Dōngzhì yúnjiān · thetea.app

Dōngzhì yúnjiān (东至云尖) is a green tea of Dongzhi County (东至县) of Chizhou prefecture-level city in the south of Anhui Province. The name is made up of the place name and the word 云尖 — “cloud tips”, a hint at a mountain harvest of buds. The county is better known for red tea: some of its townships are part of the Qimen red tea production zone, and the county itself serves as a national base for red tea exports. Yúnjiān is its green line. The gardens lie in the mountains near the Xianyushan massif at altitudes of 200–800 m. The tea is protected as a geographical indication; the zone is given as the county.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The county’s tea reference book directly assigns Yúnjiān to the green line and contrasts it with the local red tea. An essay on the tea adds that it is made from the leaf of the local tea bush population.
Category: Mountain bud green tea of southern Anhui; geographical indication.
Origin: China, Anhui Province (安徽, Ānhuī), Chizhou prefecture-level city (池州, Chízhōu), Dongzhi County (东至, Dōngzhì).
Protection status: A valid geographical indication. The official index names Dongzhi County as the place of origin; I have not checked the legal description of the zone’s boundaries, so the zone is given here as the county, not as a list of townships. The essay on the tea calls it a product with a geographical indication certification mark; the registration number and year are not confirmed in the sources consulted.
Geographic coordinates: The essay places the county at about 30° N; exact coordinates of the zone are not found in the sources consulted.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- A red tea county. Several townships of Dongzhi are part of the Qimen red tea production zone; the county itself is listed as a national base for red tea exports and one of the country’s key tea-producing counties.
- 1990s. According to the essay on the tea, Yúnjiān was created in the 1990s under the guidance of Chen Chuan (陈椽), a professor at Anhui Agricultural University.
- 1997. The same essay reports a gold award at the 1997 Beijing International Tea Meeting — soon after the tea appeared.
- The essay names Yúnjiān among the products of the “Greater Huangshan Geographical Indication Protection Register” (大黄山地理标志保护名录).
- I know all three pieces of information from a single popular essay; I have not found a second independent source.
Name: “Dōngzhì” (东至) is the name of the county. “Yúnjiān” (云尖) means “cloud tips”. In the county the word is not only a proper name: the brands 天鹅云尖 and 香山云尖 are being developed alongside it, so “yúnjiān” here is also a generic designation for mountain bud green tea.
Cultural significance: For a county whose fame is tied to red tea, Yúnjiān is its named green line. In the “Hui” family of famous teas the county is also represented by 东至毛尖 and 东至野山茶, and among local brands there is also 神泉珍珠绿.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: According to the essay — the local tea bush population of Dongzhi County (群体种). Names of bred cultivars are not found in the sources consulted.
Raw material: A harvest standard is not found in the sources consulted; the word 云尖 in the name points to a harvest of buds, but I have not found the norm.
Harvest time: No data in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: Southern Anhui, the mountains adjoining the Xianyushan massif (仙寓山).
Ridges: The reference book names the tea ridges Xianyuling, Hongqiling, Zishita, Tian’efeng, Yunwujian, Duowangjian, Yegan and Lianhuatan.
Growing altitude: The gardens are at 200–800 m. The essay adds that the county has 32 peaks above 600 m, and the highest point is 1375.5 m.
Gardens: The reference book speaks of the county’s tea gardens covering about 120,000 mu, including more than 500 tracts of over a hundred mu each; 146 villages of the county specialize in tea.
Climate: According to the essay — mean annual temperature 16.1 °C, precipitation about 1530.6 mm a year, forest cover of the county 58.7%. The figures refer to the county, not to individual gardens.
Soils: No data in the sources consulted.

5. Production Technology

The technology of Dōngzhì yúnjiān specifically is not described in the sources consulted. For a mountain bud green tea the following sequence is usual:

Withering (摊放, tānfàng): The raw leaf is spread in a thin layer so that part of the moisture is lost.
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation.
Shaping (做形, zuòxíng): The leaf is straightened and slightly flattened — the look that is described for Yúnjiān.
Drying (干燥, gānzào).

This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Dōngzhì yúnjiān. The reference book reports only that “Dōngzhì yúnjiān” is produced by 64 specialized factories of the county.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The description below comes from the essay on the tea; I have not found normative requirements for the appearance.

Dry leaf appearance: Straight, slightly flattened, lush green, with noticeable down (挺直略扁、润绿显毫).
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: High and lasting (香高持久).
Taste: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor color: Light, clear (汤色明亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): No descriptions in the sources consulted.

7. Chemical Composition

Physicochemical data are not 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, to see the straight leaves, or a white gaiwan.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Add the tea, pour the water down the side.
3. First infusion — 40–60 seconds.
4. Drink, leaving a third of the liquor in the tumbler.
5. Top up with hot water.
6. Two or three further infusions.

9. Storage

Class practice. In airtight opaque packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from moisture, light and odors. A seasonal tea: 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 mark on the packaging.
- Check that the producer is registered in Dongzhi County.
- Do not confuse Dōngzhì yúnjiān with other brands bearing the word “yúnjiān”: there are several of them in the county itself.
- Compare the appearance with the description: a straight, slightly flat, lush green leaf with down, a light liquor.

11. Interesting Facts

Dongzhi County is known above all for red tea, and Yúnjiān is its green line.
Several brands in the county bear the word “yúnjiān” at once, so it works as the name of a type.
The reference book counts 64 factories in the county producing this particular tea.
According to the essay, the tea has existed as a separate name since the 1990s, while the county itself has grown tea far longer.

12. Comparison with Neighboring Teas

Qi Men Hong Cha (祁门红茶): A red tea whose production zone includes several townships of Dongzhi. The same mountain region, but a different class: the leaf is fully oxidized.
Jiuhua Fo Cha (九华佛茶): A green tea of Mount Jiuhuashan in the same Chizhou prefecture; an umbrella name for the teas of the sacred mountain.
Huangshan Mao Feng (黄山毛峰): One of the best-known green teas of southern Anhui, from Mount Huangshan; a different mountain and a different name. Comparative tastings of the two teas are not found in the sources consulted.

In Conclusion:

Dōngzhì yúnjiān is a green tea of a county famous for red tea: mountain gardens at 200–800 m, a straight flattened leaf with down, a high lasting aroma and a light liquor. The documentary part of its history is still thin: the protection zone is given as the county, and the creation of the tea in the 1990s and the 1997 award are known from a single essay. This is an honest portrait of a young name behind which stands an old tea-growing region.