---
title: "Běichuān táizǐ chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/beichuan-taizi-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Běichuān táizǐ chá (北川苔子茶)

*Běichuān táizǐ chá* (北川苔子茶) is a green tea of Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County (北川羌族自治县), Mianyang prefecture-level city, in the northwest of the Sichuan Basin. It is named after the local tea bush — according to provincial publications, known here since the Tang and Song dynasties. The product has been protected as a geographical indication since 2009; the Mianyang standard of 2022 defines it as a green tea of two shapes — flat and curled.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*): this is how the product is defined in the standard DB5107/T 99-2022.
* **Category:** A mountain green tea of northwestern Sichuan; geographical indication product (2009).
* **Shapes:** Flat tea (扁形茶, *biǎnxíng chá*) and curled tea (卷曲形茶, *juǎnqūxíng chá*).
* **Origin:** China, Sichuan Province (四川, *Sìchuān*), Mianyang prefecture-level city (绵阳, *Miányáng*), Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County (北川, *Běichuān*).
* **Protection zone:** Approved by announcement No. 107 of 2009 of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). The 2022 standard describes the same zone through nine present-day units of the county: the towns of Qushan, Leigu, Tongquan, Chenjiaba, Guixi and Yuli and the townships of Xuanping, Duguan and Baini. The 2009 announcement named eleven units; I have not checked the difference in the count.
* **Geographic coordinates:** No data found in the sources consulted.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **A legend of antiquity.** The county procuratorate writes in a 2025 publication that under the Tang the local tea was “tribute” tea, and associates with the area around present-day Beichuan the “green Changming” (绿昌明) from Bai Juyi’s poem “春尽日”: “渴尝一碗绿昌明” — “in my thirst I tasted a bowl of green Changming”. It cites no primary sources.
    * **1975.** According to *Sichuan Online*, terraces for tea began to be laid out on the slopes.
    * **2008–2009.** The earthquake of 12 May 2008 almost stopped tea production; in 2009, during reconstruction, cooperatives began to be set up. In the same year AQSIQ, by announcement No. 107, took *Běichuān táizǐ chá* under protection as a geographical indication product.
    * **2020.** Since October a county regulation on the protection of old 北川苔子茶 bushes has been in force.
    * **2022.** On 24 March the Mianyang Administration for Market Regulation published the standard DB5107/T 99-2022 “地理标志产品 北川苔子茶”; it came into force on 1 June.
    * **2023.** The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs included the *Běichuān táizǐ chá* mixed-planting system (复合栽培系统) in the seventh batch of China’s important agricultural heritage; in January 2025, according to *Sichuan Online*, it entered China’s preliminary list for the FAO agricultural heritage program.
    * **2026.** The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) granted enterprises the right to use the special mark.
* **Name:** “*Běichuān*” (北川) is the name of the county; “*táizǐ chá*” (苔子茶) is the name of the local bush. According to China National Radio (2026), the name was given for the appearance of the shoot: the long internodes and juicy stems resemble the vegetable flower stalks 菜苔 (*càitái*).
* **Cultural significance:** The heritage system is one of mixed planting: according to *Sichuan Online*, potatoes, maize, soybeans and vegetables are planted between the wide rows of old bushes. The saying “大禹门前树，千年苔子茶” — “a tree at the gate of Yu the Great, a thousand-year-old *táizǐ chá*” — is cited by China National Radio.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** The local population 苔子茶. The county procuratorate describes it as a branch that developed over a long time from wild tea trees: cold-resistant, with a sturdy bud and a thick leaf. According to the same publication, there are many old bushes in the county, the oldest more than 700 years old; China National Radio (2026) gives more than 1100 years.
* **Varieties permitted by the standard:** The local population, the 鸠坑 (*Jiūkēng*) population and small- and medium-leaf clonal varieties such as 名山213 (*Míngshān 213*) and 福选9号 (*Fúxuǎn 9*). Under the standard, the name 苔子茶 does not require raw material from the local bush only.
* **Harvest dates:** From late February to late June; whole buds before Qingming, shoots with leaves before Guyu.
* **Harvest standard:** For flat tea — a whole bud; for curled tea — from a bud with one to a bud with two unfolding leaves. The leaf is picked by “lifting the hand” (提手采), without pinching or tearing.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Growing altitude:** According to the standard — 650–1500 m. The county procuratorate writes of forests at 1000–1800 m; I have not resolved the discrepancy.
* **Climate:** According to the standard — the humid subtropical monsoon climate of the basin: mean annual temperature 15.6 °C, frost-free period 286 days, precipitation 1287.5 mm, sunshine 902.2 hours a year.
* **Soils:** Predominantly gravelly, then loams and clays, strongly skeletal; pH 4.5–6.5. The standard requires a layer of yellow soil of at least 50 cm with organic matter of not less than 1.5 %.
* **Plantings:** The standard prescribes planting protective forest belts around the gardens and shade trees in the gardens.
* **Scale:** According to *Sichuan Online*, by November 2022 — more than 90,000 mu of gardens.

