The chief varieties of tea exported by China to the world market are the following categories:

(1) Congou Tea
Congou is the earliest category of traditional tea China exported. The leaf is tightly leggy and wiry. It is tender and netback bloom. It emits pleasant frangrance.

It is consentaneous that congou tea carry a name of its place of origin. Those grown in Qimen County of Anhui Province has the name “keemun congou”, The best of it, presenting a flavor special to a limited plantation area has the name “Qimen Xiang (Keemun Fragrance)”,Qimen Xiang is one of the renowned trio of the high flavor black tea in the world. The other two are Darjiling Indian Black and the Sri Lanka Highland Black reaping out of the right seasons.

Congou black grown in Yunnan has the name Dianhong Congou, a highland species. It is a variety carefully derived from Yunnan big leaf tea. The leaf is in fat strips covered with yellow floss. The very dense color of its liquor is its unique characteristic.

huanhong (Sichuan Black congou) could appear on market in early March every year. The best genus of it is Zaobaijian (early white pointed);
Minhong congou (Fujian black congou) comes from Fujian Province;
Yihong congou (Yichang black congou) comes from Hubei Province;
Ninghong congou (Ningxiang black congou) and Fuhong (Fuliang black congou) come from Jiangxi province; Xianghong congou (Hunan black congou) comes from Hunan Province.