Fú’ān lǜchá (福安绿茶) is a green tea of Fu’an county-level city (福安市) of Ningde prefecture-level city in the northeast of Fujian Province, near the border with Zhejiang. Fu’an is famous above all for the red tea Tanyang Gongfu and holds the titles of “capital of Chinese red tea” and “hometown of Chinese tea”; green tea received its own certification mark here only in October 2021, almost simultaneously with white tea. According to the description of the mark, it is a tea of large, even buds with dense down, with a tender, lasting aroma, a tender yellow-green clear liquor and a fresh, mellow taste with a sweet aftertaste.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is stated in the name and in the register: the goods of the mark are recorded as “绿茶”.
- Category: Fujian green tea with a geographical indication certification mark (2021).
- Origin: China, Fujian Province (福建, Fújiàn), Ningde prefecture-level city (宁德, Níngdé), Fu’an county-level city (福安市, Fú’ān shì).
- Zone: According to the geographical indications reference website — the current administrative territory of Fu’an (福安市现辖行政区域). The provincial list of marks names Fu’an as the administrative affiliation of the holder; I have not seen the legal boundary of the zone.
- Protection regime: Geographical indication certification mark of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) No. 35073373, goods — green tea. According to the provincial list as of 30 June 2026, the mark was registered on 21 October 2021, the holder is the Fu’an Tea Industry Association (福安市茶业协会), and the registration is valid.
- Geographic coordinates: Not stated in the documents found.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Antiquity. Mindong Ribao (2023) writes that the tea history of Fu’an “goes back to the Sui and Tang” (远溯隋唐). According to Fujian Ribao (2018), tea has been grown in Shekou Town (社口镇) since the middle of the Tang era. Information on what tea was made then is not found in these articles.
- 1851. According to Mindong Ribao, the red tea “坦洋工夫” was created in Tanyang village, and in 1915 it received a gold medal at the Panama International Exposition. The fame of Fu’an as a red tea land begins with this tea.
- From the 1970s. The same newspaper writes that in 1972 cutting-propagated seedlings of the varieties 福安大白茶 and 福云6号 began to be raised in Gantang Town (甘棠镇). Over time Fu’an became one of the six regional tea variety propagation bases in the country; in peak years, according to the newspaper, it accounted for about 60% of the seedlings supplied in the country. Hence the saying “天下茶苗出福安” — “seedlings for all under heaven come from Fu’an”.
- 2018. According to Fujian Ribao (2021), in November the Fu’an Tea Industry Association filed an application for the “福安白茶” mark.
- 2021. The “福安白茶” mark (No. 35073374) was registered on 7 October, the “福安绿茶” mark (No. 35073373) on 21 October; both have the same holder. Fujian Ribao calls the white tea the sixteenth geographical indication mark of the city. When the application for the green tea was filed is not stated in the sources consulted; the numbers of the two marks are consecutive.
- Name: “Fú’ān” (福安) is the name of the city: 福 means “happiness”, 安 means “peace”. “Lǜchá” (绿茶) means “green tea”.
- Cultural significance: According to Mindong Ribao (2023), Fu’an holds the titles “中国红茶之都” (capital of Chinese red tea) and “中国茶叶之乡” (hometown of Chinese tea). According to Fujian Ribao (2018), Shekou is home to the province’s first scientific institution for tea — now the Tea Research Institute of the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, with a collection of 450 tea plant varieties. The sources found report nothing about the past of green tea in Fu’an.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: The mark, according to the data found, does not name varieties. The main local variety is 福安大白茶 (Fú’ān dàbáichá), since 1985 a national elite variety (number GS13003-1985, according to Wikipedia).
- Birthplace. The sources diverge. Chinese Wikipedia names Shanggaoshan village of Muyang Township (穆阳乡上高山村); the encyclopedia of the agricultural publishing house “智汇三农” names Gaoling village of Kangcuo commune (康厝公社高岭村); it records the second name of the variety as “高领大白茶”.
- Origin. Both references give two versions: selection from wild-growing tea, or introduction from the area of Songxi, Zhenghe and Jianyang, where it was called “皇帝茶” (“emperor’s tea”). The variety received the name 福安大白茶 in 1973.
