Dàtián gāoshān chá

Dàtián gāoshān chá (大田高山茶), “Datian high-mountain tea”, is the protected name of the tea of Datian County (大田县) of Sanming prefecture-level city in the center of Fujian Province. One name covers two classes — oolong and red tea. The zone is the whole county, with no altitude threshold, although, according to the 2012 technical specifications, of the gardens above 600 m more than 90% lie at 800–1200 m.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: There is no single class. The protection requirements describe oolong (乌龙茶, wūlóngchá) and red tea (红茶, hóngchá) — with different technology and a different appearance.
Category: Protected regional name of the county; “high-mountain” (高山, gāoshān) is a generic word, not a variety and not a class.
Origin: China, Fujian Province (福建, Fújiàn), Sanming prefecture-level city (三明, Sānmíng), Datian County (大田, Dàtián).
Protection zone: The whole county — 19 townships, towns and farms, from Pingshan (屏山) and Jiyang (济阳) to Shipai (石牌) and Dongfeng (东风).
Geographic coordinates: 117°29′–118°03′ E, 25°29′–26°10′ N — according to the CNIPA announcement.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Early mentions. According to a 2021 publication on the Fujian Ribao portal, tea growing in the county can be traced back to the second year of Longxing (隆兴) of the Southern Song era, that is, to 1164. The same source says that the county gazetteer of 1611 already mentions the tea trade. I have not seen the primary sources.
- Taiwanese varieties. According to the same publication, at the end of 1995 the county introduced Jin Xuan (金萱), Qingxin Damao (青心大冇) and Ruanzhi Wulong (软枝乌龙); the corpus article on Datian Mei Ren Cha dates the start to 1998–1999 — the dates diverge.
- 2012. Agricultural product geographical indication. A reference portal that reprinted the technical specifications refers to Ministry of Agriculture announcement No. 1813 of 3 August 2012; I have not checked it against the primary source. The certificate holder is the Datian County Tea Society (大田县茶叶学会).
- 2017. According to the provincial list of marks, certification mark No. 20158090 was registered on 14 September 2017; the holder is the Datian County Tea Association (大田县茶叶协会), the goods — “tea”. According to the 2021 Fujian Ribao publication, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs honored the name with the title of national model of agricultural product geographical indication (国家级农产品地理标志示范样板).
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), by announcement No. 640 of 16 July, recognized 1409 geographical indication products; Dàtián gāoshān chá is row 546, and the applicant is the same Tea Society. The second appendix sets the requirements: varieties, soils, harvest, technology and appearance.
Name: 大田 is the name of the county, literally “big field”; 高山茶 (gāoshān chá) means “high-mountain tea”.
Cultural significance: According to Fujian Ribao, Datian bears the title “hometown of Chinese high-mountain tea” (中国高山茶之乡) and calls itself the only county with such a title. The county’s main brand is the “beauty tea” Datian Mei Ren Cha (大田美人茶).

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Varieties / Cultivars: The CNIPA requirements name “new high-quality varieties”: Jin Guanyin (金观音, jīnguānyīn), Tie Guanyin (铁观音, tiěguānyīn), Yuemingxiang (悦茗香, yuèmíngxiāng), Dangui (丹桂, dānguì) and Taicha No. 12 (台茶12号, táichá shí’èr hào) — this is the registration name of the Taiwanese variety Jin Xuan.
Variety requirement: Clonal, hardy, adapted to the local climate and suitable for its class of tea.
Harvest standard: Picking that preserves the bush, in batches and in several rounds; according to the standard, tender apical shoots (嫩芽梢) are picked — to the requirements of oolong or red tea; according to the 2012 specifications — by hand plucking or with small shears.
Harvest dates: No data found in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: Central Fujian, the western slope of the middle part of the Daiyun Mountains (戴云山). According to the 2012 technical specifications, there are 175 peaks above 1000 m, the highest being Daxianfeng (大仙峰), 1553 m.
Garden altitude: The same source: 66,000 mu of gardens above 600 m, of which more than 90% are at an altitude of 800–1200 m.
Climate: Mid-subtropical monsoon. Mean annual temperature — 15.3–19.6 °C, precipitation — 1491.7–1809.6 mm a year, frost-free period — more than 275 days, sunshine — on average 1723.8 hours a year.
Soils: CNIPA requirements: permeable red, yellow-red and yellow soils, a deep profile, a slope of less than 25°, pH 4.8–6.1, organic matter 0.6–2.5%. According to the 2012 specifications, red soils predominate in the north-west of the county, yellow-red and yellow soils in the south-east, and the layer is usually more than a meter thick.
Fertilizers: Mainly well-rotted organic matter, compound fertilizers as a supplement.

5. Production Technology

The requirements set a chain of operations for each class, but without parameters — they contain no temperatures, times or moisture levels.

