SANSHANGU, also known by its Chinese name 三山谷, is a Chinese agricultural-food brand best known for Camellia oleifera seed oil (山茶籽油 or 山茶油) sourced from Songtao Miao Autonomous County in Tongren, Guizhou Province. The brand is associated with Guizhou Songtao Funongxin Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co., Ltd. (贵州省松桃福农鑫农牧科技发展有限公司) and is positioned around ecological cultivation, cold-pressed camellia oil, organic agriculture, and the natural resources of the Fanjingshan region 1. Public sources describe SANSHANGU as one of the notable regional camellia-oil brands developed in Guizhou, with provincial forestry authorities listing it among 26 cultivated camellia-oil brands in the province 2.

The 2020 official Guizhou Good Grain and Oil product list identifies Guizhou Songtao Funongxin Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co., Ltd. as the producer and 三山谷 as the brand for 山茶籽油 (camellia seed oil) 1.

The development of SANSHANGU is closely linked to the growth of the camellia-oil industry in Songtao. Entrepreneur Chen Jianqun (陈建群) returned to her hometown and began developing the local oil-tea industry around 2010, working with partners to establish an agricultural operation based on camellia cultivation 3. The company associated with SANSHANGU was formally established in 2012 4.

The operation gradually developed a model combining planting, processing, and brand marketing. Reports from 2021 described more than 30,000 mu of camellia plantations—roughly 2,000 hectares—spread across several townships in Songtao. The company subsequently built a processing facility with an annual oil-processing capacity reported at more than 4,000 tonnes. This agricultural model is significant to the brand’s identity; rather than presenting SANSHANGU simply as a packaged cooking-oil label, the company has promoted a vertically integrated concept connecting oil-tea forests, harvesting, processing, branded oil, and consumer sales.

A central branding theme for SANSHANGU is its geographical association with Guizhou’s mountainous ecological environment, particularly the area around Fanjingshan (Mount Fanjing). A branding case study describes the product as originating from the Fanjingshan region and notes that the brand developed its own camellia plantation base in the area. The visual identity uses mountains, camellia fruit, and forest imagery, with three prominent mountain peaks representing the name “三山谷.”

The name 三山谷 literally evokes the imagery of “three mountains and a valley,” fitting the brand’s broader visual language where mountains, forests, green agriculture, and camellia trees communicate an association with nature. It is important to distinguish the brand name 三山谷 from the historical place-name “Sanshangu” sometimes encountered in English-language descriptions of Fanjingshan. While “Sanshangu” was an old name associated with Mount Fanjing, the commercial SANSHANGU brand is specifically the 三山谷 agricultural brand, not the mountain itself.

SANSHANGU’s core business is Camellia oleifera seed oil, commonly referred to as camellia oil, tea-seed oil, or tea oil. Its publicly documented product range has included:

• Organic Camellia Seed Oil
• Cold-pressed Camellia Seed Oil
• Pure Camellia Seed Oil
• Various bottle sizes for household consumption
• Specialized product lines, including products marketed toward mothers
• Related ecological/agricultural products and food-service applications

The brand’s packaging and marketing emphasize natural production, ecological cultivation, and physical pressing rather than solvent extraction. A 2024 academic industry survey lists 贵州省松桃福农鑫农牧科技发展有限公司 — 三山谷 among Guizhou’s camellia-oil processors and identifies its processing technology as cold pressing.

Camellia-based Agriculture

The fundamental raw material is Camellia oleifera, a woody oil crop traditionally cultivated in southern China. The seeds are harvested and processed to produce edible camellia oil.

Physical Pressing

The company has promoted physical cold pressing as a central part of its production story. Industry reporting has specifically described the company’s tea oil as produced through cold physical pressing 3.

Ecological Positioning

SANSHANGU emphasizes the ecological characteristics of the mountainous Guizhou growing region. Its brand identity uses green colors, mountain silhouettes, camellia fruit, and forest imagery to establish a connection between the product and its agricultural origin.

Organic Positioning

Public brand materials state that SANSHANGU products obtained organic certification, and news reports have described the company’s camellia oil as having obtained organic certification and a Forest Ecological Label 3. Because certifications can apply to particular products, production periods, or facilities, “organic” is best interpreted as a certification claim documented for the brand’s products rather than a universal attribute for all items sold.

SANSHANGU maintains a distinctive visual identity based on mountain ecology. The documented identity design incorporates three mountain peaks, camellia trees and fruit, deep green as a principal brand color, hand-drawn graphic elements, a visual reference to Fanjingshan, and a rustic aesthetic. According to the design agency responsible for the branding project, the three mountain forms in the logo were deliberately designed to echo the meaning of the brand name, while the surrounding valley represents the company’s camellia plantation area.

