The national standards of Chinese Pu'er Tea is put into practice Monday.

Pu'er tea is a traditional tea with a regional character. Rules of the State Quality and Technical Supervising Bureau, declare that Pu'er tea must originate from any of 11 regions and cities, such as Yunnan pu'er City, Xishuang Banna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Kunming City.

Pu'Er tea has been celebrated since the Tang Dynasty for its health benefits and curative powers in certain diseases. It has gained international fame in recent years.

The standard insists that Pu'er tea must be made from a special variety of local tea plant. It can not be called Pu'er Tea if it is made from outside the designated area.

The national standard of Pu'er tea will protect and control the tea industry to maintain its high standards of quality.

(CRI December 2, 2008)