If there is anything you are looking to buy as a gift or souvenir for friends and family back home in the last few days of your Hainan holiday, tea products have to be taken into consideration.

 

Since Hainan Island boasts the advantage of being one of the cleanest places on earth, with green hills, clear water, and fresh, unpolluted air, the teas produced in this superior environment are famous for their quality and freshness.

 

Here’s your guide to uncovering the well-known teas on sunny Hainan Island.

 

Kuding Tea 苦丁茶

 

  

Kuding tea, commonly known as Chading, Fuding and Gaolu tea, is a popular health drink in Hainan with its bitter-sweet taste.

 

In Hainan, Kuding tea has its origins from Wuzhishan City in Chengmai County.

 

The tea has long been associated with having traditional Chinese medicinal properties. It has been listed as valuable Chinese medicine as early as the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties for its beneficial effects to the eyes, heart, brain, and stomach.

 

Therefore it has been dubbed as ‘healthy tea’, ‘beauty care tea’, ‘slimming tea’, ‘anti-hypertensive tea’, and ‘longevity tea’.

 

Kuding tea is often sold for RMB150-400 per kilogram.

 

Baisha Green Tea 白沙绿茶

 

  

The Baisha Green Tea is a famous specialty in Hainan.

 

The Hainan Baisha State Farm is an important production base for Baisha green tea cultivation, which provides high quality green tea that is great for gifts.

 

Baisha green tea is popularly used in Chinese Medicine to fight cancer.

 

Baisha green tea has won many awards. It has been certified as a green food product by the China Green Food Development Center since 1991. In 2004, the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision started to protect Baisha green tea as a product of original manufacturing.

 

Baisha green tea is often sold for RMB15-150 per kilogram.

       

Zhegu Tea 鹧鸪茶

 

 

 

Zhegu tea, made of the leaves of partridge trees, is grown mainly on the slopes of the Dongshan mountain range. Apparently this species is not very demanding in terms of soil, humidity and sunlight.

 

Its prime harvest period is generally from the end of the fourth lunar month to the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

 

The tea has a slight smell of an herbal remedy and the Hainanese people affirm that Zhegu Tea can dispel heat and prevent catching a cold, and can also detoxify the body and strengthen the spleen and stomach. It can also help digestion and metabolism, so it is considered an ideal drink for a hot summer day or after a heavy meal.

 

Zhegu tea is sold by strings. On each string, there are about 15-20 Zhegu tea "beads", and one "necklace" costs RMB2-6.

 

Shuiman Tea 水满茶

 

  

Shuiman tea, one of the specialty tea brands of Hainan, comes from Shuiman Village in Wuzhishan City, a mountain site often enshrouded in fog which produces an ideal environment for growing tea.

 

In ancient times, Shuiman Tea used to be accepted as a "tribute" tea reserved for the emperor.

 

The tea preserves its fresh aroma, and has a very pleasant, naturally sweet taste and gives the drinker’s mouth a nice feeling.

 

A sip of Shuiman tea can be helpful in lowering stress hormone levels and in preventing catching a cold.

 

SOURCE: WOS Team