Tianfang Selenium Tea (天方富硒)

Tianfang Selenium Tea draws its leaves from Shitai county, in the mountains of Chizhou, Anhui -- a district that has grown tea since at least the Ming and Qing dynasties and once shipped its green tea to Suzhou, Guangdong, Fujian and Hong Kong. Soil testing in the 1980s turned up an unusual local trait: the county's ground carries naturally elevated selenium levels across roughly 862 square kilometers, more than 70 percent of Shitai's total land area, a discovery that reshaped how the region markets its tea. In 2012, Shitai selenium tea received formal national geographic-indication protection, and it has since been added to China's national agricultural brand catalog and its list of recognized specialty agricultural products. The tea itself is grown at altitude on peaks like Xianyushan, inside the wider Huangshan nature reserve, and at the high-mountain Guniuzhang tea garden, where persistent cloud and mist cover slows leaf growth and concentrates flavor. Tianfang is one of the county's established producers working in this category, turning out selenium-rich green tea, red tea and tea-based foods under organic and selenium-content certification, sold as loose leaf and in gift tins for both the domestic market and export. The selenium content is the region's defining sales point -- a naturally occurring trace mineral tied specifically to this stretch of Anhui soil.