This gives SANSHANGU a positioning distinct from mass-market cooking-oil brands. The brand identity attempts to convey a sense of place—mountain forests, clean agriculture, and Guizhou’s natural environment—rather than merely selling an edible oil.

SANSHANGU has historically occupied the premium and regional specialty-food segment of China’s cooking-oil market. Camellia oil tends to command a higher price than common vegetable oils because production involves specialized cultivation, harvesting, and processing. Guizhou industry sources have described camellia oil as a high-value woody oil product and highlighted provincial efforts to develop higher-value branded products 3.

SANSHANGU’s strategy emphasizes origin, ecological agriculture, cold pressing, organic positioning, regional identity, and premium packaging. This represents a terroir-oriented agricultural brand strategy in which the geographic environment becomes part of the perceived value of the product.

One of SANSHANGU’s notable official recognitions is its inclusion in the 2020 “Guizhou Good Grain and Oil” (贵州好粮油) product list. The official list identifies:

Guizhou Songtao Funongxin Animal Husbandry Technology Development Co., Ltd. — 三山谷 — 山茶籽油

This places SANSHANGU among the province’s recognized grain-and-oil products rather than merely an independently marketed private label 1. A Guizhou agricultural-industry report likewise states that the company’s SANSHANGU camellia seed oil received the “Guizhou Good Grain and Oil” designation in 2020 3.

SANSHANGU has pursued both online and offline distribution channels. Reports from 2021 mention sales through Tmall, JD.com, and WeChat commerce, as well as physical retail channels. The brand’s products were distributed beyond Guizhou to markets including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Fujian 3.

A 2021 report stated that SANSHANGU’s camellia oil appeared in a Tmall sales ranking and was reported as ranking seventh among a large number of camellia-oil products at that time. This should be understood as a historical e-commerce performance claim rather than a current ranking 3.

Rural development is a significant component of the SANSHANGU corporate narrative. The company has utilized a model described as: company + cooperative + plantation base + farming households + contractual/benefit arrangements. Contemporary reporting indicates that its camellia operation involved thousands of local farming households. The model was intended to convert underutilized mountain land into productive oil-tea plantations while providing local employment, land-related income, and agricultural participation 3. This positions SANSHANGU as a regional agricultural brand tied to rural revitalization rather than a conventional food company that simply purchases and packages raw materials.

The company has explored extending the value chain beyond edible oil. Guizhou industry reporting described plans to develop products in areas including organic premium edible oils, beauty products, and personal-care/washing products using camellia oil as a core resource 3.

More recent reporting from 2025 indicates that the company’s camellia industry had developed into a broader chain encompassing cultivation, management, production, processing, and food service. A “三山谷餐饮” (SANSHANGU Restaurant/Food Service) brand was established in 2024, suggesting an evolution from a single-product oil brand toward a broader camellia-based lifestyle and agricultural brand.

In 2023, Guizhou market-regulation authorities reported that two batches of SANSHANGU camellia seed oil, with production dates in April and May 2023, exceeded the applicable limit for benzo[a]pyrene. The affected products were reported in 500 ml bottles and 1.6 L containers. China Quality News subsequently reported that the two batches were deemed non-compliant and that regulators required investigation and risk-control measures, including measures concerning the distribution of affected products.

This finding concerns specific batches from 2023 and forms part of the brand’s public regulatory record. It should not be automatically generalized to all SANSHANGU products or current production without evidence.

SANSHANGU is notable within Guizhou’s agricultural-brand landscape for combining several themes:

1. A local agricultural resource (Camellia oleifera)
2. A strong geographic identity (Songtao and the Fanjingshan ecological region)
3. An integrated agricultural model (plantations, processing, and branding)
4. Organic and ecological positioning as major market identity elements
5. Premium food positioning in the camellia-oil category
6. Rural-development objectives involving local farmers
7. Modern e-commerce distribution reaching consumers outside Guizhou

Guizhou forestry authorities have identified 三山谷 as one of the province’s cultivated camellia-oil brands, and industry publications continue to list it among the province’s camellia-oil processors 2.

The Chinese brand name is 三山谷. For international purposes, SANSHANGU is the primary romanized form. “San Shan Gu” can be interpreted literally as “Three Mountains Valley,” though this is an explanation of the Chinese name rather than an established English translation.

While “Sanshangu” appears in historical descriptions of Mount Fanjing, the commercial SANSHANGU brand should be identified specifically as the 三山谷 camellia-oil and agricultural brand operated by the Songtao company, rather than conflated with the mountain itself.

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