In China, black tea comes from a few main provinces: Fujian, Guangdong, Anhui and Yunnan. There are also a few well known varieties hailing from Taiwan. Within each province, teas from different areas have their own terroir, gaining unique flavor characteristics from the soil and climate of their growing region.

Despite their regional and botanical differences, most black teas are produced in much the same way. After being picked, they are air-dried. While the leaves are still somewhat moist, they are then, at least in the case of high quality teas, sorted and hand-rolled, resulting in the compact, long shape characteristic of good loose teas. After this process, they are left to oxidize, and then dried and sorted.

Some varieties go through extra processing such as smoking, which lends stronger and more unique flavors.