---
title: "Báiyún chūnháo"
url: https://thetea.app/article/baiyun-chunhao
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Báiyún chūnháo (白云春毫)

*Báiyún chūnháo* (白云春毫) is a green tea from Lujiang County (庐江县) of Hefei prefecture-level city in Anhui Province, from the mountains in the spurs of Dabieshan; in descriptive translation, “spring down of the white clouds”. The words “white” and “down” do not make it a white tea: the name, according to the reference work, combines the name of the old Baiyun'an monastery (白云庵) near the gardens and the white down of the leaf. According to the reference work, the tea grew in 1985–1987 out of the local “二姑尖[毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/maofengcha)”; there is also another version (section 2). The requirements for the geographical indication product describe it with the formula “resembles a swallow's tail, a clean aroma with orchid” (形似燕尾、清香带兰). The name has been protected by an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI) since 2017 and by recognition as a geographical indication product since 2025.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The technology according to the requirements is green (section 5). The reference work classes it among straight pan-fired teas (炒青, *chǎoqīng*).
* **Category:** Straight, slightly flat green tea of Dabieshan; geographical indication product.
* **Origin:** China, Anhui Province (安徽, *Ānhuī*), Hefei prefecture-level city (合肥, *Héféi*), Lujiang County (庐江, *Lújiāng*).
* **Protection zone:** The mountains Ergujian (二姑尖), Baihuazhai (百花寨), Laoheshang (老和尚), Changchun, Madian, Hudong, Gaojian and others in the spurs of Dabieshan (大别山, *Dàbiéshān*) — 45 villages in 16 towns in all, most of them in the towns of Tangchi (汤池镇), Wanshan (万山镇), Ketan (柯坦镇), Longqiao (龙桥镇) and Fanshan (矾山镇). The applicant is the Lujiang County Tea Association (庐江县茶叶协会).
* **Best area:** The reference work considers the best tea to be that from Mount Ergujian near the former Guoshu (果树) Township; Guoshu Village lies within the zone as part of Tangchi Town.
* **Geographic coordinates:** 30°58′06″–31°33′17″ N, 117°01′12″–117°33′18″ E (the boundaries of the protection zone).

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Early Republic.** According to the reference work, the county had about 5000 mu of tea gardens and 149 tea trading houses.
    * **1984 — the Chen Chuan version.** A Party education portal writes that Chen Chuan (陈椽), a professor at Anhui Agricultural University who is called the “tea sage” of modern times, developed the famous tea “白云春毫” for Lujiang at the invitation of the county authorities.
    * **1985–1987 — the local version.** According to the reference work, in 1985 the Lujiang Guoshu tea factory began trial production of “二姑尖毛峰” (*Èrgūjiān máofēng*); in December 1986 the county science committee submitted to the provincial committee an application for a project to develop this tea, and the project was approved; from April 1987 official trial production began on raw material from the Ergujian gardens, the work on site was guided by the tea department of Anhui Agricultural University, and the tea was renamed “白云春毫”.
    * **1987 — the county's 2026 version.** A piece by the county publicity department, published by Xinhua (新华网) in 2026, writes that the predecessor was “二姑尖毛峰”, and that in 1987 the tea was created by Chen Chuan over three years of work. Chen Chuan's exact role and the date of creation cannot be established from the sources consulted: the versions diverge.
    * **1988.** The tea was recognized as a famous tea of Anhui Province.
    * **1989.** According to the reference work, in July the tea received the title of quality famous tea at ministerial level.
    * **1995.** According to the reference work, in December — a gold medal at the Second China Agricultural Exposition.
    * **2008.** According to the reference work, a gold medal at the Third Anhui Tea Exposition.
    * **2016–2017.** According to a county piece in *Pengpai* (澎湃新闻), in 2016 the tea passed the expert review for an agricultural product geographical indication and won first prize at the “Zhongcha Bei” (中茶杯) competition, and it received the certificate in 2017; the reference work dates the Ministry of Agriculture's registration to 20 April 2017, while a tourism portal places the “Zhongcha Bei” prize in 2015.
    * **2024.** According to a report by the Anhui news portal 中安在线, this year marked forty years since the brand was created — which agrees with 1984 from the Chen Chuan version. The opening of the sixteenth “*Báiyún chūnháo*” tea culture and tourism season was scheduled for 6 April in the “hundred-flower tea valley” (百花茶谷) of Tangchi Town.
    * **9 June 2025.** By announcement No. 632, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized it as a geographical indication product.
* **Awards:** *Pengpai* lists, without years, gold at the China Agricultural Fair and at the World Expo in Shanghai, and the title of “tea king” at the provincial tea exposition. The 2024 report, also without years, names the titles “ten brand famous teas of Anhui Province” (安徽省十大品牌名茶), “famous trademark of Anhui Province”, “ten famous brands of Anhui tea” (中国徽茶十大著名品牌) and “top tea brand of the Yangtze River Delta”.
* **Name:** “*Báiyún*” (白云) means “white clouds”: according to the reference work, in honor of the Baiyun'an monastery and the clouds over the gardens; “*chūn*” (春) means “spring”; “*háo*” (毫) is the down on the buds.
* **Cultural significance:** Today it is the common brand of the county. According to *Pengpai*, in 2020 all the county's tea gardens covered about 100,000 mu in eight towns; according to county data cited in 2024 — 98,700 mu, with almost a hundred tea enterprises.

