Modern China Tea Shop

Sexy Tea, known in China as 茶颜悦色, is a new-style tea beverage brand associated with Changsha, Hunan. Established in 2013, it developed a differentiated position in China's highly competitive tea-drink market by combining milk tea and other tea-based beverages with a strongly recognizable Chinese-inspired brand identity. Its store graphics, packaging, naming conventions, and product presentation draw on traditional Chinese aesthetic references while being adapted for contemporary retail and social-media consumption. The brand's product range centers on freshly prepared tea drinks, particularly milk tea, fruit tea, and brewed or lightly processed tea beverages. Its best-known offerings include Youlan Latte and Shengsheng Oolong, although menus and product availability may vary by store, city, and period. The brand's proposition emphasizes tea flavor, dairy or milk-based textures, fresh preparation, and a more premium experience than basic powdered or heavily syrup-based drinks. Sexy Tea became especially associated with Changsha, where its concentration of stores and local popularity helped make it an internet-famous beverage brand. This geographic concentration was part of its identity as well as a commercial feature: consumers visiting Changsha often treated the brand as a local food-and-beverage destination, while online discussion amplified awareness beyond its original market. The company subsequently began extending its presence to other Chinese cities, though its operating footprint has remained primarily domestic rather than global. The brand competes in China's new-style tea sector, alongside specialist milk-tea, fruit-tea, and freshly brewed beverage chains. Its differentiation rests less on a single technical product innovation than on the integration of product formulation, Chinese cultural styling, store experience, packaging, and a limited but highly recognizable menu. This approach has helped it occupy a mid-to-high-end position within mass-premium tea drinks. Available reference material identifies Lü Liang as the founder and places the brand's establishment in 2013. Publicly available information supplied for this entry does not establish a complete corporate ownership structure, audited financial record, official website, stock-market listing, or comprehensive executive history. Sexy Tea is therefore recorded here as a private, active brand headquartered in Changsha, China. Further verification would be required for a definitive corporate chronology, current store count, detailed geographic footprint, and current leadership roster.

Sexy Tea was established in 2013 in Changsha, a major commercial and cultural center in Hunan province. It entered the rapidly expanding Chinese new-style tea market, where consumers increasingly sought freshly prepared beverages, more varied tea bases, and branded retail experiences rather than traditional low-cost tea stalls alone. From its early development, the brand built its identity around the combination of Chinese tea-drink formats and a visually distinctive Chinese-inspired design language. Rather than presenting itself solely as a functional refreshment provider, Sexy Tea used naming, illustrations, packaging, and store presentation to create a cohesive cultural image. This visual system supported word-of-mouth and online sharing, helping the brand become closely linked with Changsha's local food-and-beverage culture. Its core commercial offer has centered on milk tea and related tea beverages, including fruit-based drinks and brewed tea products. Youlan Latte and Shengsheng Oolong are among the offerings associated with the brand in the supplied reference material. The product portfolio reflects the broader evolution of the Chinese tea-drink sector, in which traditional tea varieties are reformulated into convenient, freshly made beverages suited to takeaway consumption. Sexy Tea's strongest public identity developed in Changsha and surrounding areas. A substantial local presence gave the brand visibility among residents and visitors, while online attention made it one of the better-known internet-facing tea brands from the city. The Changsha association also functioned as part of the brand story: the retail experience and product packaging were treated as cultural and lifestyle signals as well as elements of a beverage purchase. The company later pursued expansion beyond its original market into additional Chinese cities. This represented a shift from a strongly local chain identity toward a broader domestic retail model. The supplied material does not provide a verified chronology of individual openings, store totals, franchise arrangements, investment rounds, or corporate reorganizations, so those details are not included as established facts here. Sexy Tea remains categorized as a private and active Chinese beverage brand. Its reported headquarters are in Changsha, and its operating markets are primarily in China. No reliable official website, public-company ticker, audited financial information, or complete current executive list was supplied. The brand's documented significance lies chiefly in its role within China's new-style tea-drink movement and in its use of Chinese-inspired design to distinguish a contemporary beverage chain. Cha Yan Yue Se (茶颜悦色) is the same brand, also referred to by the English transliteration Cha Yan Yue Se. The brand is also known by the name 茶颜悦色 and the alias Cha Yan Yue Se. Its website has been listed as https://www.chayanyuese.com. Cha Yan Yue Se is a brand.

