Shaanxi Fu Cha (Jing Wei)
Shaanxi fu cha is fu brick tea made in Jingyang, Shaanxi, the historical birthplace of the golden-flower brick, now revived under labels such as Jing Wei fu cha. Like its Hunan cousin it is defined by the cultivated golden flowers (jin hua, Eurotium cristatum) that bloom through the brick, and the density and evenness of that bloom is what matters most. For centuries Jingyang was where Hunan raw tea was sent to be flowered, because the local conditions were held to suit the fungus.
Judge it as you would any fu brick, on the golden flowers first: dense, even, bright-yellow Eurotium cristatum throughout the brick, never black or fuzzy mold. The aroma should be of grain, dried fungus, and gentle sweetness; the liquor clear amber and smooth. Jingyang's revived producers often press fairly tidy bricks, so look for a clean, complete fermentation and a rounded cup. Sparse or greenish flowering and a flat, musty taste indicate a poorly flowered or badly stored brick.
Jingyang County in Shaanxi, near Xi'an, is the cradle of fu brick; for centuries it processed Hunan raw tea into flowered bricks for the northwestern border trade, then production lapsed in the 20th century and was revived in recent decades. Local water and climate were long held to favor the golden-flower fermentation, which is why the leaf traveled north to be finished rather than being flowered at source. The Jing Wei name references the Jing and Wei rivers of the region.
Gongfu: 6-8 g per 100 ml, 95-100°C, one rinse, then 10-20 second steeps extending gradually, good for many infusions. Western: 4-5 g per 250 ml, 95-100°C, 3-4 minutes. Break the brick along its layers. It takes well to boiling and to milk in the border style.
€5-30 (about $5-32) per 100 g, with everyday bricks cheap and well-flowered or branded revival bricks at the upper end.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Fu Zhuan
Hunan fu zhuan and Shaanxi fu cha are the same golden-flower brick made in two places; Shaanxi is the historical birthplace, Hunan the modern volume producer.
Hei Zhuan (Black Brick)
Hei zhuan is an un-flowered Hunan black brick; shaanxi fu cha is all about the cultivated golden flowers hei zhuan lacks.
Anhua Dark Tea
The raw leaf for classic Jingyang fu brick came from Anhua in Hunan; Shaanxi historically finished and flowered what Anhua grew.
Liu Bao
Liu Bao ages in baskets in Guangxi without any cultivated flowering step, a different route to a smooth dark cup.
For most of its history Jingyang made fu brick from tea grown hundreds of kilometers away in Hunan, because the town's climate and water were believed essential to coax out the golden flowers; locals long insisted the brick could only be flowered properly in Jingyang.