FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Sourcing, specification, logistics and compliance — answered directly.
Ordering & Samples
- Are samples free?
- Yes — samples are free of charge and shipped freight collect, which is the standard arrangement in the tea trade. You provide your courier account number, we send representative lots from current production with the matching certificate of analysis.
- What is your minimum order quantity?
- It depends on the grade: 5 kg for micro-lots, 10 kg for pre-Qingming green, 25 kg for Imperial Grade black, 300 kg for Commercial Grade and teabag cut. Custom packing minimums are 10,000–20,000 units depending on format.
- How quickly do you reply to an enquiry?
- Within one business day, Monday to Saturday, GMT+8. If a quote needs a specification we do not yet hold, we will say so and give you a date rather than going quiet.
- What payment terms do you accept?
- T/T with 30% deposit and balance against copy of bill of lading is standard. Irrevocable L/C at sight is accepted for orders above USD 30,000. For repeat customers we discuss open terms after three completed shipments.
- Who will I actually contract with?
- Your contract, proforma invoice and shipping documents are issued by Shanghai Linkexist International Trade Co., Ltd., which holds the export licence. The tea itself is produced by Jishou Jinhong Tea Professional Cooperative in Xiangxi — the entity named throughout this site and on the assessment certificates. This split is ordinary in Chinese agricultural export: a production cooperative rarely holds import-export rights, so a trading company handles the export leg. We say so here rather than letting it surprise you at the invoice stage, and it is the name to record as the foreign supplier in a US FSVP file.
- Can I visit the gardens and the factory?
- Yes, and we would prefer you did. Jishou is reachable via Zhangjiajie or Jishou. Give us two weeks' notice so we can schedule around the picking season.
- Do you attend trade shows?
- Contact us for our current schedule. We will arrange a meeting and bring samples to your specification rather than only what is on the stand.
Product & Quality
- What is the difference between your Imperial and Premium grades?
- Imperial Grade is plucked to one bud and one leaf; Premium Grade is one bud and two leaves. Imperial has more golden tips and a finer, sweeter cup; Premium has more body, a more overtly floral-fruity aroma, and takes milk without disappearing.
- Is the 7.8% amino acid figure specific to my shipment?
- No — 7.8% is the published figure for the geographical-indication cultivar. The value for your specific lot is stated on that lot's certificate of analysis, which ships with the goods.
- How consistent is the tea between orders?
- Within a season, we match against retained reference samples before release. Across seasons a single-origin tea does move, and we tell you when it has — a supplier who claims a garden tea never changes is telling you it is not a garden tea.
- What is the shelf life?
- 24 months from production for black tea, 18 months for green tea, both in sealed original packaging. Green tea benefits materially from cold storage; black tea does not require it.
- Do you supply organic-certified tea?
- Not currently. We are working toward EU Organic and USDA NOP certification, and will state it here when it is in hand rather than before. Our lots are tested against the EU multi-residue panel in the meantime.
- Can you match a specification I already buy?
- Send us the specification and a sample if you have one. We will tell you honestly whether we can match it from this origin — sometimes the answer is no, and knowing that early is worth more than a hopeful yes.
- Is this tea suitable for cold brew?
- Yes. The low astringency that comes with high amino acid content is well suited to long cold extraction, and Imperial and Premium grades both hold up over a 12-hour cold steep without turning harsh.
- What does "post-Qingming" mean for black tea?
- Qingming is a solar term falling around 5 April. Leaf picked before it goes to green tea; leaf picked after goes to black tea. Post-Qingming (明后) black tea is therefore the first black tea of the year, made from mid-April onward.
Custom Packing & Private Label
- Can you put my brand on the packaging?
- Yes, across every format. You supply artwork, we handle printing, filling, sealing and cartoning. We do not put our own name on your pack unless you ask us to.
- What is the lead time for a first private-label run?
- 30–45 days from artwork approval for tea packing, 45–60 days for personal care because stability testing sits in the critical path. In practice artwork approval is what delays projects, not production.
- Do you offer compostable teabag material?
- Yes — PLA (plant-based) pyramid mesh as an alternative to nylon. It costs more per bag and is increasingly what European retail buyers require.
- Can you produce hotel room sachets with our property branding?
- Yes. 2 g tagged bags in individually sealed printed foil envelopes, up to six colours, from 20,000 sachets. The foil envelope is what stops the tea picking up room odour on a warm tray.
