---
title: "Chángtài Tiānzhúyán chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/changtai-tianzhuyan-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Chángtài Tiānzhúyán chá (长泰天竺岩茶)

*Chángtài Tiānzhúyán chá* (长泰天竺岩茶) is an oolong of Changtai District (长泰区) of Zhangzhou prefecture-level city in the south of Fujian Province, named after Tianzhuyan (天竺岩) — an old temple on Mount Fenghuangshan in the northeast of the district. The “*yán*” (岩) here is part of the place name, not a reference to Wuyi “rock” tea. The name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark since 2015. The register gives the goods of the mark simply as “tea”, while the class is fixed by the 2021 standard of the mark: it is an oolong from Fujian oolong cultivars, made by withering, green-leaf processing and roasting. The standard allows two appearances — a light one, with red spots on the twists, a “rock rhyme” and a golden liquor, and a dark one, with an orange-red liquor and a red rim on the spent leaves.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Oolong (乌龙茶, *wūlóngchá*). The class is fixed by the group standard T/CTNX 003-2021 “地理标志证明商标 长泰天竺岩茶” — the requirements for tea under the mark, maintained by the holder of the mark itself. The standard defines this tea as a product from “specific oolong cultivars of Fujian” (福建地区特定乌龙茶茶树品种), made by withering, green-leaf processing, fixation, rolling and roasting. This is the same sequence by which the national standard for oolong processing technology GB/T 35863-2018 (clause 3.1) defines oolong itself: 萎凋、做青、杀青、揉捻（或包揉）、干燥. The provincial list of marks gives the goods more broadly — “茶”, tea in general; the earlier card left the class unestablished, and the standard closes this gap.
* **Name trap:** “岩茶” in the name does not make this tea a relative of Wuyi Yancha ([武夷岩茶](https://thetea.app/article/wuyi-yancha)): 天竺岩 is the name of a place and a temple.
* **Category:** Southern Fujian oolong with a geographical indication certification mark (2015) and a group standard of the mark (2021).
* **Origin:** China, Fujian Province (福建, *Fújiàn*), Zhangzhou prefecture-level city (漳州, *Zhāngzhōu*), Changtai District (长泰区, *Chángtài qū*); until 2021 — a county.
* **Zone:** According to the standard of the mark — the current administrative territory of Changtai District (长泰区现辖行政区域); the standard refers to Appendix A, but the appendix is absent from the published text. Changtai is also on the list of the thirty-five units of the provincial indication Fujian Wulongcha ([福建乌龙茶](https://thetea.app/article/fujian-wulongcha)).
* **Protection regime:** Geographical indication certification mark of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) No. 13571586, class 30, goods — tea. According to the provincial list as of 30 June 2026, the mark was registered on 28 March 2015, the holder is the Changtai County Agricultural Products Circulation Association (长泰县农产品流通协会), and the registration is in force. The quality requirements are the group standard T/CTNX 003-2021: published on 20 July 2021, in force since 1 August 2021, maintained by the same association. The standard was drafted by the association, the district agricultural technology extension station (漳州市长泰区农业技术推广站), a Fujian agricultural company, a tea cooperative and a tea shop of Changtai County.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Not given in the sources consulted.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Legend.** According to the magazine *Minnan Feng* (闽南风, 2022, No. 11), in Changtai people have said since the Tang and Song: “先有天竺岩，后有长泰置县” — “first there was Tianzhuyan, then Changtai County was established”, and the same is said of Zhangzhou prefecture itself.
    * **659.** The same magazine, citing the *Chronicle of the Tea Industry of Changtai County* (长泰县茶业志), writes that in the fourth year of Xianqing (显庆) of the Tang dynasty the monks of the Tianzhuyan temple began to grow and make tea. I have not seen the chronicle itself.
    * **End of Yuan — beginning of Ming.** A popular reference on local products writes that Fangyang Town (枋洋镇) is linked by mountains and rivers to the tea places of neighboring Anxi County, that the techniques of the two places developed through exchange, and that by the end of Yuan — beginning of Ming part of the tea was distinguished by a good aroma.
    * **Ming.** The same reference, citing the *Chronicle of Changtai County* (长泰县志), writes that in the Zhengde and Jiajing years (正德, 嘉靖) Changtai tea was supplied as tribute. I have not seen the chronicle.
    * **Qing.** According to the reference and the magazine, the tea went to Southeast Asia, and the export chests of the tea firm of Lin Wenpu (林文圃) — the reference calls him an Anxi merchant — bore the inscription “天竺岩茶”. That Anxi tea was then valued lower than Tianzhuyan tea is the reference's assessment.
    * **2015.** On 28 March mark No. 13571586 was registered. The adjacent number belongs to a mark of the same holder for medicinal amomum (长泰砂仁).
    * **2021.** According to a reference on the district, on 2 February Changtai County was converted into a district. On 20 July the group standard of the mark T/CTNX 003-2021 was published — with a definition of the tea as an oolong, a list of cultivars, quality grades and physicochemical limits; in force since 1 August.
    * **2023.** According to a report by Zhangzhou television, four villages of Fangyang Town — Qingyang (青阳), Chiling (赤岭), Shangyang (上洋) and Neifang (内枋) — joined forces to grow Tianzhuyan tea on a trial basis. The reason, according to the report, is market saturation: the villages grew rich on tea thanks to their proximity to Anxi, and now the district encourages planting idle land with the best cultivars under the “天竺岩茶” brand.
* **Name:** “*Chángtài*” (长泰) is the name of the district. “*Tiānzhúyán*” (天竺岩) is a temple and a place on Mount Fenghuangshan (凤凰山). “*Chá*” (茶) means “tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** The magazine describes Tianzhuyan as a temple on the “head of the phoenix” of Mount Fenghuangshan, which, in its words, resembles a phoenix with outstretched wings; it traces the tea history of the place to the monks of the Tang era.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** Among the “specific oolong cultivars” the standard of the mark names *tiěguānyīn* ([铁观音](https://thetea.app/article/tie-guanyin)), *jīnguānyīn* ([金观音](https://thetea.app/article/jin-guanyin)), *méizhàn* (梅占), *huángguānyīn* ([黄观音](https://thetea.app/article/huang-guanyin)), *dānguì* (丹桂), *huángjīnguì* ([黄金桂](https://thetea.app/article/huangjin-gui)) and *běnshān* ([本山](https://thetea.app/article/ben-shan)) — cultivars approved by the national or provincial variety commission — and leaves room for “high-quality oolong cultivars” that are yet to be introduced. The 2023 report on new plantings does not name the cultivars. The portal of the Fujian Provincial Government (November 2023) relays the advice of the Changtai tea association to renew the old gardens of the four villages, where the cultivars Maoxie (毛蟹) and *běnshān* (本山) grew, called low-end (低端) there — although *běnshān* is on the standard's list of cultivars.
* **Harvest standard:** Tender shoots at the “opening” stage — from small to large (嫩梢小开面至大开面, *xiǎo kāimiàn zhì dà kāimiàn*). According to the national standard for oolong processing technology GB/T 35863-2018 (clauses 3.2–3.4) this means: the shoot has formed a dormant bud, and the area of the top leaf is from 20–30% of the area of the second leaf (small opening) to 71–100% (large).
* **Harvest time:** The standard of the mark does not set harvest dates; there are no other data in the sources consulted.
* **Raw material requirements:** The oolong cultivars named above, approved by the national or provincial variety commission, and high-quality oolong cultivars that will be introduced; leaf only from the territory of Changtai District.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Southern Fujian. According to a reference on the district, in the north Changtai borders Anxi County of Quanzhou prefecture, in the southeast — Xiamen. The area of the district is 912.67 km², of which mountain land is 903,000 mu.
* **Tianzhuyan area:** The northeast of the district, Mount Fenghuangshan. According to the magazine, the slopes there are covered with dense forest, springs flow, mists linger — “an environment suitable for tea”. The altitude is not found in the sources consulted.
* **Climate and soils:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The order of work is set by the standard of the mark: first the raw tea, *máochá* (毛茶), is made, then it is refined. The standard gives no temperatures or times; the explanations of the stages follow the general scheme for oolong.

