---
title: "Dōngzhì yúnjiān"
url: https://thetea.app/article/dongzhi-yunjian
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Dōngzhì yúnjiān (东至云尖)

*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](https://thetea.app/article/mao-jian) 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](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong)). 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:

1.  **Withering (摊放, *tānfàng*):** The raw leaf is spread in a thin layer so that part of the moisture is lost.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation.
3.  **Shaping (做形, *zuòxíng*):** The leaf is straightened and slightly flattened — the look that is described for *Yúnjiān*.
4.  **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. 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.
* **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.

**10. 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.

**11. 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.

**12. 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.

**13. Comparison with Neighboring Teas:**

* **Qi Men Hong Cha ([祁门红茶](https://thetea.app/article/qimen-hongcha)):** 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](https://thetea.app/article/jiuhua-fucha)):** 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](https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-mao-feng)):** 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.