- Who is responsible for label compliance in my market?
- You are, as importer and brand owner — but we configure the label content to your destination market's requirements rather than translating ours, and we will flag anything we think will not clear.
- Is the instant tea powder made in your own factory?
- No. Our instant powders are contract-manufactured at a partner extraction facility under our raw-material specification and quality control. We supply the Baojing-origin leaf, set the specification and release each batch against it; extraction, concentration and spray-drying happen at our partner's plant. If you want to audit that line, we will arrange access.
- Do you sell personal care under your own brand?
- No — the personal care line is contract manufacturing only. You act as brand owner and hold the cosmetic registration for your market (EU CPNP notification and Responsible Person, or US MoCRA facility and product listing). We manufacture to your specification and do not act as your Responsible Person.
Shipping & Logistics
- What are your standard export packing formats?
- 25 kg foil-lined corrugated cartons are the bulk standard, palletised 20 per pallet and stretch-wrapped. 10 kg and 20 kg variants are available, and nitrogen flushing on request for long transit.
- How much tea fits in a container?
- It depends on packing format and density rather than weight — tea cubes out long before it weighs out. Our container loading calculator gives figures for 20 ft and 40 ft by format.
- Which ports do you ship from?
- Primarily Shenzhen and Shanghai for sea freight. Rail freight to Europe and Central Asia via the Chongqing and Xi'an hubs is available and is often faster than sea for Russian and Kazakh destinations.
- What Incoterms do you quote?
- FOB by default. CIF, CFR and DAP are available on request; for smaller orders DAP by air courier is often more economical than it looks once you price the port charges at destination.
- How long does production take?
- In-stock grades ship within 7–10 days. Made-to-order lots take 20–30 days. Custom-printed packing adds 25–50 days depending on format, counted from artwork approval.
Compliance & Documentation
- Does your tea meet EU pesticide residue limits?
- Our lots are tested against the EU multi-residue panel under Regulation (EC) 396/2005 before shipment, and the report is available on request. This is the single most common reason Chinese tea is detained at an EU port, so we treat the test as part of the product rather than as an extra cost.
- What documents ship with an order?
- Certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, certificate of analysis, packing list and commercial invoice as standard. Destination-specific documents are prepared on request.
- Are you registered with the US FDA?
- Contact us for our current registration status and number. US importers also need to operate a Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) for us as a supplier, and we will provide the documentation that requires.
- Do you hold HACCP or ISO 22000 certification?
- Contact us for our current certification status. We will state certifications on this page only once they are in hand — a certification logo that turns out to be aspirational is worse than none.
- What HS codes apply?
- 0902.30 for black tea in packings not exceeding 3 kg and 0902.40 for larger packings; 0902.10 and 0902.20 for green tea respectively; 2101.20 for instant tea powder and extracts. Confirm the exact subheading with your own customs broker.
Origin & Authenticity
- What is Xiangxi Golden Tea?
- Xiangxi Golden Tea (湘西黄金茶) is a geographical-indication tea from Jishou in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province, China. It is protected as a Chinese geographical-indication certification mark, registration No. 15887938 and holds China's national agricultural GI registration 15887938.
- Where does the name "an ounce of gold for an ounce of tea" come from?
- It comes from an episode recorded in the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty for the eighteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1539), when the censor Lu Jie passed through Jishou while inspecting border defences. The phrase 一两黄金一两茶 has been attached to the tea locally ever since.
- Is "Golden Tea" a colour description?
- No — it refers to the value implied by that saying, not to the colour of the leaf or the liquor. The green tea from this cultivar is bright green and the black tea is dark with golden tips.
- How do I verify the geographical indication?
- Check the Chinese trademark register for geographical-indication certification mark No. 15887938, registered for “Xiangxi Golden Tea”. It is a public register, which is the point of a GI — you do not have to take our word for it. Note that this is a Chinese registration, not an EU one; we do not claim EU protection for this name.
- Do you grow the tea yourselves?
- We contract the full annual output of the gardens we buy from rather than owning them outright. In practice this gives us the same control over picking standard and timing as ownership, plus the ability to commit volume before a season starts.
- How large is the production area?
- The Xiangxi Golden Tea production base covered 150,000 mu (approximately 10,000 hectares) in 2022, producing 1,358.5 tonnes of finished tea. Our own contracted area is a portion of that; contact us for the current figure.