Green Tea, a type of non-fermented tea. Its quality characteristics are clear liquor and green leaves. It is the most produced category of tea in China. The basic processing steps for green tea are fixation, rolling, and drying. Fixation methods include pan-firing and steam fixation. Tea made with steam fixation is called steamed green tea. Tea fixed by pan-firing is further categorized by drying method: pan-dried, oven-dried, or sun-dried, respectively called pan-fried green tea, baked green tea, and sun-dried green tea.

Black Tea, a type of fermented tea. The quality characteristics of black tea are red liquor and red leaves. The basic processing steps are withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying. Major categories of Chinese black tea include: Gongfu Black Tea (strip-shaped tea), Broken Black Tea (broken, flake, and fanning-shaped tea), and Souchong Black Tea (dried over pine wood, possessing a distinctive smoky flavor), etc.

Oolong Tea, a type of semi-fermented tea. Its quality characteristics include both the freshness and floral aroma of green tea and the mellow, robust taste of black tea. Authentic Oolong tea, after brewing, unfurls to reveal leaves that are green in the center and red on the edges, hence it is often beautifully described as 'green leaves with a red border'. The basic processing steps are sun-withering, cooling, shaking/tumbling, fixation, rolling, and drying. It is mainly produced in Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan. Main varieties include Wulong Shuixian, Tieguanyin, Fenghuang Dancong, and Taiwanese Baozhong, etc.