TeaHQ

Yueyang (Beigang)

A small lakeside tea area in Yueyang on the north-eastern shore of Dongting Lake, taking its name from the Beigang — a river a little over two kilometres long that rises at Meixi and is called the north harbour because it lies north of the Nangang. Gardens sit at Beigang itself and in Kangwang township of Yueyang county, on flat ground interlaced with water beside the lake the Tang called Yonghu and modern maps call Yangjia. The agronomically interesting feature is the mist: on early spring mornings vapour lifts off the lake and drifts across the gardens on the north bank, which is the local explanation for a yellow tea made here rather than a green one. The soil is fertile and suitably acid, and the ground is flat — unusual for a Chinese famous-tea district.

岳陽北港China30–150 metresAlso called KangwangAlso called YonghuAlso called Yangjia Lake

History on this page: TeaHQ synthesis

TeaHQ's own reading of well-attested general knowledge, with no single source behind it.

This district’s description dates something — a founding, a first planting, a period of expansion. The label above says on what basis, and it applies to the historical statements rather than to the elevation, climate or soil claims below, which carry their own confidence separately.

Elevation

Recorded at 30–150 metres.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it. Lakeside flat ground rather than hill planting. Read from the Dongting basin; no source consulted states a figure.

Climate

Mild with plentiful rain, and characterised by early-spring lake mist that rises off the water and settles over the gardens on the north bank.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it. Described on the Hunan provincial portal. Carried as a description of conditions and not as a cause of the tea's character.

How the name is written

Also transliterated as yueyang beigang, beigang, pei kang. 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

  • Beigang Mao Jian — Softer and rounder than a green tea from the same leaf, with the grassiness replaced by a mellow grain sweetness — which is exactly what the yellowing step does.

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

How TeaHQ handles sources