Fúliáng chá · thetea.app

Fúliáng chá (浮梁茶) is a regional tea of Fuliang County (浮梁县) in Jingdezhen prefecture-level city in the northeast of Jiangxi Province. Two teas are made under one protected name — a red and a green. The city is known as the porcelain capital, and Fuliang itself by Bai Juyi’s line about a merchant who “went to Fuliang to buy tea”: in the Tang era there was a large tea market here, to which leaf was also brought from neighboring Qimen and Wuyuan. The Fuliang red, fú hóng (浮红), won gold in San Francisco in 1915; the local teas “Xianzhi” and “Nenrui”, according to the protection document, were sent as tribute to the court for centuries after the Tang.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Two classes under one name. Red tea (红茶, hóngchá), fully fermented — “five grades” (五品红, wǔ pǐn hóng) and “Fuliang gongfu” (浮梁工夫, Fúliáng gōngfu). Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá), unfermented — it is the one both protection documents describe: the 2010 regulation for the agricultural GI states directly that it was drawn up “taking green tea as an example” (以绿茶为例), and the 2025 requirements give only the green processing scheme.
Category: Regional tea with a geographical indication under three regimes: the agricultural GI of the Ministry of Agriculture (2010), the CNIPA geographical indication product (2025) and certification trademark No. 4839222 (according to the catalog of geographical indications; holder — the Fuliang County tea association). It is included in the second list of the China–EU Agreement on geographical indications.
Origin: China, Jiangxi Province (江西, Jiāngxī), Jingdezhen prefecture-level city (景德镇, Jǐngdézhèn), Fuliang County (浮梁县, Fúliáng Xiàn). The protected zone is thirteen townships and towns of the county: Yaoli (瑶里镇), Ehu (鹅湖镇), Zhuangwan (庄湾乡), Wanggang (王港乡), Xianghu (湘湖镇), Xihu (西湖乡), Legong (勒功乡), Jiangcun (江村乡), Jinggongqiao (经公桥镇), Zhitan (峙滩乡), Xingtian (兴田乡), Jiaotan (蛟潭镇) and Huangtan (黄坛乡).
Geographic coordinates: 117°01′–117°42′ E, 29°09′–29°56′ N.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Han. According to local sources, tea in these mountains was grown and gathered by monks as early as the Han era.
- Tang — the empire’s tea market. The heyday came in the Tang. In The Debate between Tea and Wine (茶酒论) Wang Fu writes that people come from all corners of the world for the tea of Fuliang and Shezhou. Li Jifu’s Yuanhe Junxian Tuzhi (元和郡县图志) reports seven million “packs” of tea a year and a tax of more than 150,000 strings of coins; by the calculation cited in the Chinese press, this is about three-eighths of the nationwide tea tax of 400,000 strings. Bai Juyi’s poem Pipa Xing (琵琶行) was written in 816, and its line about the merchant is the best-known literary testimony to the Fuliang market. The goods went along the Chang River (昌江): Fuliang was not only a growing area but also a transshipment point for the tea of Qimen and Wuyuan.
- Song and Yuan. According to the GI regulation, until the middle of the Song mainly pressed tea (片茶) was made here, at the end of the Song loose tea began to replace it, and under the Yuan the green tea technology took its final shape. The same document praises the teas “Xianzhi” (仙芝), “Nenrui” (嫩蕊), “Fuhe” (福合) and “Luhe” (禄合) for the “four perfections” — bright color, rich aroma, mellow taste and beautiful shape — and writes that they held their place from the Song to the Qing and were sent as tribute to the court.
- Ming. The playwright Tang Xianzu called Fuliang tea “the first under Heaven”.
- Daoguang (1821–1850). Red tea technology came to the county, and fú hóng went for export to Europe and America.
- 1915. Fú hóng from the “Tianxiang” (天祥) tea house of Yantai village, Jiangcun township, won the gold medal of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. One publication writes that the red tea produced in Fuliang went to market under the name “Qimen”.
- 1949. According to one publication, Fuliang gōngfu was presented to Stalin for his birthday; the other sources consulted contain no confirmation.
- 1990s. In 1991 “Fuyao Xianzhi” (浮瑶仙芝) received an award at the Hangzhou tea culture festival, and in 1994 “Yaoli Yayu” (瑶里崖玉) won gold at an international exhibition. In 1997 the Ministry of Agriculture named Fuliang the “home of Chinese red tea”.
- 2010 and later. On 24 December 2010, by Ministry of Agriculture announcement No. 1517, the tea was entered in the register of agricultural GIs (certificate AGI00464). By CNIPA announcement No. 640 of 16 July 2025 it was recognized as a geographical indication product in a general list of 1409 products; the zone in the 2025 requirements is the same — thirteen townships and towns. In addition, the tea entered the second list of the China–EU Agreement (the sources give the year of inclusion differently), and the Fuliang tea culture system entered the list of China’s important agricultural heritage.