- Appearance. A semi-tree; the leaf is dark green with an oily sheen. The encyclopedia classes the variety as medium-leaf; Wikipedia in one and the same article calls it both large-leaf and medium-leaf. The variety is early, the buds are fleshy, the down is fairly dense.
- For which teas. According to the encyclopedia, it gives excellent Baihao Yinzhen and gongfu red tea, and green tea dried with hot air (烘绿) is “also of good quality”.
- Raw material: The description of the mark speaks of large fleshy buds with dense down; which varieties give them and by what standard the leaf is picked is not stated.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: According to Mindong Ribao (2023), Fu’an borders the south of Zhejiang in the north and faces the strait in the east; the climate is mild and humid. The area of Baiyun Mountain (白云山) within the city limits, according to the newspaper, is in drizzle and clouds almost all year round.
- Scale: According to the same newspaper, the tea gardens of Fu’an occupy 300,000 mu; in 2022, 28,100 t of crude tea worth 2.12 billion yuan was produced. These figures cover all the teas of the city; the share of green tea is not given.
- Altitude and soils: No data in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
The sources found do not describe the technology of “福安绿茶”. The description of the mark does not name the drying method — with hot air or in a pan.
Below is the general scheme for green tea, not a description of this particular tea:
- Spreading the fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that it gives up part of its moisture.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation and preserves the green color.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn) or other shaping.
- Drying (干燥, gānzào): With hot air (烘青, hōngqīng) or in a pan (炒青, chǎoqīng).
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below is given by the geographical indications reference website for the tea under the mark.
- Dry leaf appearance: The buds are large and fleshy, even, tender green and lustrous, with dense, prominent down (芽头肥壮、匀齐、嫩绿润、茸毛多显).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: “Tender-leaf aroma” — rich and long-lasting (嫩香馥郁悠长).
- Taste: Fresh, mellow and brisk, with a sweet aftertaste (鲜醇爽、回甘).
- Liquor color: Tender yellow-green, clear and bright (嫩黄绿、清澈鲜亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender yellow, even, bright and lively (叶底嫩黄匀亮鲜活).
7. Chemical Composition
Physicochemical indicators of the finished tea are not found in the sources consulted. For the 福安大白茶 variety the encyclopedia gives the composition of the fresh leaf (one bud with two leaves): polyphenols — 27.16%, caffeine — 4.56%. These are data on the raw material of the variety, not on the tea under the mark: which variety goes into “福安绿茶” is unknown.
8. Brewing
Class practice for tender green tea from buds.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler — the downy buds are visible in it — or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three further infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
No price data in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the certification mark “福安绿茶” No. 35073373; the right of use is administered by the Fu’an Tea Industry Association.
- Check that the producer is from Fu’an.
- Do not confuse it with neighboring marks of the same holder: “福安白茶” is white tea, “坦洋工夫” is red.
- Appearance: large downy buds, a tender yellow-green clear liquor, tender yellow even spent leaves.
11. Interesting Facts
- The marks for the green and white tea of Fu’an are consecutive — No. 35073373 and No. 35073374 — and were registered two weeks apart.
- Fu’an is one of China’s main nurseries of tea seedlings; the newspaper writes of more than 50 varieties in the nurseries of Gantang Town.
- The local variety 福安大白茶, according to one version, came from northern Fujian, where it was called “emperor’s tea”.
12. Comparison with Other Teas of Fu’an and Fujian
- Tanyang Gongfu (坦洋工夫): The main tea of Fu’an — gongfu red tea from Tanyang village, under a mark of the same holder.
- Fu’an (福安): The corpus article on the white teas of Fu’an and Jian’ou — about another class from the same area.
- Songxi Lücha (松溪绿茶): Green tea of northern Fujian, mark of 2009; four leaf shapes under one name.
- Wuping Lücha (武平绿茶): Green tea of western Fujian.
- Youxi Lücha (尤溪绿茶): Green tea of central Fujian, Sanming prefecture-level city.
In Conclusion:
Fú’ān lǜchá is the green tea of a land made famous by the red Tanyang Gongfu and by nurseries that in peak years gave more than half of the country’s tea seedlings. There are few documents about it: the 2021 mark, the holder — the city tea association, the zone — the whole of Fu’an, and a short description of the appearance. According to it, this is a tea of large downy buds with a tender long aroma, a clear yellow-green liquor and a mellow taste with a sweet return.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page