Pingshui (Shaoxing)

Pingshui Town in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang, is the original home of Gunpowder green tea (zhu cha 珠茶) — the rolled-pellet style whose Chinese name "pearl tea" gave it visual identity. Pingshui's gunpowder production dates to the Tang dynasty (618–907) and the tea became an Imperial Tribute under Emperor Kangxi (1661–1722). Exports peaked between 1843 and 1894; today Pingshui is still described as the "hometown of gunpowder", though production has spread to Fujian, Guangdong, Anhui, and Hunan.