• 2013

  Brand established in Changsha

  Sexy Tea was established in Changsha, China, entering the developing new-style tea beverage market.

Mid-to-high-end new-style tea beverages combining fresh preparation with a contemporary interpretation of Chinese cultural aesthetics.

• Milk tea

  Fresh milk tea

  Freshly prepared milk-tea beverages form the core of the brand's menu. They combine tea bases with milk or dairy-style ingredients and are presented as a more crafted alternative to standard sweetened drinks. The range is associated with the brand's mid-to-high-end positioning and its emphasis on tea flavor, visual presentation, and takeaway consumption.

• Signature milk tea

  Youlan Latte

  Youlan Latte is one of Sexy Tea's signature milk-tea offerings. It represents the brand's approach of giving familiar tea beverages distinctive names and a recognizable identity within the menu. Detailed formulation, launch date, and current availability are not established in the supplied material.

• Oolong tea beverage

  Shengsheng Oolong

  Shengsheng Oolong is an oolong-based offering associated with the brand. It illustrates Sexy Tea's use of recognizable Chinese tea categories in contemporary freshly prepared drinks. The available material does not establish a verified launch date or a complete description of its ingredients and preparation.

• Fruit tea

  Fruit tea

  Fruit tea is part of the broader product category attributed to Sexy Tea. These drinks extend the brand beyond milk-based beverages by pairing tea with fruit flavors or fruit ingredients. Specific recipes, seasonal rotations, and market-by-market availability are not documented in the supplied reference material.

• Tea beverage

  Pure tea

  Pure or brewed tea beverages provide a less milk-focused part of the brand's product range. They support the brand's emphasis on tea as a primary flavor and connect its contemporary retail format with established Chinese tea-drinking categories. Specific varieties and preparation standards are not verified here.

• 2021

  Mug ad copy accused of offending women; brand recalls mugs and apologizes twice

  In February 2021, Sexy Tea's Changsha dialect-themed mugs and early advertising copy were criticized by netizens for offending women. The brand apologized twice on February 19 and 20, saying that its creative standards were inappropriate and its expression of gender relations improper, and announced a recall of the relevant mugs. This entry concerns a controversy over advertising expression and social media reputation.

  Source

• 2021

  Mishandled communication between management and employees in pay dispute prompts public apology

  In December 2021, Sexy Tea employees expressed dissatisfaction over reduced pay and work arrangements, and management's responses in an internal group chat sparked public controversy. The company issued an apology statement, admitting that it had lost composure and failed in its duties during communication, and said it would reflect and improve. This entry concerns a labor communication and management controversy, and does not treat all salary and resignation figures circulating online as verified facts.

  Source

• 2021

  Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition case

  In a 2021 unfair-competition ruling, a court found that Guangzhou Luoqi and Guangzhou Kaijun Shengpin used decoration and other elements identical or similar to those of the tea brand Tea Yan Yue Se in their advertising and promotion. The court determined that this conduct constituted unfair competition. It ordered the two companies to stop the conduct and to jointly pay compensation for economic losses and reasonable rights-protection costs totaling 1.5 million yuan.

  Source

• 2021

  Cha Yan Yue Se responds to employee pay dispute

  After a dispute over November employee pay and management comments, Cha Yan Yue Se said its founder issued an apology to employees and would remain in communication with those involved. The company said temporary store closures had reduced some employees’ working hours and said it had reopened nearly 50 stores in Changsha that had temporarily closed in November.

  Source

• 2021

  Chayan Yue Se recalls Changsha-dialect mugs

  Chayan Yue Se apologized for inappropriate wording on a batch of Changsha-dialect themed mugs and said it would immediately recall the batch.

  Source

Read more

• 2022.01.05

  Reported2022.01.05

  Cha Yan Yue Se announces price increases for most milk tea products[14]茶颜悦色宣布大部分奶茶产品涨价finance.sina.com.cn

  Cha Yan Yue Se announced that prices for most of its milk tea products would increase by 1 to 2 yuan starting January 7, 2022. The brand said rising raw-material and other costs were the reason.

