Xīxiāng

Xixiang lies in the upper Han River country, among the hills and valleys south of the Qinling. Tea has long been cultivated in this moist region. Early Ming records counted tea gardens in Xixiang together with those of Hanzhong, Jinzhou and neighbouring counties, and the government collected a share of the crop. Tea from southern Shaanxi entered the regulated exchange for horses in the northwestern frontier markets, linking the work of local growers to demand in the Tibetan borderlands.