Taiping Houkui is a tea name. It belongs to the category of pointed green tea and is a famous historical Chinese tea, created in 1900. It has appeared in unofficial selections among the series of "Top Ten Famous Teas." Taiping Houkui is produced in the areas of Xinming, Longmen, and Sankou in Huangshan District (formerly Taiping County) at the northern foot of Huangshan City, Anhui Province. The appearance of Taiping Houkui features two leaves embracing a bud, flat and straight, naturally舒展, with hidden white hairs. It is described as "pointed at both ends, neither散,翘, nor卷边." The leaf color is苍绿匀润, with叶脉绿中稳红. It has a high, refreshing orchid aroma, a醇厚回甘 taste, a unique "houyun" (monkey charm), a clear green and bright汤色,嫩绿匀亮叶底, with buds and leaves forming plump clusters. It has also won honors. Additionally, it has its tea culture and health benefits.

　　White Cockscomb:

　　White Cockscomb is one of the four famous tea bushes of Wuyi Mountain. The tea trees at the outer Ghost Cave under Huoyan Peak in Huiyuan Rock and behind the Wuyi Mountain Ancestral Temple have奇特芽叶,淡绿leaf color,绿中带白, with弯弯又毛绒绒的 buds, the shape resembling the冠 on a white锦鸡's head, hence the name White Cockscomb. This tea is picked starting from late May each year, mainly with two or three leaves,绿里透红 in color, with a隽永回甘. A Ming Dynasty story about "Cockscomb" curing a severe illness made White Cockscomb tea famous. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a tea farmer in Wuyi Mountain. One day, his father-in-law was celebrating his birthday, so he抱着一只大公鸡 to offer congratulations. Along the way, the sun was scorching, and he couldn't stand the heat. Near Huiyuan Rock, he placed the rooster under a tree and found a shady spot to rest, taking off his斗笠 to扇风. Before even the time it takes to smoke a pipe, he suddenly heard the rooster let out a惨 "wo" cry. He hurried over to look and saw a青蛇 as thick as a thumb擦而过 by his feet, scaring him into a cold sweat. Looking at the big rooster, its head was耷拉着,殷红的 blood flowing down from its冠, dripping drop by drop onto the roots of a nearby tea tree. The茶农 was furious,恨得咬牙切齿, but无可奈何. He只好 dug a坑 under the tea tree to bury the big rooster and went空着手 to his father-in-law's birthday celebration feeling垂头丧气. Somehow, from then on, this tea tree near Huiyuan Rock grew particularly vigorously,劲地往上窜,枝繁叶茂, towering over the surrounding tea trees. The leaves all over the tree also gradually changed from墨绿 to淡绿, then from淡绿 to淡白, and its rich tea fragrance could be smelled from several丈 away. The made tea leaves were also与众不同; other teas had a褐ish color, but this one showed乳白色 amidst米黄; the brewed tea was水晶亮晶亮,清香扑鼻 before even reaching the lips; a sip felt清凉甘美, even the茶杆嚼起来 had a香甜味, and it was said drinking it could cure illnesses. This tea tree is the Wuyi famous bush "White Cockscomb."

　　Insect Droppings Tea:

　　Insect Droppings Tea, also known as "Dragon Pearl Tea," is a special tea enjoyed by ethnic minorities such as the Miao and Yao people living at the junction of Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces. Local people pile wild vines, tea leaves, and branches of fragrant trees together to attract many small black insects. After these insects finish eating the piled leaves, what remains are粒状 insect droppings smaller than black sesame seeds and some residual stems. They筛子筛去残渣, take the insect droppings, beautifully named "Dragon Pearls." They dry-fry them in a wok, then mix them according to the ratio honey: tea leaves: insect droppings = 1:1:5, and fry again to make Insect Droppings Tea.

　　Insect Droppings Tea not only contains tea components but also organic matter excreted by the tea insects after eating the leaves. It has high medicinal value. Authentic Liupao wild tea insect droppings make any other tea taste bland afterward. In fact, among farmers, Insect Droppings Tea has always been used primarily as medicine, often better with age. Genuine农家 Liupao Insect Droppings Tea should be extremely甘甜, with obvious tea aroma (mostly霜降大叶茶香),爽口耐泡; a small amount (about 1 gram) is enough for five or six people to taste. Of course, the quality of the tea insect droppings depends on the quality of the tea leaves the insects ate and the time period. Authentic aged Liupao wild tea, when brewed, tastes纯而无异味, followed by满口生津回甘 that lasts long.

　　Insect tea is a unique Chinese forest resource insect product and a traditional特种茶 for export. Insect tea consists of粪粒 excreted by insects such as化香夜蛾 and米黑虫 after feeding on leaves of plants like化香树 and苦茶. Insect tea is about the size of a grain of rice,黑褐色, turning青褐色 when steeped in boiling water, almost completely dissolving like coffee, making it very convenient to drink. If measured by the scientific definition of tea, this insect tea is not actually tea, but people consume this insect excrement in a way similar to how we drink tea, hence it is called "tea." This is just as well, allowing us to forget its original identity when drinking to avoid心理有不舒服的感觉.