1.  **Withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*):** The standard does not specify whether in the sun or indoors.
2.  **Green-leaf processing (做青, *zuòqīng*):** Shaking and resting are alternated; the edges of the leaf partly oxidize.
3.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation.
4.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*) or rolling in a cloth bag (包揉, *bāoróu*):** The standard names three shapes of the finished tea: ball-shaped (圆结形), curled (卷曲形) and strip-shaped (条形). Ball-shaped tea, according to GB/T 35863-2018 (clause 3.6), is obtained by rolling in a bag.
5.  **Roasting (烘焙, *hōngbèi*):** Completes the raw tea.
6.  **Refining:** Combining lots (归堆), sieving (筛分), winnowing (风选), hand sorting (拣剔), re-roasting (复火), cooling (摊凉), blending into a uniform lot (匀堆) and packing.

The standard prohibits coloring the tea and adding anything to it, including flavorings.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below is from the standard of the mark T/CTNX 003-2021. The standard allows two appearances; the words “light” and “dark” are ours — in the standard the appearances are simply separated by the conjunction “or”. Light: the twists are tightly curled or sturdy, even, with an oily sheen and clear red spots (红点明); the aroma is clean; the taste is mellow, full, fresh, with a sweet aftertaste and a clear “rock rhyme” (岩韵明显); the liquor is golden; the spent leaves are soft, glossy, even. Dark: sturdy twists with a dark sheen (乌润), a rich, long aroma, a mellow, full taste, a clear orange-red liquor and a red rim on soft, glossy spent leaves. By quality grade — premium (特级) and first to third — the standard gives the following characteristics.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Premium grade — tight, curled twists (紧结、卷曲) with an oily sheen, clean and even; first — sturdy (壮结), with an oily sheen; second and third — less and less sturdy, with a dark sheen (尚乌润), less even.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** The standard does not describe it separately.
* **Liquor aroma:** Premium grade — fresh (清香); first — clean (清纯); second — fairly rich but short (尚浓欠长); third — somewhat weak (稍淡).
* **Taste:** Premium grade — fresh, mellow, sweet and brisk (鲜醇甘爽); first — fairly mellow and full (尚醇厚); second — fairly mellow (尚醇); third — fairly strong, somewhat coarse (尚浓稍粗).
* **Liquor color:** Premium grade — orange-yellow, clear and bright (橙黄、清澈明亮); first — orange-yellow, clear; second — orange-yellow; third — deep orange-yellow (深橙黄). In the general description of the light appearance the liquor is called golden, in the table of grades — orange-yellow.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Premium grade — fleshy, soft, glossy and even (肥厚软亮、匀整); first — soft, glossy, fairly even; second — fairly soft and even; third — not quite even and glossy (欠匀亮).