Oolong:
1. Fresh leaf.
2. Sun withering (晒青, shàiqīng).
3. Shaking and resting the leaf (做青, zuòqīng) — in the general oolong scheme, this is the stage of partial oxidation.
4. Fixation (杀青, shāqīng).
5. Shaping (做形, zuòxíng).
6. Drying (烘干, hōnggān).
Red tea:
1. Fresh leaf.
2. Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo).
3. Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
4. Fermentation, that is, oxidation (发酵, fājiào).
5. Drying (烘干, hōnggān).

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The appearance is set by the 2025 CNIPA requirements; it coincides with the 2012 technical specifications.

Dry leaf appearance: Oolong — tightly rolled and heavy, dark green in color with an oily sheen (外形紧结、重实；色泽乌绿、油润). Red — tightly twisted strips (条索紧结).
Dry leaf aroma: No separate descriptions found in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Oolong — high, clean and long, with a distinct floral tone (香气清高悠长，花香显). Red — high and sharp (香气高锐).
Taste: Oolong — rich and full, with a sweet fresh aftertaste (滋味浓厚甘爽), with a “high-mountain resonance” (高山茶韵) and the stamina for many infusions. Red — sweet, fresh and brisk (滋味甘甜鲜爽).
Liquor color: Red — golden yellow, bright (汤色金黄明亮). For oolong the requirements do not name a color; in the 2012 grade table it ranges from greenish-yellow and bright in the top grade (绿黄、明亮) to light yellow in the third and orange-yellow in the fourth.
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Oolong — fleshy, soft, glossy (叶底肥厚软亮). Red — tender, bright red and even (叶底嫩艳匀红).

Under the 2012 specifications, oolong is divided into five grades and red tea into four. The top grade of red tea there is fleshy thin strips with golden down (肥嫩紧细、毫显；茸毛金黄) and a bright red liquor (红艳), which diverges from the “golden yellow” liquor of the general description; the documents do not explain this.

7. Chemical Composition

Neither the CNIPA requirements nor the 2012 technical specifications set physico-chemical indicators. For safety, the CNIPA requirements refer to national norms in general, while the 2012 specifications name them directly: GB 2762 — contaminants, GB 2763 — pesticide residues. Other data on the composition are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

Class practice — the parameters depend on which tea under this name you have in hand.

Oolong: 95–100 °C, 5–7 g per 100–110 ml gaiwan, a quick rinse, first infusions 15–20 seconds with gradual lengthening, six to eight infusions.
Red tea: 90–95 °C, 3 g per 150 ml, first infusion about a minute, gaiwan or porcelain teapot, several infusions with increasing time.

9. Storage

Class practice. Oolong with a floral aroma — in airtight packaging, in a cool dark place, away from moisture and odors. Red tea — in a dry dark place at room temperature, in tight packaging.

10. Price and Counterfeits

No price data found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark or certification mark No. 20158090; the producer is from Datian County.
- Remember that “high-mountain” on the packaging without the county name guarantees nothing: 高山茶 is a generic word.
- Check the appearance: oolong — a heavy dark green leaf with a sheen and a floral aroma; red — tight strips and a sweet high aroma.

11. Interesting Facts

Among the varieties in the requirements is Taicha No. 12, that is, the Taiwanese Jin Xuan: Datian high-mountain tea also relies on Taiwanese material.
The “beauty tea” (大田美人茶), the county’s main brand, is not mentioned in the requirements for Dàtián gāoshān chá: it is a separate regional brand with its own group standards.
According to county data in the technical specifications, in 2009 the county produced 3600 t of tea; according to Fujian Ribao, in 2019 — 12,800 t of raw tea (干毛茶, gān máochá).

12. Comparison with Other Teas

Shouning Gaoshan Cha (寿宁高山茶): Also a protected “high-mountain” tea of Fujian, but its zone is only villages above 500 m, and its classes are red and green tea.
Datian Mei Ren Cha (大田美人茶): A heavily oxidized oolong of the same county, the “beauty tea”; a separate brand not described in the requirements for the high-mountain tea.
Tie Guanyin (铁观音): Oolong of Anxi County; in Datian, one of the varieties.
Gao Shan Cha (高山茶): A generic concept for teas from high-mountain gardens; in the corpus, an overview article.

In Conclusion:

Dàtián gāoshān chá is a county-wide name covering oolong and red tea. The documents are detailed about the place — gardens mainly at 800–1200 m, acidic red and yellow soils, clonal varieties from Jin Guanyin to the Taiwanese Taicha No. 12 — and about the appearance: the floral aroma of the oolong, the sweet brisk taste of the red tea. They contain no figures on composition or processing parameters.

Sources

Standards

Full list — on the Sources page