Name:
- “Fuliang” (浮梁) literally means “floating bridge”. The county received the name in 742; the explanation in reference texts — the rivers often flooded, and the residents laid wooden bridges across them. Jingdezhen was part of Fuliang County and became a separate city after 1949.
- Fú hóng (浮红) is the short name of the Fuliang red.
Cultural significance: In Fuliang two kinds of fame stand side by side — the porcelain of Jingdezhen, which was long part of the county, and the tea trade that Bai Juyi wrote about.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: The local variety is the Fuliang 槠叶种 (zhūyè zhǒng). Traditionally it was propagated by seed; essays link the aroma and richness of fú hóng precisely to this population, and a 2024 scientific paper on the aroma compounds of Jiangxi red teas calls the Fuliang sample a “zhūyè population” (浮梁槠叶群体). In the 1950s–1970s new farms sowed seeds of the Ningzhou, Qimen and Jiukeng varieties; Fuding Dahao, Fu’an Dabai, Fuyun 6, Fuyun 595, Zhuyeqi (槠叶齐) and Anhui 3 were also planted. In 2002–2003 early zhūyè bushes were selected from old gardens in Xihu township for the top grades, and in 2003 Yingxiangzao, Wuniu Zao, Xianyu Zao and Pingyang Tezao were brought in. According to one of the essays, more than forty varieties are now grown in the county, and the author sees in this a threat to the traditional taste, because raw material for green tea sometimes goes into red. The regulation for the agricultural GI does not name specific varieties: it prefers medium- and small-leaf varieties (中、小叶种) and advises planting three or four suitable varieties in a set proportion. The 2025 requirements name the raw material as “medium- and small-leaf local populations” (中、小叶种等当地群体种) and prescribe propagating the bushes by cuttings.
Harvest: According to the 2025 requirements — from March to August: in spring a single bud, shoots with one, two and three leaves, and tender leaf are picked; after spring — according to the norms for bulk tea (大宗茶). In reference texts the green tea grades are distinguished by timing: gǔyǔ jiān (谷雨尖) — early shoots at the beginning of the Guyu period, at the end of April; then “fine” and “coarse” tea. Separate timings for the red are not found in the sources consulted.
Harvest standard: For gǔyǔ jiān — the first spring shoots; the leaf stalks are removed. For red gōngfu, the national standard GB/T 13738.2, to which the local one refers, allows buds, leaves and tender stems. The regulation for the agricultural GI divides fresh leaf into levels: for the special grade (特级) — no less than 80% of shoots of “a bud and two leaves”, for the first — no less than 50%, and further down the share of “a bud and three leaves” grows; picking by the handful (抓采) is prohibited, and leaf stalks and old shoots are not allowed in the raw material.
Raw material requirements: Origin from the thirteen units of the zone. According to the GI regulation, the leaf is carried in clean, ventilated bamboo baskets without being packed down and is processed on the day of picking; plastic and cloth bags are prohibited. For the red — conformity with local standard DB36/T 1028-2018.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: Fuliang lies in the northeast of Jiangxi, at the border with Anhui Province. The Chang (昌江), Donghe and Xihe rivers flow through the county; tea historically went out along the Chang.
Growing altitude: The altitudes of the gardens are not given in the sources consulted. According to the regulation for the agricultural GI, mountains above 500 m occupy 41.7% of the county’s area, elevations of 100–500 m 30.6%, and land below 100 m 27.1%; the gardens lie on slopes and hills.
Climate: According to the same regulation — mid-subtropical monsoon; average annual temperature 14–17 °C, precipitation 1700–1900 mm a year, relative humidity 79%, frost-free period 247 days. The area of the protection zone is 5500 ha.
Soils: According to the GI document — mainly red and yellow soils; organic matter in natural soils up to 14.5%, pH 4.3–5.5.
Features: The document also sets the cultivation practice. On slopes the gardens are terraced along the contours, the steepness of new plantings must not exceed 25°, and on steeper slopes retaining structures are needed. Young bushes are kept at a height of 80–100 cm by formative pruning. Local tea growers have a saying: if you want good fú hóng, look in Yaoli, and the best in Yaoli comes from Neiwuji village (内屋基). This is journalistic testimony, not a norm.

