  • XG or XGTF = Xia/guan Tea Factory
  • XZH = Xi/zi/hao (this is the tea "brand", and the company that makes them is San/he/tang)
  • YCH = Yi Chang Hao (易昌號). (also see "CT or CTH" above)
  • YQH = Yang/qing Hao
  • Zhongcha (中茶) = Shorthand for Zhōng/chá Jí/tuán (中茶集團): China Tea Group.
    • Established in 1944
    • Formed the Yunnan China Tea Trading Co. in 1950 to assume overall control of the agricultural sector
    • Officially registered as a trademark in September 1951
    • Created its well-known logo in 1952: a green Chinese character "茶" surrounded by eight red Chinese characters "中" (hence, the oft-mentioned "Bazhong" (八中) to refer to Zhongcha's logo)


III. Names of Place / Area / Region / “Terroir”
  • BZ, XBZ and LBZ = Ban/zhang, Xin/ban/zhang and Lao/ban/zhang
  • CWS = Cha/wang/shu (in Yiwu)
  • DXS = Da/xue/shan
  • GFZ = Gua/feng Zhai
  • LME or LM'e = Lao Man E or Lao Man'e (a village in the Bulang Mountains)
  • MZ = Man/zhuan (a town in the Meng/la area of Yunnan)
  • QJZ = Qian/jia Zhai
  • WGZ = Wan/gong Zhai
  • YWZS = Yi/wu Zheng/shan


IV. Names of Well-Known Puerh Teas and/or Lengthy

88QB = 88 Qing/bing (produced by CNNP, raw 7542 recipe vintage 1989-1991 and curated/stored by Best Tea House in Hong Kong)

06 Black and/or white wrapper LBZ = colloquially refers to a series of 2 Xizihao-produced teas, the 2006 Lao Banzhang Yin (black wrapper) and Yang (white wrapper). Also known as the 2006 Xizihao Taiji series.

'99 GBT / '99 BGT = 1999 "Green Big Tree" or "Big Green Tea" (1999年勐海茶廠綠大樹 -- 1999 nian Meng/hai Cha/chang Lu Da/shu), a moniker given to a Menghai Tea Factory-production in 1999 under the supervision of Mr. Ye Binghuai (a famous tea personage within the tea industry who also supervised the production of the "Green Sun" tea mentioned below).

There are 2 versions to the '99 GBT production: (1) the red ticket/stamp and (2) the purple-black ticket/stamp. The ticket/stamp color is on the underside of the embedded neifei (the small paper ticket on the cake).

Of the 2 versions, both are highly regarded and valued, although the purple-black ticket/stamp version is the more expensive and the harder to acquire (due to being more closely held by collectors) than the red ticket/stamp version.

Ironically, despite the large Chinese characters on the '99 GBT's wrapper that explicitly says "易武正山野生茶" (Yiwu Zhengshan Yesheng Cha), it is widely recognized that both versions of the tea aren't actually made with raw material from the Yiwu region (note: this is not a statement to imply inferiority, but merely to point out the discrepancy between the actual tea's raw material and the labeling).

Many different tea producers, small and large alike, use/borrow/steal the GBT moniker and wrapper design, and it's seen often on teas from different brands and various vintages. As such, caveat emptor.

01 Green Sun = a 2001 Menghai Tea Factory-produced tea made under the supervision of Mr. Ye Binghuai, a highly regarded personage within the tea industry. The full name in Chinese characters is (2001年勐海茶廠-敬業號貢品綠太陽 -- 2001 nian Menghai Chachang - Jìngye Hao Gongpin Lu Taiyang)

GYG = Guang/yun/gong (produced by CNNP Canton division)

03 SF or HKH-SF = a 2003 Hong Kong Henry Trading Company custom production by a tea producer in Menghai County (not by Menghai Tea Factory). The tea is named "Serious Formula" ("認真配方”), after a semi-famous CNNP tea produced in the 1970's under the same moniker. The full name in Chinese is 2003 Xiāng/gǎng Hēng/lì Gōng/sī měng/hǎi dìng/zhì “rènzhēn pèifāng” 7542 (2003年香港亨利公司勐海訂製 “認真配方” 7542)

YSSLHSC = Yuán/shǐ sēn/lín huāng/shān chá (原始森林荒山茶; a 2005 tea produced by Yangqing Hao. Added to this list due to its lenghty name)

01 YYX = Yuan/ye/xiang (produced by Shuangjiang Mengku Tea Co.)



V. Tea Vendors

BLT = Bitterleaf Teas

BTH = Best Tea House

CLT = Crimson Lotus Tea

EoT = Essence of Tea

W2T = White 2 Tea

YS = Yunnan Sourcing



ENDNOTE:

The forward slash symbol / is used above as a visual tool to separate syllables (or in this case, to separate the Chinese characters), and it should not be written in normal circumstances.

Example: CGHT is Chenguanghetang, and not Chen Guang He Tang. Similarly, YWZS is Yiwu Zhengshan, but not Yi Wu Zheng Shan. Spacing each romanized pinyin character is akin to writing Microsoft as Micro Soft, or California as Cali For Nia. All of which are not a writing offense, but this post is merely an effort to help establish proper written convention in order to lessen any confusion in our discussions.


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Victoria
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Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:07 pm

Fantastic acronym reference @phyllsheng. This will be a great resource that you can update as members make additional recommendations. Thank you so much for taking the time to organize and share this very thorough list! Have pinned this thread for easy access.
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mrmopu
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Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:04 pm

Excellent post with loads of good info. An excellent read for people getting their feet wet into puerh. I learned as well from it.
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Balthazar
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Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:20 am

Agreed, great write-up!
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Rickpatbrown
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Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:04 pm

Very nice this is super helpful. Does anyone care to take a stab at estimating how exhaustive this list is? Does this cover %60 of the producers ... or is it more like 5%?

I imagine there are 100's of small producers out there that most of us will never hear of.
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phyllsheng
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Fri Apr 16, 2021 3:29 pm

Section I: ~ 90-95%

Section II: more like 5%, but [probably] 50-60% of the brands and tea producers that are oft-mentioned in English-language tea fora.

Please do take a stab at it — this list is meant for everyone interested, after all:
This reference does not represent a complete and exhaustive encyclopedic information, so please feel free to suggest any addition/modification/correction as necessary.
Thank you!
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