Cāngnán cuìlóng chá (苍南翠龙茶) is a green tea of Cangnan County (苍南县) of Wenzhou prefecture-level city, in the very south of Zhejiang Province, near the border with Fujian. The name means “emerald dragon of Cangnan”. The tea grew out of the local “flags and spears” (旗枪, qíqiāng): in the late 1980s they were renamed “Mingqian Longjing”, and in the late 1990s, when Wenzhou was not included in the Zhejiang Longjing zone, they were renamed Cuilong. The main appearance is a flat, straight emerald leaf. Since 2008 the name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The mark record does not name the class, but the county standard DB330327/T 3—2021 describes Cuilong as tea made by green tea technology, with a clear liquor and green leaf, a high aroma and a mellow taste (清汤绿叶、香高味醇).
- Category: A newly created famous tea (新创名茶) from the Wenzhou group of early spring teas; geographical indication certification mark (2008).
- Origin: China, Zhejiang Province (浙江, Zhèjiāng), Wenzhou prefecture-level city (温州, Wēnzhōu), Cangnan County (苍南, Cāngnán). The main area is the gardens of the former Wufeng Township (五凤) on Mount Wudaishan (五岱山) in the Yucangshan massif (玉苍山); a 2013 report assigns Bamuhou village (八亩后村) of Wufeng Township to Qiaodun Town (桥墩镇).
- Mark zone: The provincial database gives Cangnan County as the administrative affiliation of the holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone.
- Geographic coordinates: About 27.5° N and 120.4° E (county).
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Tea of these places before Cuilong. According to the Wenzhou Agricultural Technology Extension Center (2024), tea within the present county boundaries was already made in the Five Dynasties era, and the Wuyue state collected tax on it. The Qing Pingyang County Gazetteer (平阳县志), which the center cites, names as the best the tea from the foot of Yucangshan near Juxi (莒溪) — now Cangnan; there they made mainly “yellow soup”, red gongfu and “flags and spears”.
- Name changes. According to the same center, in the late 1980s the county renamed its “旗枪” “Mingqian Longjing” (明前龙井), and in 1993 this tea received the title of provincial famous tea of the second category. In the late 1990s the province outlined the production zone of Zhejiang Longjing, Wenzhou was not included in it, and the tea was officially named “苍南翠龙茶”.
- Discrepancy in dates. The journal Zhongguo Chaye (中国茶叶, 2000) writes that Cuilong was created by the county agriculture bureau in 1996; reference descriptions date the second-category title to 1997, not to 1993. The sources date the beginning of the tea differently.
- 1999. The title of provincial famous tea of the first category; according to reference descriptions — at the 13th provincial famous tea competition. Output that year, according to Zhongguo Chaye, was 15 t.
- 2006–2008. The Cangnan County Agronomy Society (苍南县农学会) filed the application for the mark on 8 August 2006; registration — 20 February 2008, mark No. 5528372, class 30.
- Season opening festival. Since 2006 the county has held an annual tea opening festival (温州（苍南）开茶节). The eighth, in 2013, took place in Bamuhou village; the fourteenth, in 2019, opened at the National Tea Museum in Hangzhou.
- 2012–2013. According to the Wenzhou center, in December 2012 the China International Tea Culture Research Society awarded Cuilong the title “中华文化名茶”. The China Tea Marketing Association reported in 2013 that together with this title the county received the title “中国茶文化之乡”.
- Standard. The county standard DB330327/T 3—2021 is in force: gardens, cultivation practices, picking and processing.
- Awards: According to the county newspaper (2020) — the title of provincial famous tea of the first category, gold awards at several Zhejiang tea expos and the special “Houji” (后稷) prize of the agricultural expo in Yangling. The value of the regional brand, according to an assessment by Zhejiang University, is more than 300 million yuan.
- Name: “Cangnan” (苍南) means “south of Yucangshan”: the county is named after this mountain. “Cuilong” (翠龙) means “emerald dragon”; an explanation of this part of the name is not found in the sources.
- Cultural significance: The county builds tourism on tea: according to a 2013 report, Bamuhou village is called “the Meijiawu of Wenzhou” (温州的梅家坞). In 2019 the county promoted two regional tea brands — “苍南翠龙” and “五凤香茗”.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: Varieties are not named in the mark record or in the sources consulted.
- Harvest standard: According to reference descriptions — one bud with the first unfolding leaf (一芽一叶初展), buds and leaves even in size.
