---
title: "Bǎitáng shānchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/baitang-shancha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Bǎitáng shānchá (柏塘山茶)

*Bǎitáng shānchá* (柏塘山茶) is a mountain green tea from Baitang Town (柏塘镇) of Boluo County (博罗县), Huizhou prefecture-level city, Guangdong Province. “山茶” in the name means “mountain tea”, not the Japanese camellia. The raw material comes from local small-leaf bushes, among which there is a rare form with purple buds. Since 2015 the name has been protected as a geographical indication product, and the 2019 municipal standard describes it as a green tea: thin curled strands, a dark green glossy leaf, a “roasted rice” or “flower nectar” aroma, a thick taste with a sweet aftertaste.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The standard DB4413/T 6—2019 calls the product “green (mountain) tea” (绿（山）茶), and the technology in it is green. The card left the class open — the standard settles it.
* **Category:** Mountain green tea from a local small-leaf population; geographical indication product (announcement No. 143 of 2015).
* **Origin:** China, Guangdong Province (广东, *Guǎngdōng*), Huizhou prefecture-level city (惠州, *Huìzhōu*), Boluo County (博罗, *Bóluó*), Baitang Town (柏塘, *Bǎitáng*).
* **Protection zone:** According to the standard — the entire current administrative territory of Baitang Town; the map is given in its Annex A.
* **Geographic coordinates:** According to the standard — 23°23′ N and 114°21′ E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The Luofushan legend.** The local press calls Baitang tea a representative of the tea of the Luofushan mountains (罗浮山) and describes its history with the formula “originated under the Jin, rose under the Tang, flourished under the Song” (起于晋、兴于唐、盛于宋). There are no documents specifically about Baitang tea behind it — this is legend, not chronicle.
    * **Specialized town.** Guangdong Province recognized Baitang as a “specialized mountain tea town”.
    * **2015 — protection.** By announcement No. 143 of 2015, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) took *Bǎitáng shānchá* under protection as a geographical indication product. The exact date of the announcement is not found in the sources consulted.
    * **2017 — the first standard.** According to the register of local standards, before the municipal standard the provincial standard DB44/T 2053-2017 with the same title was in force; it has now been repealed.
    * **2019–2020 — the municipal standard.** The Huizhou Market Supervision Administration approved the standard “地理标志产品 柏塘山茶” on 26 December 2019, and it came into force on 26 January 2020. Its basis is the “Requirements for the quality and technology of *Bǎitáng shānchá*”, which passed AQSIQ expert review.
* **Name:** “Baitang” (柏塘) is the name of the town; “*shānchá*” (山茶) means “mountain tea”. The English name in the standard is “Baitang tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** Chinese Wikipedia explains the town's specialization by its terrain: there is little arable land and many mountains, and the slopes are given over to mountain tea.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Variety / Population:** According to the standard — a local population (本地群种) in two forms: small-leaf tea (小[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu)茶, *xiǎoyèzhǒng chá*) and small-leaf purple-bud tea (小叶种[紫芽](https://thetea.app/article/ziya-zijuan-puer)茶, *xiǎoyèzhǒng zǐyá chá*). Chinese Wikipedia calls the purple-bud form a variety rare for the whole country (全国稀有茶种): according to it, specialists noticed it during classes for tea growers in the Gaoqiao (高桥) garden.
* **Bush description:** The local press describes the bush as low-growing, with a narrow pointed leaf (株形矮小，叶细而尖). The standard has no botanical description.
* **Harvest standard:**
    * **Top grade (特级):** whole buds — no less than 90%, one bud with one leaf — no more than 10%.
    * **First grade (一级):** one bud with two leaves — no less than 70%, with three — no more than 30%; the bud is longer than the leaf or equal to it.
* **Harvest time:** In spring — from the solar term Chunfen (春分, *chūnfēn*, around 20 March) to the solar term Mangzhong (芒种, *mángzhòng*, early June); in autumn — from the solar term Bailu (白露, *báilù*, early September) to the solar term Daxue (大雪, *dàxuě*, early December).
* **How it is plucked:** The shoot is snapped off or pulled out; the standard does not recommend (不宜) pinching with a fingernail, stripping, cutting or machine harvesting.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The north of Boluo County; the terrain descends from north to southeast. Wikipedia describes Baitang as a hilly area of 264.24 km² with altitudes from 0 to 901 m.
* **Altitude and slope:** The standard considers altitudes from 60 m, level ground and slopes of up to 25° suitable.
* **Climate:** South subtropical monsoon. According to the standard, the mean annual temperature is 22.1 °C, precipitation 1918 mm, sunshine 1871.5 hours a year; “hot summers, cool winters, warm springs and autumns”. Suitable for tea are 20–25 °C and diffused light.
* **Soils:** Red and yellow soils on the slopes of the Luofushan, Xiangtoushan (象头山), Nankunshan (南昆山) and Guishan (桂山) mountains within the town: a layer no thinner than 1 m, organic matter no less than 1.5%, pH 4.5–6.5.