　　Insect tea has a清香 taste, similar to tea. Although China is a major producer and consumer of tea, insect tea is鲜为人知. In fact, the production and consumption of insect tea in China have a long history. As early as the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" recorded it.

　　Insect tea is a good medicinal保健饮料. According to records, it has effects such as clearing heat, relieving summer heat, detoxifying, strengthening the stomach, aiding digestion, etc. It has good efficacy for diarrhea,鼻衄,牙龈出血, and痔出血, and is an important清凉饮料 in tropical and subtropical regions.

　　The nutritional value of insect tea is higher than普通茶叶, containing 18 to 19 amino acids, a certain amount of crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrates, tannins, vitamins, and other nutrients, as well as trace elements needed by the human body.

　　Liupao Tea:

　　The history of Liupao Tea can be traced back over 1,500 years, to the清代嘉庆年间. It was listed as one of the全国名茶 for its special betel nut-like fragrance, enjoying fame at home and abroad. Since the 1950s, due to reasons like粗制滥造加工 and the disappearance of traditional flavor, its sales gradually declined, and Liupao Tea was replaced by other famous teas.

　　In the early Qing Dynasty of China, tin mines were already discovered and began to be mined in Nanyang Malaysia. More and more people from广东,广西 went there to "seek treasure." However, due to the local hot and humid climate and水土不服, many suffered from肠胃不适 and diarrhea. The Liupao Tea they brought, which had the effects of祛湿除燥,通便驱痢,调理肠胃, played a significant role. People from粤桂 who already had the habit of drinking Liupao Tea thus loved and relied on it even more. At that time, trade of Liupao Tea for tin迅速兴起 in广州,潮州一带, and Liupao Tea gradually flourished. By the清代嘉庆年间, it was listed as one of the全国名茶 for its special betel nut-like fragrance, enjoying fame at home and abroad. From the清代康熙年间, a number of Liupao Tea老字号 emerged in两广.

　　"Cangwu County Annals" records that Xiadou tea "has excellent color, aroma, and taste,唯稍薄耳." Liupao Tea was widely popular at that time. In the 22nd year of乾隆 (1757), the Qing court, seeing rampant illegal trade activities by Westerners along China's coast, closed the three customs houses in福建,浙江,江苏, leaving only广州 as a port for trade. Thus, the "Thirteen Hongs" monopolized China's foreign trade. Liupao Tea也随之名声大噪. The development of Liupao Tea went through many historical events like "Ping Sanfan," "the great fire of the Thirteen Hongs," "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom," "Opium War," "Xinhai Revolution," "War of Resistance against Japan," etc., enduring many hardships. Large and small tea houses遍布粤桂,港澳,南洋, and even extended tea trade to Britain and other European countries.

　　For a long time, among China's export commodities, tea was the largest宗.大量茶叶 were processed and packaged through the "Thirteen Hongs" and then shipped to countries worldwide. Liupao Tea was mainly sold to南洋诸国, benefiting from the prosperous water transport at the time. Merchants used the Xijiang River黄金水道 to transport the rich products of华南,西南 to Guangzhou at the lowest cost, then re-exported from Guangzhou. Tea was an important item. Every tea season,大量优质茶叶 produced in Liupao were loaded onto尖头船 at合口街码头 in Liupao, transferred to large wooden boats at Libu, entered the Hejiang River, passed through Fengchuan Jiangkou into the Xijiang River, then were装卸到大船中 at Ducheng and transported to Guangzhou before being re-exported to Nanyang and worldwide. This was the famous "Tea Boat Route" of Liupao Tea. This熙熙攘攘,舟楫往来的 "Tea Boat Route" witnessed the rise and fall of Liupao Tea.

　　Over 200 years ago, Liupao Tea was introduced from Jianghua Daoxian, Hunan, through Babu, Hexian, Guangxi. The variety belongs to槠叶种. Hunan tea trees have槠叶种, and the黑茶 produced in places like Anhua. Its processing method is大同小异 to Liupao Tea, so it is more credible. "Cangwu County Annals" states: "Tea is produced in多贤乡六保,味厚.隔夜不变. That produced in长行虾捅 is called虾耳茶, with excellent color, aroma, and taste." "Guangxi Special Products Summary" (1937) states: "Among the largest products of Cangwu, and特产,首推六堡茶. Speaking of the六堡 area alone (五堡,四堡), all produce tea, but not as much as六堡. The annual export amount is over 600,000斤. During民国十五,十六年间 (1926-1927), each担 was valued at around thirty yuan. (Article original title: Tea)