TeaHQ

Xigui

A small village on the Mekong in Linxiang district, Lincang, growing at markedly lower elevation than most prized pu-erh areas — the gardens run down almost to the river. The tea is known for an intense, penetrating aroma and a fast, sharp mouthfeel rather than the broad sweetness of Bingdao, and the low-altitude riverside setting is the usual explanation offered for the difference.

昔歸China700–1200 metres

Elevation

Recorded at 700–1200 metres.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it. Low by Yunnan standards; figures vary between the riverside plots and the higher village gardens.

When it is picked

Three named crops rather than a flush structure. Spring — chun cha — is picked after the dry season breaks the growth back, and the pre-Qingming and pre-Guyu pickings within it carry the premium; it is the crop the speciality trade buys and in a strong year it is most of a village's income. The rains bring yu shui cha, summer leaf that grows fast, thin and cheap, and much of it goes into blends or is not picked at all. Autumn gives gu hua cha, picked as the rain withdraws and the air dries, and it is the second-best crop of the year — lighter and more aromatic than spring, less concentrated, and considerably cheaper. Winter growth effectively stops without a true dormancy. The gardens run low, down toward the river, and warm low ground buds earlier than the high mountains that most prized pu-erh comes from — so Xigui's spring pick opens ahead of them.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.

How production is organised

Household smallholdings, and primary processing done at village or family scale: leaf picked by the family that owns the trees, wilted, pan-fixed in a wok, rolled by hand or by small machine and sun-dried into maocha on the spot. Brands and private buyers purchase the maocha and press it elsewhere, so the value added downstream is much larger than the value added in the village. There are no estates in the plantation sense on the old-tree ground, and the smallest unit that means anything commercially is a named village rather than a garden. The area under the name is very small, which is the fact that governs everything else about buying here.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.

How the name is written

Also transliterated as xi gui, xigui. Romanisations of a district name vary by system and by vendor, and a packet spelling one way is not describing a different place.

Teas this region is known for

  • Xigui sheng pu-erh — Thick and mineral with real bitterness that resolves almost immediately into sweetness — the hui gan is faster here than almost anywhere.

Other growing regions in China

The neighbouring districts are the useful comparison: they share a country, a grading convention and often a cultivar, so what differs between them is closer to terroir than anything a cross-border comparison can isolate.

Sources

  • TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ

This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No external document stands behind the elevation band, the climate note or the character described above, which is why each carries its confidence in the open.

How TeaHQ handles sources

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this region against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.

  • Xigui vs Bingdao — Two Lincang villages that break the rule connecting pu-erh quality to altitude. Bingdao sits high at 1,400 to 2,000 metres; Xigui’s gardens run down almost to the Mekong at 700 to 1,200 metres, and it is nonetheless one of the most sought-after names in the prefecture.