- Harvest time: Exact timing for Cuilong is not found in the sources consulted. Fujian Ribao (2025) writes about the early teas of Wenzhou in general, among which Cuilong is named, that their picking begins in February, more than a month earlier than that of Hangzhou Longjing.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The very south of Zhejiang: the county borders Fuding county-level city of Fujian Province and faces the East China Sea.
- Climate: According to reference data on the county — mid-subtropical monsoon humid; mean annual temperature 14–18 °C, frost-free period about 288 days, precipitation about 1769 mm a year. There are no data specifically for the tea gardens.
- Growing altitude: Zhongguo Chaye (2000) — an average altitude of more than 400 m, Mount Wudaishan of Wufeng Township; reference descriptions — about 400 m; an advertising description of one brand — more than 500 m.
- Soils: According to the 2021 county standard — yellow-red earths and their variants on granites and tuffs, pH 4.5–6.5, organic matter more than 1%.
- Areas and output: The figures refer to the county’s tea in general: in 2013, according to the China Tea Marketing Association, 10,000 mu of gardens and 52 million yuan of output for 2012; in 2020, according to the county newspaper, 19,200 mu and more than 900 t of tea a year.
5. Production Technology
Reference descriptions divide processing into four operations — fixation, the “green pan”, resting and the “shining pan”; the Wenzhou agrotechnical center names spreading of the fresh leaf instead of fixation. Parameters are not found in the sources consulted.
- Spreading the fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng).
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng).
- “Green pan” (青锅, qīngguō).
- Resting (回潮摊凉, huícháo tānliáng).
- “Shining pan” (辉锅, huīguō).
In the general scheme for flat tea, the “green pan” is the first pan-firing with shaping, resting evens out the moisture in the leaf, and the “shining pan” finishes the drying and smooths the leaf. This is a general scheme, not a description of Cuilong specifically.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description was given by the journal Zhongguo Chaye (2000); the Wenzhou agrotechnical center describes the tea almost the same way.
- Dry leaf appearance: Flat, even and straight (扁平匀直), emerald green (色泽翠绿).
- Dry leaf aroma: Descriptions are not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean, high and lasting (香气清高持久); according to the Wenzhou center — high and sharp (香气高锐).
- Taste: Mellow, with sweetness (滋味醇和甘甜).
- Liquor color: Emerald green, bright (汤色翠绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Opens like a flower, tender green and bright (叶底成朵嫩绿明亮).
7. Chemical Composition
Physico-chemical data are not found in the sources consulted.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea. The Wenzhou agrotechnical center recommends for Cuilong a tall glass tumbler, 3–5 g of tea and water at 80–90 °C.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: Glass tumbler or 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 repeat infusions.
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 “苍南翠龙茶” (No. 5528372).
- Check the producer’s authorization against the current register: the provincial database, whose records run up to 2019, shows zero authorized companies.
- Check that the producer is from Cangnan County.
- Flat Cuilong is an even, straight emerald leaf, an emerald bright liquor, and a spent leaf that opens like a flower.
- Mark status: In the 2026 register the mark is listed as registered as of the source date; whether it is in force now is not confirmed.
11. Interesting Facts
- The names of the villages Nanchaliao and Beichaliao (南茶寮, 北茶寮) in Wanli Town — “Southern” and “Northern tea huts” — according to the Wenzhou agrotechnical center, remain from the huts that the Wuyue state set up for tea households.
- The name “Cuilong” appeared out of necessity: the former “Mingqian Longjing” had to be changed when the province outlined the Longjing zone without Wenzhou.
12. Comparison with Other Teas
- Xihu Longjing (西湖龙井): The model of flat tea; until the late 1990s Cuilong was sold as “Mingqian Longjing”, but Wenzhou was not included in the Longjing zone.
- Wuniu Zao (乌牛早): An early green tea of Yongjia County in the same prefecture, from the same list of early spring teas.
- Rui’an Qingmingzao (瑞安清明早): A tea from an extra-early variety, from the same Wenzhou list.
- Pingyang Huangtang (平阳黄汤): A yellow tea of Pingyang County, which formerly included the lands of Cangnan; the Qing gazetteer of Pingyang names “yellow soup” among the teas of the foot of Yucangshan. Cuilong has no smothering stage.
In Conclusion:
Cāngnán cuìlóng chá is a new name on old tea land: the local “flags and spears”, having been “Mingqian Longjing”, became Cuilong when Wenzhou was left outside the Longjing zone. It is a flat emerald tea from a bud with the first leaf, with a clean high aroma and a mellow, sweetish taste. The sources disagree on the date of its birth and speak more often of the brand than of the taste; it is worth trying alongside Longjing and other early Wenzhou teas.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page