• 2021.12.20

  Reported2021.12.19

  Cha Yan Yue Se responds to employee pay dispute[12]Cha Yan Yue Se responds to employee pay disputefinance.sina.com.cn

  After a dispute over November employee pay and management comments, Cha Yan Yue Se said its founder issued an apology to employees and would remain in communication with those involved. The company said temporary store closures had reduced some employees’ working hours and said it had reopened nearly 50 stores in Changsha that had temporarily closed in November.

• 2021.11.13

  Reported2021.11.13

  Chayan Yuese announces plans to expand stores beyond Changsha[15]茶颜悦色宣布计划走出长沙拓展门店food.cnr.cn

  Chayan Yuese said it would adjust its strategy and seek to open stores in Liuyang, Zhuzhou, Yueyang and Wuhan as a response to business challenges.

• Unconfirmed

  Reported2021.11.10

  Chayan Yuese temporarily closes dozens of Changsha stores[16]茶颜悦色临时关闭长沙数十家门店hunan.voc.com.cn

  Chayan Yuese said that 70 to 80 of its stores in Changsha had temporarily closed amid reduced foot traffic during the pandemic, and that the stores would gradually reopen as conditions improved.

• 2021.04.26

  Reported2021.04.26

  Court rules in Chayan Yuese unfair-competition case[11]Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition casefinance.sina.com.cn

  A court of first instance ruled in the case brought by Chayan Yuese against Chayan Guanse for unfair competition. It ordered the defendants to stop specified advertising and franchise-promotion conduct nationwide and to pay Chayan Yuese a total of RMB 1.7 million in economic losses and reasonable rights-protection costs.

• Unconfirmed

  Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition case[10]Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition casechinaz.com

  A court found that Guangzhou Luoqi and Guangzhou Kaijun Shengpin engaged in unfair competition through advertising and promotion using decoration and other elements identical or similar to Tea Yan Yue Se's, and ordered them to stop the conduct and jointly pay compensation and reasonable rights-protection costs of 1.5 million yuan.

• 2021.02.20

  Reported2021.02.20

  Chayan Yue Se recalls Changsha-dialect mugs[13]Chayan Yue Se recalls Changsha-dialect mugsfinance.sina.com.cn

  Chayan Yue Se apologized for inappropriate wording on a batch of Changsha-dialect themed mugs and said it would immediately recall the batch.

Read more

1. 1茶颜悦色 official websiteteasoriginal.com
2. 2Cha Yan Yue Se websitechayanyuese.com
3. 3Sexytea — Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Modern China Tea Shop — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
5. 5茶颜悦色 — 维基百科zh.wikipedia.org
6. 6Mug ad copy accused of offending women; brand recalls mugs and apologizes twicethepaper.cn
7. 7Mishandled communication between management and employees in pay dispute prompts public apologyjiemian.com
8. 8Mishandled communication between management and employees in pay dispute prompts public apologyjiemian.com
9. 9Mishandled communication between management and employees in pay dispute prompts public apologythepaper.cn
10. 10Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition casechinaz.com
11. 11Court rules in Tea Yan Yue Se's unfair-competition casefinance.sina.com.cn
12. 12Cha Yan Yue Se responds to employee pay disputefinance.sina.com.cn
13. 13Chayan Yue Se recalls Changsha-dialect mugsfinance.sina.com.cn
14. 14茶颜悦色宣布大部分奶茶产品涨价finance.sina.com.cn
15. 15茶颜悦色宣布计划走出长沙拓展门店food.cnr.cn
16. 16茶颜悦色临时关闭长沙数十家门店hunan.voc.com.cn
17. 17茶颜悦色涨价，喜茶降价，新式茶饮打响价格战？finance.sina.com.cn
18. 18喜茶降价，茶颜悦色涨价，新茶饮价格涨涨跌跌为哪般tech.ifeng.com
19. 19喜茶降价、茶颜悦色涨价，奶茶行业“大逃杀”还在继续-钛媒体官方网站tmtpost.com