Bǎokāng lǜchá (保康绿茶) is a green tea of Baokang County (保康县), Xiangyang prefecture-level city, in the northwest of Hubei Province. The county is entirely mountainous and lies within the Jingshan (荆山) mountain system; according to the provincial newspaper, the gardens stand mostly above 800 m, among clouds and mists. The name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark since 2012, and the zone of the mark is the entire present-day territory of the county. The description of the mark portrays a fine emerald leaf, a clean, high and lasting aroma, a tender green, bright liquor and a tea that withstands many infusions.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is named in the protected name itself; I have not seen any technological requirements of the mark.
- Category: A mountain green tea of northwestern Hubei; geographical indication certification mark (2012).
- Origin: China, Hubei Province (湖北, Húběi), Xiangyang prefecture-level city (襄阳, Xiāngyáng), Baokang County (保康, Bǎokāng).
- Zone of the mark: The present administrative territory of Baokang County (保康县现辖行政区域) — as stated in the mark’s record. According to Chinese Wikipedia, the county has ten towns and one township, with an area of 3221.53 km².
- Geographic coordinates: About 31°53′ N and 111°16′ E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Beginning of the gardens. According to a 2014 report of the Ministry of Agriculture, the county’s present-day tea growing began with a trial planting of 203 mu in the early 1960s; by 2014 the gardens had grown to 158,000 mu, and output to 9400 t a year. Reference descriptions of the brand 保康松针 write that this tea was mentioned in texts as early as the Tang dynasty and was known during the Qianlong (乾隆) reign of the Qing dynasty. They do not name primary sources, and I have not seen them.
- 2012. The geographical indication certification mark “保康绿茶 BAO KANG GREEN TEA” No. 10987830 was registered; goods: tea. The first term — from 21 December 2012 to 20 December 2022.
- 2023. According to the provincial newspaper, in that year the county was recognized as a “key tea-producing county of the country” (全国茶叶重点县). A 2025 report says that the county has received the title of “key tea county” (全国茶业重点县域) seven years in a row, and names it among the “hundred top tea counties of the country” (全国茶叶百强县) and the ten ecological tea counties of China.
- 2025. By a notice of the Hubei Intellectual Property Administration dated 30 December 2025, four producers of the county — two companies and two cooperatives — had their permits to use the mark changed, with a term until 20 December 2032. This is the end of the second ten-year term, that is, the mark has been renewed; the notice does not mention the renewal itself.
- Name: 保康 is the name of the county, 绿茶 means “green tea”. The English part of the mark is “BAO KANG GREEN TEA”.
- Brands within the mark: Within the mark the county develops its own brand — the needle-shaped 保康松针 (Bǎokāng sōngzhēn, “Baokang pine needles”). The press of 2025 also names the public brand “襄阳高香茶 — 保康毛尖、保康红”: “high-aroma tea of Xiangyang” — Baokang maojian and Baokang red tea. The red tea under this brand does not belong to the green tea mark.
- Cultural significance: Tea is one of the county’s main industries; according to a 2025 report, it provides work and income for about forty thousand people.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: The mark’s record does not name varieties; no data found in the sources consulted.
- Raw material: For the mark as a whole, no data found in the sources consulted. For the brand 保康松针, reference descriptions name a harvest of one bud with one leaf, without leaves damaged by insects or frost.
- Harvest time: For the mark as a whole there are no data. For 保康松针, according to the same descriptions, harvesting starts within five or six days before or after the Qingming festival (清明, Qīngmíng), that is, in early April.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: Northwestern Hubei, the mountains of the Jingshan system. The Ministry of Agriculture in 2014 described the county as follows: deep mountains and dense forests, clean streams, ridges of peaks, clouds and mists, a large difference between day and night temperatures, moderate rainfall.
- Growing altitude: The gardens are mostly above 800 m — according to the newspaper Nongcun Xinbao (2025). A 2026 description gives a different range — from 600 to 1040 m. I have not seen altitude limits in the documents of the mark.