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

* **Varieties:** The requirements for the geographical indication product name Longjing 43 (龙井43, *Lóngjǐng 43*), Zhonghuang No. 3 (中黄3号, *Zhōnghuáng 3*), Guyuchun (谷雨春, *Gǔyǔchūn*) and others.
* **Harvest time:** The leaf is picked and processed in March–April.
* **Harvest standard:** According to a tea reference work, for the top grade (特级) — a bud with one just-opened leaf, for the first grade (一级) — a bud with one or two such leaves.
* **Planting and care:** According to the requirements — planting from November to March, with double-row planting about 4000 bushes per mu; organic fertilizer — fermented pig and chicken manure, about 1500 kg per mu.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The spurs of Dabieshan in Lujiang County.
* **Growing altitude:** According to the requirements — below 1200 m, on slopes no steeper than 25°.
* **Climate:** Subtropical monsoon; according to the reference work, the annual averages are 16.4 °C, 1009.2 mm of precipitation, 1760.1 hours of sunshine and 253 frost-free days.
* **Soils:** According to the reference work — yellow-brown (黄棕壤), acidic or slightly acidic, pH 5.0–5.5. The requirements are broader: pH 4.5–6.5, organic matter 1.2–2.2%, available phosphorus about 6–10 mg/kg, exchangeable potassium 60–100 mg/kg, soil depth from 60 cm, with no compacted horizon.
* **Scale:** According to the reference work, the protected area is 10,000 ha and the annual output 330 t; the year of these figures is not stated.

**5. Production Technology:**

The requirements for the geographical indication product set the following chain:

1.  **Withering of the fresh leaf (摊青, *tānqīng*).**
2.  **Sorting of the leaf (分级, *fēnjí*).**
3.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation.
4.  **Cooling (摊放冷却, *tānfàng lěngquè*).**
5.  **Shaping by pan-firing with pressing (炒压做形, *chǎo yā zuòxíng*):** The leaf is made straight and slightly flat.
6.  **Resting (摊放, *tānfàng*).**
7.  **First drying (初烘, *chūhōng*).**
8.  **Second drying (复烘, *fùhōng*).**
9.  **Full drying (足烘, *zúhōng*).**
10. **Picking over (拣剔, *jiǎntī*) and packing.**

Temperatures and times of the operations are not found in the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the requirements for the geographical indication product.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tight, straight, slender, slightly flat, in the shape of a swallow's tail; the color green, moist and lustrous, with a hidden emerald tint (紧直挺秀微扁呈燕尾形，色泽绿润隐翠). The reference work describes it differently: fine and tender, with visible down, resembling a sparrow's tongue (细嫩显毫……形似雀舌).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Clean and lasting, with a distinct orchid note (清香持久显兰香). The reference work calls it tender and lasting (嫩香持久).
* **Taste:** Fresh, mellow, sweet and brisk (鲜醇甘爽).
* **Liquor color:** Tender green and bright (嫩绿明亮); according to the reference work — emerald green and clear.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender, yellow-green and bright (嫩黄绿明亮); the reference work adds that the buds are even and whole.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical requirements for the geographical indication product:

| Indicator | Norm |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | no more than 6.5% |
| Total ash | no more than 6.5% |
| Broken leaf and dust | no more than 1.5% |
| Water-soluble extractives | no less than 34.0% |

The reference work gives an analysis of the finished tea carried out by the tea department of Anhui Agricultural University: water-soluble substances 43.52%, polyphenols 29.27%, amino acids 5.69 (the unit is not given in the source), caffeine 3.87%; the year of the analysis and the sample are not named.

**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 a third of the liquor.
    5. Top up with water.
    6. Two or three further infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight opaque packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. It is best drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is approved by CNIPA, and the list of authorized users is published.
    * Check that the tea comes from the protection zone of Lujiang County.
    * The leaf — straight, slightly flat, green with a sheen, not curled.
    * Do not trust pages where *Báiyún chūnháo* is called a Fujian tea or a white tea: this contradicts the protection documents.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* According to reference works and the county's report, the tea was named after the old Baiyun'an monastery in the tea area together with the white down of the leaf; earlier the tea was called “二姑尖毛峰”.
* The protection document and the reference work describe the shape of the leaf differently: as a swallow's tail and as a sparrow's tongue.
* According to *Pengpai*, Lujiang is the birthplace of Wang Kuicheng (王魁成), the creator of Taiping Hou Kui.

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

* **Huangshan Mao Feng ([黄山毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-mao-feng)):** Also compared with a sparrow's tongue, but it is a tea of the south of the province, near Huangshan.
* **Shucheng Xiao Lan Hua ([舒城小兰花](https://thetea.app/article/shucheng-xiao-lan-hua)):** A green tea of the eastern slopes of Dabieshan, known for its orchid aroma.
* **Yuexi Cui Lan ([岳西翠兰](https://thetea.app/article/yuexi-cui-lan)):** A green tea of Dabieshan, also created in the 1980s.
* **Taiping Hou Kui ([太平猴魁](https://thetea.app/article/taiping-hou-kui)):** A flat, large-leaf “pointed” tea of the south of the province; its creator, according to *Pengpai*, was a native of Lujiang.

**In Conclusion:**

*Báiyún chūnháo* is a green tea of the Lujiang spurs of Dabieshan: a straight, slightly flat leaf with white down, a tender green liquor, a fresh mellow taste and a clean lasting aroma with an orchid note. Its name comes from the Baiyun'an monastery and the white down, its predecessor is the local “*Èrgūjiān máofēng*”, and it has been protected since 2017 and 2025.