CIGARETTE BRANDS FROM CHINA

In the first part of this series, I introduced a cigarette brand named after the Chinese national flower: Mudan / Peony.

This time let’s see another cigarette brand with typical regional characteristics:

Huang Guo Shu – Long March.

Huang Guo Shu is the name of the largest waterfall, a tourist center of modern China, and an ancient Buddhist shrine.

This brand is produced by the Guizhou Industrial cigarette factory and has about one and a half dozen different varieties.

The price tag of the entire brand ranges from 3 to 14 yuan, but our pack (Long March) now costs about RMB 10.

Packaging

The pack contains twenty king-size cigarettes with a regular acetate filter.

Although it is a budget-segment cigarette, you can’t tell from the appearance of the outer packaging themselves that these are cheap cigarettes.

In other words, its pack design is not bad, in my opinion.

The overall packaging is red, and at first glance, it looks a bit like the outer packaging of Chunghwa cigarettes.

The front pattern is the address of the Zunyi Conference, and the back is the Huangguoshu Waterfall, a classic pattern often used in Huangguoshu cigarettes.

Non-Tobacco Parts

The cigarette is 25mm long, assembled by repse white cigarette paper and yellow tipping paper.

The cigarette brand is printed on the filter tip, both in Chinese (red) and English (golden). By the way, the font of the Chinese Long March on the cigarette originates from Mao Zedong’s handwriting.

Tobacco Part

The tobacco leaf in the cigarette is not so diverse, with dark tones.

The base of the blend consists of particles of brown-yellow and red-yellow fractions, less than a quarter is yellow, and brown is like a spice in a very small amount.

The cut is not particularly neat and consists of a mass of variously sized flakes and ribbon fragments.

There are also some vein cuts here, but in very sparing quantities, and even a bit of tobacco dust.

The tar characteristics of the cigarettes are quite decent: tar 10 mg, nicotine 0.9 mg, CO 12 mg.

The flavor of the smoke may not be particularly remarkable, but it’s not difficult to become accustomed to, and it is quite acceptable according to modern standards.

The core of its flavor profile features hints of hay, wheat bread, and a subtly bitter note of oak bark, which gradually intensifies throughout the entire smoking experience.

This smoke stands apart from American blends and English Virginia blends, presenting a bouquet that is unique to Chinese cigarettes, and often associated with budget-friendly brands.

However, these cigarettes possess a genuine strength – the smoke assertively impacts the throat upon inhalation, making it entirely possible to find satisfaction in just one cigarette.

What’s the result?

Well, there were certainly some drawbacks, though they were relatively minor.

It appears that the cigarette filter is too soft; it tends to lose its shape rapidly when saturated with moisture and tar.

Additionally, the cigarettes burn quite quickly, resulting in rather hot smoke towards the end.

However, all things considered, I found these cigarettes more enjoyable than not. They offer a genuine strength, an acceptable albeit straightforward flavor profile, and are overall quite satisfying.

It’s worth giving Huang Guo Shu a try.

In the end, as usual, let‘s make a grade: