Āndǐng yúnwù (安顶云雾) is a green tea from Anding Mountain (安顶山) in Lishan Town (里山镇), Fuyang District (富阳区) of the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The mountain stands on the south bank of the Fuchunjiang River, and, according to a district report, clouds and mist linger on it for more than two hundred days a year — hence yúnwù, “clouds and mist”, in the name. The provincial press calls the tea a tribute tea of Ming and Qing times, the district calls it one of the ten famous teas of Hangzhou, and the city of Hangzhou has entered the tea’s pan-firing technique on the list of intangible heritage. Since 2016 the name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). I have not seen a document of the mark stating the class. The class is evident from the technology and the awards: the traditional technology has three fixations (杀青, shāqīng), machine pan-firing is done on a line for flat tea, and the tea received its awards at Zhejiang green tea exhibitions. A popular reference calls it green outright.
- Category: Historical mountain green tea from the environs of Hangzhou; geographical indication certification mark (2016).
- Origin: China, Zhejiang Province (浙江, Zhèjiāng), the city of Hangzhou (杭州, Hángzhōu), Fuyang District (富阳, Fùyáng), Lishan Town, Anding Village (安顶村), named after the mountain.
- Zone: The provincial database of marks gives Fuyang District as the administrative affiliation of the holder; this is not the legal boundary of the zone, which I have not checked.
- Geographic coordinates: Fuyang District — about 30.05° N and 119.95° E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Legend. The provincial press (2020) writes of a “tribute tea of the Ming and Qing” and of the “eighteen old bushes approved by the court” (十八蓬御定老丛). A popular reference adds that, according to legend, the tea was given tribute status by the first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋). Documents on the tribute are not found in the sources consulted; in its reports the district confines itself to the formula “thousand-year tribute tea” (千年贡品茶).
- 1986. According to a popular reference, Āndǐng yúnwù was recognized as a provincial famous tea of the first class; the district calls it “浙江省一类优质名茶”.
- Intangible heritage. According to the provincial press, the pan-firing technique of Āndǐng yúnwù (安顶云雾茶炒制技艺) has been entered by the Hangzhou government on the city list of intangible heritage. The text found gives no year.
- 2014–2016 — the mark. The application was filed on 29 September 2014, preliminary approval followed on 20 November 2015, and registration on 21 February 2016.
- 2022. According to an agricultural newspaper, more than 350 mu of gardens at the heart of the mountain have been brought under a single management, with unified harvesting, pan-firing and sales.
- 2024. According to the district, Anding entered the first group of Hangzhou’s “ten views of the tea capital” (茶都十景).
- Name: Āndǐng (安顶) is the name of the mountain and the village; yúnwù (云雾) means “clouds and mist”.
- Cultural significance: A historical signature tea of Fuyang District. The district calls it one of the “ten famous teas of Hangzhou” (杭州十大名茶); the list itself is not found in the sources consulted.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: No data in the sources consulted.
- Harvest: According to the district, picking on the mountain begins relatively late (采摘期相对较晚), and for its late picking and lasting aroma the tea is called “late fragrance” (晚来香). The best time for new tea, according to the same report, is from Qingming to Guyu, that is, from the beginning of April to around the twentieth of the month.
- Harvest standard: No exact standard is found in the sources consulted. A feature in the overseas edition of Renmin Ribao (2023) describes hand picking: the picker lifts the young shoot and does not pinch it with a fingernail.
- Raw material requirements: No data in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The south bank of the Fuchunjiang River (富春江) in Fuyang District. A popular reference places the mountain among the spurs of the Xianxialing range (仙霞岭).
- Growing altitude: The figures diverge. The provincial press (2020) gives the mountain 790 m; a district report (2025) gives the average altitude of the mountain as 650 m and the average altitude of the gardens of the central area as “more than 700 m”; an agricultural newspaper (2022) gives “more than 700 m” for Anding Village. A popular reference names both 790 m and “more than 900 m” in a single text.
- Climate: According to the provincial press, precipitation exceeds 1500 mm a year, the daily temperature range is about 15 °C, and clouds stay on the mountain all year round. The district and the newspaper speak of more than two hundred days of clouds and mist a year.
- Soils: According to the district, yellow clay and black sandy loam (黄泥土、乌沙土) predominate. A popular reference calls the soils loose, fertile and rich in organic matter, the Renmin Ribao feature calls them fertile; soil analyses are not found in the sources consulted.
- Garden area: The figures come from different years and refer to different boundaries. The provincial press (2020): in Lishan Town more than 6000 mu of gardens, of which more than 2000 mu are in Anding. A district report (2025): more than 3000 mu in the central zone.
5. Production Technology
According to the district, the traditional technology of Āndǐng yúnwù has three fixations (三次杀青). Hand pan-firing (手工炒制) remains the basis, and in recent years machine pan-firing has been added to it: an automatic line for flat tea (扁形茶) repeats the movements of hand pan-firing and keeps the same three fixations. A popular reference calls the processing method “half-roasting, half-pan-firing” (半烧半炒) without explaining it. Parameters are not found in the sources consulted.
Below is the general scheme for green tea, not a description of this particular tea:
- Spreading of the fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that it gives up part of its moisture.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating in a pan stops oxidation and preserves the green color.
- Shaping and pan-firing (炒制, chǎozhì): The leaf is brought to the required shape in the pan.
- Drying (干燥, gānzào).
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
No official description of the appearance is found in the sources consulted; below are the formulas of the district, the press and the reference.
- Dry leaf appearance: According to the district, emerald green (色泽翠绿); the provincial press reduces the appearance to the formula “色翠、汤浓、味醇” — emerald color, thick liquor, mellow taste. The shape of the leaf is not described; a flat shape can only be guessed from the line for flat tea.
- Dry leaf aroma: No data in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean on brewing (开汤清香), and by the second and third infusions, according to the district, it becomes even richer. A popular reference notes a light orchid note (略带兰花清香).
- Taste: Rich and mellow (汁浓味醇), fresh and sweet, without bitterness or astringency (入口鲜甘、毫无苦涩); the Renmin Ribao feature writes of a rich and long sweet aftertaste.
- Liquor color: No data in the sources consulted; “汤浓” speaks of thickness, not of color.
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): No official description. The Renmin Ribao feature describes emerald, tender buds with leaves that unfold and now rise, now sink in the glass.
7. Chemical Composition
Physicochemical data are not found in the sources consulted.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three further infusions; the district notes that the aroma opens up more strongly on the second and third.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication certification mark “安顶云雾” No. 15439785. According to the provincial database, as of 2019 not a single company had been authorized to use it, so the mark on the packaging should itself be checked; whether the mark is currently valid is not confirmed.
- Check that the producer is from Fuyang District, preferably from Lishan Town.
- The leaf is emerald, the aroma clean, the taste mellow and without bitterness.
11. Interesting Facts
- The holder of the mark is the Fuyang District Agricultural Technology Extension Center (杭州富阳区农业技术推广中心), a state institution, not an industry association.
- A popular reference gives the folk names of the tea — “Anding cha” (安顶茶), “Yanding cha” (岩顶茶) and “Yanding minghao” (岩顶茗毫).
- According to the same reference, masters from Anding represented Fuyang at provincial flat-tea pan-firing competitions and in 2003 took first prize.
12. Comparison with Other Hangzhou Teas
- Xihu Longjing (西湖龙井): A flat green tea of Hangzhou, hand pan-fired in a wok; Āndǐng yúnwù is machine pan-fired on a line of the same type, for flat tea.
- Tianmu Qingding (天目青顶): A green tea of the Tianmu Mountains in Lin’an District; its second name, Tianmu Yunwu, also means “clouds and mist”.
- Tianzun Gongya (天尊贡芽): A green tea of neighboring Tonglu County, up the Fuchunjiang, also with a legend of tribute to the court.
- Tonglu Xueshui Yunlü Cha (桐庐雪水云绿茶): A needle-shaped tea of single buds from the same Tonglu County.
In Conclusion:
Āndǐng yúnwù is a mountain green tea from the south bank of the Fuchunjiang, where clouds linger for more than two hundred days a year. The documents say little about it: a 2016 mark held by the district agricultural technology center, city heritage status for the pan-firing technique, three fixations in the traditional method. The rest consists of the formulas of the district and the press — emerald leaf, clean aroma, mellow taste without bitterness — and the legend of a tribute tea, which so far is backed by nothing.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page