Zhang Yiyuan 张一元
Zhang Yiyuan is a tea house founded in Beijing in 1900 by Zhang Changyi, known for jasmine-scented tea. The name comes from a phrase meaning "the year begins anew, all things are renewed." Its jasmine tea scenting technique was inscribed on China's national intangible cultural heritage list in 2007.
Archive record
China Time-honored Brand Digital Museum, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)
- Founded
- 1900
- Origin
- Beijing Beijing, China
- Category
- 茶叶
- Status
- Beijing Time-honored Brand
- Designated
- 2014-05-13 Ministry of Commerce
The Archive
The House
Zhang Yiyuan was founded by Zhang Changyi, a native of Dingtan village in She county, Anhui, who had trained at a tea house outside Chongwenmen before setting up a stall at the Flower Market. In 1900 he opened his first shop there under a different name; in 1908 he opened a second shop near Qianmen under the name Zhang Yiyuan, and a third in
- The archive records that the name combines two words for "first," carrying the
sense of a fresh start and of aiming to be first among the trade.
In 1925 the Zhang family opened a tea plantation in Fujian, hiring local workers to buy freshly picked leaf in season and to scent and blend on site to suit the taste of Beijing and the north. This produced a small-leaf scented tea the archive describes as clear, strong, and lasting in the mouth. Sourcing directly also made the tea cheaper than buying from wholesalers, and the archive records that the shop regularly sent staff to check prices at other Beijing tea houses and buy their tea for comparison. The shop took telephone and mail orders, and delivered free above a certain weight. The archive notes it was the first shop in Beijing to draw customers with recorded music and opera played over a loudspeaker.
In the winter of 1947 a fire destroyed most of the Qianmen shop; the neighbouring Tongrentang pharmacy was spared by a fire wall. The shop reopened in 1952, the same year the two remaining shops were merged under the single name. In 1956 the business entered joint public-private operation and the older shop name was dropped, leaving Zhang Yiyuan as the name still in use.
The archive records that in the planned-economy period the house lost its own product. In 1992 Wang Xiulan joined the company and, studying under a descendant of the Zhang family, recovered the house's traditional jasmine tea methods, and has since trained successive groups in the technique.
What They Make
Jasmine tea: a baked green tea base from the company's Fujian plantations is scented repeatedly with jasmine flowers, using a process the archive describes as running through more than ten steps handed down over a century. The result is described as clear in the cup, strong, and lasting in the mouth.
The archive states the company produces over 400 kinds of tea across red, green, oolong, white, and dark categories.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1900 | Zhang Changyi opens his first tea shop at the Beijing Flower Market |
| 1908 | Second shop opened near Qianmen under the name Zhang Yiyuan |
| 1910 | Third shop opened, also under Zhang Yiyuan |
| 1925 | Zhang family opens a tea plantation in Fujian |
| 1947 | Fire destroys most of the Qianmen shop; reopened 1952 |
| 1956 | Business enters joint public-private operation |
| 1992 | Wang Xiulan joins and recovers the traditional jasmine tea methods |
| 2007 | Jasmine tea scenting technique inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list |
Passing It On
The archive records one line of transmission in the modern period rather than a generational family succession: Wang Xiulan, who joined the company in 1992, studied under Zhang Shixian, a descendant of the founding Zhang family, to recover the house's jasmine tea methods, and has trained staff in the technique in regular sessions.
Source: China Time-honored Brand Digital Museum, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), Beijing. Translated and condensed from the official Chinese archive; no information has been added. Statements of scale and standing are reproduced as recorded by the source.
Sources
Historical facts on this page are compiled from China Time-honored Brand Digital Museum, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Designation recorded 2014-05-13. This page is editorial content; it is not a product listing and nothing here is an offer for sale.
Independence. Time-Honored Goods is an independent multi-brand store. We are not the official site of Zhang Yiyuan, and we do not speak for the house. See Independence & Sourcing.