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Chinese tea may be classified into five categories according to the different methods by which it is processed.

1) Green tea: Dragon well tea is the variety which keeps the original colour of the tea leaves without fermentation during

processing. This category consists mainly of Longjing tea of Zhejiang Province, Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui

Province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu.

2) Black tea: Black tea, known as "red tea" (hong cha) in China, is the category which is fermented before baking; it is a

later variety developed on the basis of the green tea. The best brands of black tea are Qihong of Anhui , Dianhong of

Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanhong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.

3) Oolong tea: This represents a variety half way between the green and the black teas, being made after partial

fermentation. It is a specialty from the provinces on China's southeast coast: Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.

4) Compressed tea: This is the kind of tea which is compressed and hardened into a certain shape. It is good for transport

and storage and is mainly supplied to the ethnic minorities living in the border areas of the country. As compressed tea is

black in color in its commercial form, so it is also known in China as "black tea". Most of the compressed tea is in the

form of bricks; it is, therefore, generally called "brick tea", though it is sometimes also in the form of cakes and bowls.

It is mainly produced in Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

5) Scented tea: This kind of tie guan yin tea  i s made by mixing fragrant flowers in the tea leaves in the course of processing. The

flowers commonly used for this purpose are jasmine and magnolia among others. Jasmine tea is a well-known favorite with the

northerners of China and with a growing number of foreigners.