Duǒbèi chá (朵贝茶) is a green tea of Puding County (普定县) in the prefecture-level city of Anshun in the west of Guizhou Province. Local sources call it a historical county brand and a “tribute” tea: according to different versions, it was supplied to the court from the beginning or from the end of the Ming dynasty. Its homeland is considered to be Duobei Village in Huachu Town, and the gardens, according to the county’s description, lie at an altitude of 1100–1300 m. Since 2013 Duǒbèi chá has been a geographical indication product and a certification mark, and since 2021 it has also been protected in the European Union.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). A document stating the class directly could not be opened; the class follows from the description of quality in the reference on the geographical indication product — emerald leaf, yellow-green liquor. Red and white tea, and tea from the “黄金芽” cultivar, are also sold under the “朵贝茶” brand; whether the protection extends to them cannot be established from the materials found.
- Category: Guizhou mountain green tea; geographical indication product and certification mark.
- Origin: China, Guizhou Province (贵州, Guìzhōu), the prefecture-level city of Anshun (安顺, Ānshùn), Puding County (普定, Pǔdìng). The historical core is Duobei Village (朵贝村) of Huachu Town (化处镇) at the foot of Mount Jiangjun (将军山), on the bank of the Moxiang River (磨香河).
- Protection zone: According to reprints, 11 towns and townships of Puding County: Chengguan, Huachu, Maguan, Baiyan, Machang, Longchang, Maodong, Bulang, Pingshang, Jichangpo and Houchang. The list is known only from secondary sources and has not been checked against the text of the announcement.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Tribute — two versions. The county website writes that the tea was supplied to the court “from the Hongwu years at the beginning of the Ming, and under the Qing all the more so”. The county propaganda department and a reference of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Agriculture link the tea’s fame with tribute in the Chongzhen years (1628–1644), at the end of the Ming. The reference on the geographical indication product gives both versions: the second citing the Chronicle of Anshun Prefecture (安顺府志), while from the Chronicle of Puding County (普定县志) it quotes the cautious “according to legend, under the Ming the tea of Duobei was tribute”. The chronicles themselves are not found in the sources consulted.
- A local formula. The reference of the provincial department opens with lines saying that with the arrival of the Ming garrison Dingnan (定南) appeared, and in Dingnan the Duobei tea, tribute to the court, which “began under the Tang, was handed down under the Song and flourishes today”. The author and date of the lines are not named; the Tang and Song beginnings are words of the formula, not an established fact.
- 1960. According to the county propaganda department, in November 1960 Zhou Enlai was returning from India via Guiyang, and the county people’s committee presented him with Duobei tea. The same source attributes to him the praise “色清味甘，芳香浓郁” — “clear color, sweet taste, rich aroma”.
- 1979. According to the reference of the provincial department, the 1979 edition of the Cihai (辞海) dictionary contains the entry “普定产朵贝茶” — “Puding produces Duobei tea”.
- 2007. According to the same reference, after the provincial decision on developing the tea industry the county began building it under the Duǒbèi chá brand; according to a report on the Pengpai platform, the project to revive “ten thousand mu of Duobei tea” began at the same time.
- 2013. On 21 February the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the protection of Duǒbèi chá as a geographical indication product; in the register of the PRC Ministry of Commerce this is Announcement No. 26 of 2013. The same register notes that the name has also been registered as a certification trademark.
- 2020–2021. On 20 July 2020, according to the reference on the geographical indication product, Duǒbèi chá entered the first list of the China–EU agreement on geographical indications. In the register of the agreement it is recorded as “Duobei Cha”, the applicant being the People’s Government of Puding County.
- Name: 朵贝 (duǒbèi) — the name of a village and locality.
- Cultural significance: The county propaganda department calls Duǒbèi chá a historical famous tea of Guizhou.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: A variety specified for the product is not found in the sources consulted.
- Old trees: According to a Pengpai report (2020), a survey begun in 2017 counted more than 18,149 old tea trees in Puding County, mainly in the towns of Huachu, Jichangpo and Machang. Orderly propagation of selected old trees, according to the same report, has been under way since 2010. The same report names the oldest tree of Jichangpo as more than 800 years old.
