Panyong Congou black tea, produced for over a century in Tanyang Village, Fu'an, in China's Fujian Province, won a gold medal at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Today, the region has turned that tradition into a modern, tech-driven industry: in 2020, Tanyang became home to China's first 5G smart tea plantation demonstration zone, using IoT sensors, drone inspections, and automated irrigation.
In 2025, Fu'an produced 28,000 tonnes of tea, with output valued at roughly 2.3 billion yuan (about $339 million), while the region's full tea industrial chain is valued at 13.8 billion yuan (about $2 billion) and its brand value exceeds 9.5 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion). The Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences supports the industry, preserving more than 4,000 tea genetic resources.
Fu'an's example shows how a traditional black tea with a genuine origin story can become a regional economic pillar when backed by investment and innovation — exactly the kind of origin black tea Premium Tea values in its range.
Source: Xinhua Silk Road