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.jpg) An old Chinese pack of Hongtashan cigarettes, with a Chinese text warning at the bottom of the pack. | |
| Product type | Cigarette |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Hongta Group |
| Country | China |
| Introduced | 1959; 67 years ago (1959) |
| Markets | China,Hong Kong[1][2][3] |
| Carcinogenicity:IARC group 1 | |
Hongtashan (simplified Chinese:红塔山;traditional Chinese:紅塔山;pinyin:Hóngtǎshān) is a Chinese brand ofcigarettes. It is owned and manufactured byHongta Group, and was formerly known asYuxi Cigarette Factory. The brand was founded as a gift contributing to the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communists winning theChinese Civil War and the proclamation of thePeople's Republic of China.[4]
Hongtashan was launched in 1959 and gets its name from the location of its main production facility, Hongtashan Hill ('RedPagoda Hill') inYuxi.[4] The cigarettes are made with a flue-curedtobacco type and therefore sugar andnicotine levels are relatively high.[5]Hongtashan cigarettes are mainly sold in China, though the export business is still a major operation, under the control of Indonesian businessmanTed Sioeng. In the United States, the brand is sold as 'Red Pagoda Mountain'.[6][7]
In 2001, Hongtashan was awarded "China's Most Valuable Brand" for 7 consecutive years by thePeople's Daily,[8] beating household appliances brandHaier.
In 2004,Hong Kong-based distributor Silver Base Sales Manager Alex Chung (left) and Marco Tse, reported that they wanted to export the Hongtashan Premium variant to European and U.S. based Duty Free airport shops after the ease of visa restrictions for Chinese abroad. Retailers fromHeathrow Airport,Charles de Gaulle Airport,San Francisco International Airport andAmsterdam Airport Schiphol expressed interest in the product during the TFWA World Exhibition 2004, and were firming up the details with Silver Base. Southeast Asian airports began selling the cigarettes from April 2004. Of these locations,Singapore Changi Airport sold the highest volume.[9]
In 2015, Hongtashan won the title of "Yunnan Famous Brand Product" and ranked among the top 500 Chinese brands.