- Core of the 保康松针 brand: According to reference descriptions — the town of Dianya (店垭) in the south of the county and the surroundings of Huangbao (黄堡) in the north.
- Garden area: According to the press of 2025, the county’s tea base is 201,000 mu, of which 152,000 mu are productive; 80,000 mu are “green” ecological gardens, 15,000 mu have EU organic certification. Annual output is more than 8800 t of dry tea, and the total output value of the industry is more than 2 billion yuan (according to the same press reports).
- Soils and climate in figures: No data found in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
The mark’s record contains no requirements for the technology. Below is the general scheme for green tea, not a description of Bǎokāng lǜchá specifically:
- Spreading of fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that it gives off part of its moisture.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation and preserves the green color.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
- Drying (干燥, gānzào).
Reference descriptions differ on the technology of the 保康松针 brand. One calls it a needle-shaped steam-fixed green tea (针形蒸青绿茶), but then lists four operations — fixation (杀青, shāqīng), rolling in the pan (锅揉, guōróu), “sweating” (拍汗, pāihàn) and drying (烘干, hōnggān). Other references give a steaming scheme with the same stages as Enshi Yulu. None of the descriptions gives parameters, and I have not found a primary source for either scheme.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below is from the record of the mark “保康绿茶”.
- Dry leaf appearance: Fine and graceful, emerald in color (外形纤秀，色泽翠绿).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean, high and lasting (香气清高持久); the record does not specify whether this is the aroma of the dry leaf or of the liquor.
- Taste: Fragrant and sweet, soft, with coolness, fresh and pleasant (滋味香甜软凉，鲜醇爽口).
- Liquor color: Tender green, bright (汤色嫩绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Plump and tender leaf (叶底肥嫩).
The record notes separately that the tea withstands a great many infusions (极耐冲泡).
Reference descriptions portray the brand 保康松针 as follows: tight, round, smooth and straight needles with noticeable down, dark emerald and oily-glossy; the aroma is fresh and clean, the taste sweet and mild, the liquor tender green, clear and bright, the spent leaves tender green, bright and even.
7. Chemical Composition
No physicochemical data 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.
- Several repeat infusions — the mark’s record stresses that the tea withstands them.
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
No price data found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication certification mark “保康绿茶” No. 10987830.
- Check that the producer is from Baokang County and is authorized to use the mark: the provincial administration publishes lists of users.
- The leaf is fine and emerald, the liquor tender green and bright, the aroma clean and lasting.
11. Interesting Facts
- The zone of the mark is the entire territory of the county, without singling out individual towns.
- Chinese Wikipedia calls Baokang the largest organic tea county in Hubei.
- The county exports not only loose-leaf tea: according to a 2025 report, exports of refined tea (精制茶), tea extract and other processed products exceeded 1000 t and brought in 25 million dollars.
- The name “荆山锦” — “brocade of the Jingshan mountains” — was listed by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2014 among the county’s special products; a cooperative with this name is among the users of the mark in the 2025 list.
12. Comparison with Other Green Teas
- Meizi Gongcha (梅子贡茶): A mountain green tea of Zhuxi County, also in northwestern Hubei; it has a detailed protection document with the cultivar and the altitude of the gardens, while Bǎokāng lǜchá has only the appearance and the zone.
- Enshi Yulu (恩施玉露): A Hubei needle-shaped tea with steam fixation; some references attribute the same scheme to the brand 保康松针, but descriptions of its technology differ.
- Anhua Song Zhen (安化松针): A Hunan green tea with the same image of “pine needles” in its name.
- Dengcun Lücha (邓村绿茶): A high-mountain green tea of Yichang prefecture in western Hubei.
In Conclusion:
Bǎokāng lǜchá is a mountain green tea of northwestern Hubei under a mark that protects the name throughout the county’s territory. The document on it is short and speaks only of the appearance: a fine emerald leaf, a clean lasting aroma, a tender green liquor and many infusions. The rest is the scale of an industry that in sixty years has grown from a trial planting into two hundred thousand mu of gardens, and the needle-shaped brand 保康松针, whose technology has yet to be confirmed by a primary source.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page