**5. Production Technology:**

The standard sets the sequence:

1.  **Spreading (摊青, *tānqīng*):** The fresh leaf is spread out and slightly withered.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation.
3.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*).**
4.  **Breaking up clumps (解块, *jiěkuài*).**
5.  **Pan-firing to dryness (炒干, *chǎogān*).**

The standard does not name temperatures or durations. It prohibits additives, colorants and non-tea impurities and requires “high fire” (火工高) in the aroma — a pronounced tone of fire drying; the regimes by which it is achieved are not found in the sources consulted.

The local press lists the steps differently — with “aroma raising” (提香) at the end and without breaking up clumps. The standard sets the norm.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The standard describes both forms of raw material; the common requirements are brought together here.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Strands dense, curled, tightly rolled, thin and even (粗实、卷曲、紧结、细匀). The color of the small-leaf tea is glossy and even, that of the purple-bud tea dark green, glossy and even (乌绿、油润、调匀).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No data in the sources consulted: the standard describes the aroma only on brewing.
* **Liquor aroma:** Slightly coarse, with “high fire”, natural and clean, rich and long-lasting; a note of “roasted rice” (炒米香) or “flower nectar” (花蜜香).
* **Taste:** Mellow and thick, slightly astringent, with a sweet aftertaste; the tea holds up to many infusions (醇厚、略涩、回味甘甜、耐冲泡).
* **Liquor color:** For the small-leaf tea — softly bright and clear (柔亮、清澈); for the purple-bud tea — brownish, softly bright and clear.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** No data in the sources consulted: the standard sets no norm for them.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical requirements of the standard:

| Indicator | Norm | Method |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Tea polyphenols | no less than 24.0% | GB/T 8313 |
| Water extract | no less than 40.0% | GB/T 8305 |
| Anthocyanins (花青素) | no less than 2.4 mg/g | GB/T 22244 |

These are norms, not batch measurements. The standard has one anthocyanin norm for both forms of raw material; the text does not explain why this indicator was chosen. The method is GB/T 22244, a standard for determining proanthocyanidins (前花青素), so what exactly is measured cannot be understood unambiguously from the text.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. 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:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up with water: the standard notes that the tea holds up to many infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; it is best drunk within a year. The standard requires the finished tea to be stored in a clean, dry warehouse without foreign odors.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the anti-counterfeit geographical indication product mark and the protected name on the packaging.
    * Check that the producer is from Baitang Town, Boluo County.
    * Compare the appearance: thin curled dark green strands, a “roasted rice” or “flower nectar” aroma.
    * Remember that the standard describes only green tea.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The local press calls the technique of making this tea (柏塘山茶制作技艺) intangible heritage of Boluo County.
* According to the standard, the liquor of the purple-bud form is brownish — an unusual color for a green tea.
* The autumn harvest lasts until the solar term Daxue — “great snow”.

**13. Comparison with Other Guangdong Teas:**

* **Huidong Lü Cha ([惠东绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/huidong-lucha)):** The corpus article on the green teas of another county of the same prefecture-level city — a collective name, not the protected product of a single town.
* **Boluo Hong Cha ([博罗红茶](https://thetea.app/article/boluo-hongcha)):** The corpus article on the red tea of Boluo County; red tea does not fall under the *Bǎitáng shānchá* standard.
* **Gulaocha ([古劳茶](https://thetea.app/article/gulaocha)):** A historical green tea from Gulao Town of the city of Heshan.
* **Kanghe Cha ([康禾茶](https://thetea.app/article/kanghe-cha)):** Green tea from Kanghe Town, Dongyuan County, Heyuan prefecture-level city.

**In Conclusion:**

*Bǎitáng shānchá* is the mountain green tea of a single town in Boluo County, protected since 2015 and described by the 2019 standard for both forms of the local bush at once — small-leaf and purple-bud, with a brownish liquor and an anthocyanin norm. The chronology from the Jin to the Song is better regarded as legend, and the thin curled strands, the “roasted rice” aroma and the thick taste with a sweet aftertaste as what the standard promises in the cup.