- Old trees of Huachu: According to the reference on the geographical indication product, Huachu Town has about two thousand local tea trees over a hundred years old, mainly in the villages of Boren (播仁村), Zhangjiazhai (张家寨村) and Duobei.
- Harvest standard: A provincial standard regulates picking, but its requirements are not found in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: According to the county website, the tea hills lie in the southwest of Puding County, 17 km from the county seat.
- Growing altitude: 1100–1300 m — according to the county website and the reference on the geographical indication product. The county website specifies that the tea grows on the “coal hills” (煤山) of the Duobei area.
- Climate: According to the reference on the geographical indication product, in the main area, Huachu Town, the climate is subtropical highland monsoon and humid. The mean annual temperature is 15.1 °C, precipitation about 1330 mm a year.
- Soils: According to the county website, pH from 4.40 to 6.35; the county calls such soils “first category” for tea.
5. Production Technology
A detailed technology is not found in the sources consulted. The county website shows the processing only in photos captioned “production of cuiya” (翠芽) and “production of maofeng” (毛峰). For green tea the usual sequence is:
- Spreading and withering (摊青, tānqīng).
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation.
- Rolling or shaping (揉捻, róuniǎn).
- Drying (干燥, gānzào).
This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Duǒbèi chá.
Standard: DB52/T 1070-2015 — the Guizhou provincial standard for the geographical indication product. According to its abstract, it covers the protection zone, natural conditions, picking and processing, quality requirements, test methods, labeling and storage; the text of the standard was not accessible in the sources found.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
According to the reference on the geographical indication product:
- Dry leaf appearance: Tight, even rolled strands (条索紧实、匀整). The color is described with two words that do not agree well: “grayish and lustrous” (灰润) and “emerald green” (翠绿). How the standard resolves this discrepancy could not be checked.
- Dry leaf aroma: No data in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: High and long (香气高长); the source does not specify whether this is the aroma of the dry leaf or of the liquor.
- Taste: Rich, mellow, fresh and brisk (滋味醇厚鲜爽).
- Liquor color: Yellow-green, bright (汤色黄绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): No data in the sources consulted.
7. Chemical Composition
The county propaganda department cites the data of a 1981 analysis:
| Indicator | Content |
|---|---|
| Water-soluble substances | 42.82% |
| Amino acids | 3.06% |
| Tea polyphenols | 25.25% |
| Caffeine | 2.77% |
The source does not say who did the analysis or by what method; this is a historical figure, not a norm. The reference on the geographical indication product writes in qualitative terms: polyphenols, amino acids, catechins and aromatic substances are abundant.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware, put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Two or three further infusions, leaving part of the liquor.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; green tea keeps its freshness best within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Retail price data are not found in the sources consulted. The figures for the county’s industry diverge from year to year and, judging by the wording, refer to all the tea of the county, not only to Duǒbèi chá: in 2021 the county propaganda department named 86,100 mu of gardens, 1300 t of tea and 390 million yuan, in 2023 the reference of the provincial department — more than 5000 t a year and about 800 million yuan of total value.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication product mark; according to the reference, only a producer that has passed approval may use it.
- Check that the producer is from Puding County.
- Remember that the “朵贝茶” brand also appears on red and white tea; the protected description is a green tea with emerald leaf and yellow-green liquor.
11. Interesting Facts
- The tea of the Duobei area, according to the county website, grows on “coal hills” (煤山).
- An entry on Duobei tea appears in the 1979 edition of the Cihai dictionary.
12. Comparison with Other Guizhou Green Teas
- Pubu Maofeng (瀑布毛峰): A green tea of the same prefecture-level city of Anshun.
- Duyun Maojian (都匀毛尖): The best-known green tea of Guizhou, from Qiannan Prefecture.
- Shiqian Taicha (石阡苔茶): A green tea from a local tea population in the northeast of the province.
In Conclusion:
Duǒbèi chá is a mountain green tea of Puding County, and the solid part of its biography is the legal one: the 2013 protection, a certification mark, a provincial standard and a place in the first list of the agreement with the European Union. The historical part rests on local formulas and two disagreeing versions of tribute under the Ming. The most tangible thing this tea has is its old trees: according to the survey, more than eighteen thousand in the county and about two thousand century-old ones in Huachu Town alone.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page