Popular references describe the tea differently: a dense, even leaf of emerald green color with an oily sheen (色泽翠绿油润), “rock bones and floral fragrance” (岩骨花香), a mellow, sweet and brisk taste, a clear apricot-yellow liquor (清澈杏黄), astringent and holding up to repeated infusions. This diverges from the description in the standard: the standard names neither an emerald leaf nor an apricot liquor, and for tea under the mark the holder has established precisely the characteristics of the standard.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The standard of the mark sets physicochemical limits, in percent by mass:

* **Moisture:** no more than 7.0%.
* **Total ash:** no more than 6.5%.
* **Broken tea:** no more than 16.0%.
* **Dust:** no more than 1.3%.
* **Water-soluble substances (水浸出物):** no less than 32%.
* **Crude fiber:** no more than 20%.

Contaminants and pesticide residues follow the general norms GB 2762 and GB 2763. The figures are taken from the text version of the standard in the National Digital Standards Library (国家数字标准馆); I have not seen a scan with a seal. Data on the polyphenols, amino acids and caffeine of this particular tea are not found in the sources consulted.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The long list of healing actions from popular references is not supported by research.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for southern Fujian oolong.

* **Water temperature:** 95–100 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 7–8 g per 110 ml gaiwan.
* **Teaware:** A gaiwan or a Yixing teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and quickly pour off the first water.
    3. First infusions — 10–20 seconds.
    4. With each infusion increase the time little by little.
    5. A good oolong withstands six to eight infusions.

**10. Storage:**

The standard of the mark requires storing the tea according to GB/T 30375-2013 and itself specifies: a clean, dry, ventilated warehouse free of odors, boxes no closer than 200 mm to the floor and 300 mm to the wall. The shelf life of the finished tea under the standard is 18 months. At home — class practice: in airtight packaging, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. Roasted oolong is kept at room temperature, fresh oolong in the cold, to be drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

No price data in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication certification mark “长泰天竺岩茶” No. 13571586; the holder is the Changtai agricultural products circulation association.
    * Check that the producer is from Changtai District.
    * According to the standard, the packaging states the cultivar, the place of production, the standard number (T/CTNX 003-2021) and the quality grade — from premium to third.
    * The standard prohibits coloring and flavorings: flavored tea under this name does not meet the standard.
    * Do not take “岩茶” on the packaging for Wuyi rock tea: it is a different place and a different mark.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* Under the Qing, according to local texts, the name “天竺岩茶” was printed on export chests — long before the mark.
* The holder of the mark also has other Changtai marks — for sweet potato, mandarin, ponkan, amomum and red rice wine.
* The standard of the mark allows two appearances of one tea — a light one, with a golden liquor, and a dark one, with an orange-red liquor; it names the “rock rhyme” only for the light one.
* Eight years after the registration of the mark, in 2023, four villages of Fangyang joined forces to plant tea under this name on a trial basis.

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

* **Wuyi Yancha (武夷岩茶):** Rock oolong of the Wuyi Mountains in the north of the province — a namesake through the word “岩茶”, but a different region, a different mark and a different school.
* **Tie Guanyin (铁观音):** Oolong of neighboring Anxi County, with which Fangyang, according to local texts, has always exchanged techniques.
* **Pinghe Bai Ya Qi Lan ([平和白芽奇兰](https://thetea.app/article/pinghe-bai-ya-qi-lan)):** Oolong of Pinghe County in the same Zhangzhou prefecture.
* **Nanjing Tulou Cha ([南靖土楼茶](https://thetea.app/article/nanjing-tulou-cha)):** Oolong of Nanjing County in the same prefecture, with a mark for oolong (2022).
* **Fujian Wulongcha (福建乌龙茶):** The provincial umbrella indication, whose zone also includes Changtai.

**In Conclusion:**

*Chángtài Tiānzhúyán chá* is an oolong bearing the name of a mountain temple that local legend considers older than the county. The 2015 mark protects “tea” in general, while the 2021 standard of the mark specifies: it is an oolong from Fujian oolong cultivars — light, with red spots on the twists, a rock rhyme and a golden liquor, or dark, with an orange-red one. The name has a long history — from Tang monks to the export chests of the Qing era — and its present life is beginning anew: since 2023 four villages of Fangyang near the border with Anxi have been planting tea under this name on a trial basis.