Puerh History - Pu-erh.Net

„Mushroom shaped tea appeared in 1912. It was invented at that time in order to prevent the tea from going mouldy during the transportation. It was produced in Xia-Guan and Fo-Hai (two cities in south China) with the trademark "Bao-Yan". The production was then stopped in 1966. In 1986, the production was resumed due to the request of Buddhists in Tibet.“

„In 1940, the Chinese State owned company CNNP started to manufacture Pu Erh Tea with a trademark "Zhong-Cha" at the Fo-Hai Tea Factory (now called "Meng-Hai Tea Factory"). Later, Yun-Nan Tea Company and Guang-Dong Tea Company also produced the same brand and started to export abroad. There were varieties such as red-label, green-label, yellow-label, small-letter and big-letter etc.“