5. Production Technology

Red tea. There is no detailed technological chart for fú hóng in open sources. The local standard refers to GB/T 13738.2 “Red tea. Part 2: Gongfu”. Below is the general scheme of gōngfu red tea under the national standard, not the technological chart of Fuliang tea:

Withering (萎凋 — wěidiāo): The leaf loses moisture and becomes soft.
Rolling (揉捻 — róuniǎn): The leaf is rolled into thin strands.
Fermentation (发酵 — fājiào): Oxidation of the leaf in warmth and humidity.
Drying (干燥 — gānzào): Fixes the result.
Sorting and blending (精制 — jīngzhì): Historically, famous tea houses, and after 1949 state factories, blended raw material from different mountains to obtain a balanced profile with honey, floral and fruity notes. The author of one of the essays regrets that this art of blending is being lost.

Green tea. The regulation for the agricultural GI gives a primary processing scheme without parameters: fresh leaf → fixation (杀青, shāqīng) → rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn) → shaping (做形, zuòxíng) → first drying (初干, chūgān) → final drying (再干, zàigān). The traditional drying of the semi-finished leaf (烘坯, hōngpī) is static, in warmth; the document advises installing a drying machine where possible, and where there is none, allows it to be replaced by a rotating drum at medium speed. The 2025 requirements put spreading of the fresh leaf (摊青, tānqīng) before fixation. For gǔyǔ jiān the reference describes hand processing and light drying over a low fire. Temperatures and times are not found in the sources consulted.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

Dry leaf appearance: Red — thin, tight twists with tips, blue-black with a sheen. Green — according to the description at the 2010 registration, tight, thin, rounded and straight, emerald, with a golden sheen when moist; in the industry formula — “like pine needles”, the color of emerald jade. Gǔyǔ jiān — thin, tight leaf, light green with noticeable down.
Dry leaf aroma: No separate description. The industry formula calls the aroma of the red sweet, without specifying whether this is the dry leaf or the liquor.
Liquor aroma: Red — sweet; according to an essay on fú hóng, the historical blend gave honey, floral and fruity notes. Green — according to the description at registration, with notes of chestnut and orchid; according to the regulation’s grade table, for the special grade — orchid-like, high and lasting, for the second — clean and lasting; in the industry formula — “like an orchid”; for gǔyǔ jiān — lasting and fresh.
Taste: Red — mellow and clean. Green — according to the description at registration, mellow and fresh, with a dense aftertaste; in the industry formula — “a sweet spring”; for gǔyǔ jiān — fresh and clean.
Liquor color: Red — bright red. Green — according to the regulation’s grade table, for the special grade tender green and bright, for the first — yellow-green and bright, for the lower grades — yellow-green, moderately bright; for gǔyǔ jiān — clear.
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Green — according to the description at registration, bright; according to the grade table, for the three top grades tender yellow and even; for the “Fuyao Xianzhi” brand — tender yellow, bright, with down. For the red there are no data.