**5. Production Technology:**

The standard sets two process schemes — according to the shape of the tea.

* **Flat tea:** spreading (摊放, *tānfàng*) → fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*) → straightening of the leaf (理条, *lǐtiáo*) → heating to bring out the aroma (提香, *tíxiāng*) → sorting (筛选, *shāixuǎn*) → packing.
* **Curled tea:** spreading → fixation → rolling (捻揉, *niǎnróu*) → drying (烘干, *hōnggān*) → final pan-drying with aroma heating (炒干提香, *chǎogān tíxiāng*) → sorting → packing.

Drying of curled tea according to the standard:

1.  **First drying:** 110–130 °C, about 4–7 minutes.
2.  **Slow drying:** The pan temperature is lowered to about 80 °C and the tea is dried to a moisture content of about 10 %.
3.  **Final drying with aroma heating:** 120–130 °C, until the leaf crumbles into powder when squeezed between the fingers.

The standard gives no parameters for flat tea.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

Requirements of the standard DB5107/T 99-2022 for the two shapes.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Flat — straight, even, yellow-green with luster (扁直，黄绿、有光泽). Curled — tightly curled, with visible tips, green and moist-glossy (紧结卷曲、显锋苗，绿润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** Not described in the standard; no data found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Flat — high and lasting (香高持久). Curled — clean and lasting (清香持久).
* **Taste:** Flat — fresh and mild (鲜醇). Curled — mild, full, with a sweet aftertaste (醇厚回甘).
* **Liquor color:** Flat — tender yellow and bright (嫩黄明亮). Curled — tender green and bright (嫩绿明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Flat — whole buds, yellow-green and bright (全芽、黄绿明亮). Curled — buds with leaves open out like a flower, green and glossy (芽叶成朵、绿亮).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical requirements of the standard for the finished tea (mass fraction):

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | not more than 6.5 % |
| Water extract | not less than 40.0 % |
| Polyphenols | not less than 13.0 % |
| Catechins | not less than 8.0 % |
| Free amino acids | not less than 3.0 % |
| Caffeine | not less than 4.0 % |
| Total ash | not more than 7.5 % |
| Fines | not more than 1.0 % |

These are the standard’s thresholds, not measurements of a particular tea; the figures were checked against images of the pages.

**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; for flat tea from whole buds — closer to 80 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
* **Process:** Warm the teaware, pour the water down the side, first infusion — after 40–60 seconds, drink while leaving a third of the liquor, and top up; two or three repeat infusions.

**10. Storage:**

The standard requires a cool, dry and clean warehouse free of foreign odors; shelf life — not more than 18 months. At home — class practice: airtight packaging, a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light and moisture; best drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

No price data found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark.
    * Check that the producer is from Beichuan County.
    * Remember that the name does not guarantee raw material from old bushes.
    * According to the county procuratorate (2025), there is tea bought elsewhere and packaged as “北川苔子茶”.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* One name covers two shapes that look different: a flat tea from whole buds with a yellow liquor and a curled tea with a green one.
* The standard limits caffeine from below — not less than 4.0 %.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas of Sichuan:**

* **Emei Zhuyeqing ([峨眉竹叶青](https://thetea.app/article/emei-zhuyeqing)):** A flat tea of Mount Emei; for *Běichuān táizǐ chá* the flat shape is only one of two.
* **Mengding Ganlu ([蒙顶甘露](https://thetea.app/article/mengding-gan-lu)):** A curled tea of Mount Mengding — the closest neighbor in appearance to the curled shape.
* **Guosheng Cha ([国胜茶](https://thetea.app/article/guosheng-cha)):** A mountain green tea of the south of the province with a geographical indication.
* **Dazhu Baicha ([大竹白茶](https://thetea.app/article/dazhu-baicha)):** A tea of eastern Sichuan from the introduced light-leaf variety 白叶一号 — the opposite case: there, a young introduced industry; here, an old local population.

**In Conclusion:**

*Běichuān táizǐ chá* is a green tea of a Qiang county in northwestern Sichuan, named after the local bush with centuries-old specimens. The 2022 standard describes two shapes: a flat one from whole buds with a tender yellow liquor and a curled one with a clean lasting aroma and a sweet aftertaste. Protection since 2009, the regulation on old bushes and the status of agricultural heritage preserve both the bush itself and the farming around it.