7. Chemical Composition

For green tea the 2025 requirements set the following norms (the same figures appear in the table of the 2010 regulation):

Indicator	Norm
Moisture	no more than 6.5%
Total ash	no more than 6.5%
Water-soluble extractives	no less than 38%
Crude fiber	no more than 14% for the special and first grades, no more than 16% for the second to fourth

The 2010 regulation adds that Fuliang tea contains more extractives, polyphenols and amino acids than other teas; it gives no figures for this comparison. The physicochemical indicators of the red are set by DB36/T 1028-2018; the text of the standard with figures is not found in the sources consulted. A 2024 paper studies the volatile compounds of Jiangxi red teas, including the Fuliang zhūyè population; figures for the Fuliang sample are not given here.

8. Health Properties

There are no verified data on the effects of Fuliang tea specifically. General claims about the benefits of red and green tea are not given here.

9. Brewing

Class practice. The GI documents give no separate recommendations; below are the usual parameters for red and green tea.

Water temperature: Red — about 95 °C; green — 80–85 °C.
Tea amount: Red — about 3 g per 150 ml; green — 3 g per 150 ml.
Teaware: For red — a white porcelain gaiwan or teapot; for green — a glass tumbler.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Add the tea.
3. Red — briefly moisten the leaf with hot water, then pour; green — first pour in a little water and let the leaf open.
4. Steep red from 30 seconds in a gaiwan to 3–5 minutes in a large teapot; green — 1–2 minutes.
5. Pour out.
6. Two to four repeat infusions, lengthening the time.

10. Storage

Class practice. Red — in tight packaging, in a dry, cool, dark place, away from odors. Green — in airtight packaging in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C. Both teas are seasonal products; they do not need aging.

11. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark or the certification mark “浮梁茶” (No. 4839222).
- Check that the producer is on the list of those admitted to the mark.
- For the red — conformity with DB36/T 1028-2018 on the packaging.
- Counterfeits do occur: in 2022 the county authorities seized more than a thousand sets of gift packaging and over four hundred boxes of tins with illegal “浮梁茶” labeling and passed the case to the police.
- The sources give no reliable organoleptic way to tell Fuliang tea from neighboring Jiangxi and Anhui teas, so the documents on the packaging matter more than the taste.

12. Interesting Facts

Bai Juyi’s line in full is “商人重利轻别离，前月浮梁买茶去”: a merchant who values profit more than parting went off to Fuliang for tea a month ago.
According to the GI regulation, until the middle of the Tang era tea in Fuliang was not processed but drunk boiled from fresh leaf, like a soup (生羹汤饮).
Forest, according to the same document, covers 79.4% of the county’s territory.
Besides the title of “home of Chinese red tea” (1997), in 2007 the Ministry of Agriculture included Fuliang among the national model counties for tea standardization under construction.

13. Comparison with Other Teas

Qimen Hongcha (祁门红茶): The tea of a neighboring county across the provincial border, in Anhui. According to one publication, in 1915 Fuliang red tea went to market under the name of Qimen. Qimen tea has the famous “Qimen aroma”; fú hóng, according to an essay, has the honey-floral profile of the blend.
Wuyuan Lücha (婺源绿茶): A neighboring Jiangxi green tea; in the Tang era it too was carried through the Fuliang market.
Yaoli Nenrui (瑶里嫩蕊): A green tea of Yaoli town within Fuliang, with its own geographical indication product of 2008. Fúliáng chá is the umbrella name of the county, Yaoli Nenrui the particular name of one town.
Ninghong Gongfu (宁红工夫): Another well-known red tea of Jiangxi, from Xiushui County (修水县).
Fuyao Xianzhi (浮瑶仙芝): A green tea brand of Fuliang itself, awarded in 1991 at the Hangzhou tea culture festival; the encyclopedia has a separate article on it.

In Conclusion:

Fúliáng chá is a tea with a long documented trading history. The county where, according to Bai Juyi’s line, a merchant went for tea has travelled from the Tang market to the 1915 medal and to today’s three protection regimes. Two teas live here under one name: the red fú hóng with a honey-floral blended profile and the green with an orchid aroma. Open sources describe the technology of the red only as a general scheme, while the green has a processing scheme and norms in the protection documents; the history of the market and the local zhūyè population give this name a firm foundation.

Sources

Standards

Full list — on the Sources page