Guānyīnhú lǜchá (观音湖绿茶) is a flat green tea of Xiaochang County (孝昌县), Xiaogan prefecture-level city, in the northeast of Hubei Province. It is named after Lake Guanyinhu, around which lies a resort zone; together with it, four townships and towns of the county are included in the protection zone. Since 29 December 2015 the tea has been protected as a geographical indication product, and in 2021 it gained a prefecture-level city standard. Descriptions sum up its appearance as the “four clarities”: clear emerald dry leaf, clear transparent liquor, clean aroma and green spent leaves.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is named in the protected name.
- Category: Flat green tea of Xiaogan; geographical indication product (2015).
- Origin: China, Hubei Province (湖北, Húběi), Xiaogan prefecture-level city (孝感, Xiàogǎn), Xiaochang County (孝昌, Xiàochāng).
- Protection zone: Five units of Xiaochang County within their current administrative boundaries: the Lake Guanyinhu Eco-Cultural Tourism Resort Zone (观音湖生态文化旅游度假区), Xiaowu Township (小悟乡) and the towns of Xiaohe (小河镇), Weidian (卫店镇) and Wangdian (王店镇). The list is taken from the database of geographical indication products; I have not checked it against the text of the announcement itself.
- Geographic coordinates: The county seat of Xiaochang — about 31.3° N and 114.0° E; exact coordinates of the protection zone were not found in the sources consulted.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Legend. The Xiaogan Market Supervision Administration (2023) writes that the history of the tea goes back to legends, can be traced to the Sui and Tang eras and flourished under the Ming and Qing — and in the same breath gives a span of more than two thousand years, without explaining the discrepancy. A reference description retells two legends. According to the first, in the Sui and Tang years the “Prince of Nanyang” Wu Yunzhao (伍云昭), fleeing Tang troops, threw himself off a cliff of Mount Shaohua (少华山), was rescued, became a monk and planted a hundred tea bushes by the cliff on the shore of Lake Guanyinhu. According to the second, in the Ming era the jinshi Li Daoyuan (李道元), who had taken monastic vows on Mount Shaohua, brought tea seeds from elsewhere and sowed them around the lake — so, according to the description, it is recorded on a stele. I have not seen the text of the stele; there is no documentary confirmation of these accounts.
- 2015. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by Announcement No. 162 of 2015, placed “观音湖绿茶” under protection as a geographical indication product; the reference database dates the decision to 29 December 2015. A publication of the Xiaogan Market Supervision Administration (2023) gives 2016 as the year of recognition; I have not resolved the discrepancy. The product is on the list of Hubei geographical indications that the provincial Intellectual Property Administration published in January 2022.
- 2021. The Xiaogan prefecture-level city standard DB4209/T 21—2021 “地理标志产品 观音湖绿茶” appeared; its number and title are known from lists of standards. Whether it is currently in force I have not checked; I have not seen its text and do not give the requirements of the standard.
- Name: “Guānyīnhú” (观音湖) — the name of the lake; “lǜchá” (绿茶) — green tea.
- Cultural significance: A reference description quotes the local saying “正月眠枣二月花，三月雨前观音茶” — “in the first month the jujube sleeps, in the second it blossoms, in the third, before the rains — Guanyin tea”. The description calls it an old folk song; it gives neither the author nor the time it was recorded.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: According to a reference description, mainly the improved varieties Echa No. 1 (鄂茶1号, Èchá 1) and Fuding Dabai (福鼎大白, Fúdǐng dàbái) are planted; elsewhere in the same description Zhongcha 108 (中茶108, Zhōngchá 108) is also named.
- Harvest standard: No data were found in the sources consulted.
- Harvest time: No exact dates were found in the sources consulted. The saying about the “third month, before the rains” speaks of spring tea, but this is folklore, not a requirement.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The hills and mountains of Xiaochang County around Lake Guanyinhu, in the northeast of Hubei Province.
- Growing altitude: 450–800 m — according to a reference description which, judging by its form, retells the requirements for site conditions.
- Soils: According to the same description — yellow-brown (黄棕壤), pH 5.5–6.5, rich in organic matter, with a fertile layer of no less than 0.5 m.
- Climate: No exact data for the protection zone were found in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
I have not seen a document describing the technology of Guānyīnhú lǜchá. For flat green tea the usual sequence is as follows:
- Spreading of 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.
- Shaping (做形, zuòxíng): The leaf is straightened and pressed until it becomes flat.
- Drying (干燥, gānzào): Final drying to a stable moisture level and bringing out the aroma.
This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Guānyīnhú lǜchá.
The publication of the Xiaogan Market Supervision Administration (2023) mentions the local techniques by name only: picking and processing in the meiyu rainy season, “double fixation” (二次杀青), “delayed moisture regain” (延时回潮) and “dehairing on two machines” (双机脱毫). It gives no parameters for these techniques.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below is for the top grade (特级) — according to a reference description and the database of geographical indication products.
- Dry leaf appearance: Flat, smooth and straight, slender, emerald green (扁平光直，挺秀翠绿); even and clean, with visible down (匀齐光洁，显毫).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description was found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and lasting, with a noticeable floral note (清香持久，显花香).
- Taste: Fresh and mellow, juicy and brisk (鲜醇，润爽).
- Liquor color: Tender green and bright (嫩绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Soft, tender and even (柔嫩匀齐).
The descriptions spell out the “four clarities” (四清) as follows: the dry tea is clear emerald (干茶清翠), the liquor is transparent (茶汤清亮), the taste has a clean aroma (茶味清香), the spent leaves are green (叶底青绿).
The description of the Xiaogan Market Supervision Administration (2023) characterizes the aroma differently — “a distinct chestnut note, with a slight floral note” (明显栗香，略显花香). This diverges from the quality description; which one is closer to today’s tea, I do not know.
7. Chemical Composition
A reference description gives the following indicators; it does not say which grade they refer to:
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Moisture | no more than 6.5% |
| Powder and broken leaf | no more than 5.5% |
| Total ash | no more than 7% |
| Water-soluble extractives | no less than 42% |
| Crude fiber | no more than 10% |
This is a retelling of requirements, not test data; I have not seen the primary source with the table. The extractives threshold here is higher than in the standard of neighboring Xiaochang Fenghuangshan Cha (no less than 38%).
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 — in glass you can see the flat leaf stand up in the water.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in 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. The floral note and the green color are the first to fade, so the tea is best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
No price data were found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication product mark and the name “观音湖绿茶”.
- Check that the producer is from the protection zone: the Guanyinhu resort zone, Xiaowu Township, or the towns of Xiaohe, Weidian or Wangdian in Xiaochang County.
- The leaf is flat, straight and emerald, with down; the liquor is tender green and transparent.
11. Interesting Facts
- Xiaochang County alone has three protected tea names, and all three are described as green tea; the other two are linked to the town of Zhouxiang, which is not part of the Guānyīnhú lǜchá zone.
- The name of the tea is a toponym: “观音” here refers to the lake, and the tea has nothing in common with the Fujian oolongs Tie Guanyin (铁观音) or Huang Guanyin (黄观音) except the word.
- The local saying puts “Guanyin tea” alongside the jujube blossom — as a sign of the third month.
12. Comparison with Neighboring Teas
- Xiaochang Fenghuangshan Cha (孝昌凤凰山茶): A flat green tea of Zhouxiang Town in the same county, a certification mark of 2015; it has a standard with the full technology.
- Zhouxiang Fenghuang Cha (周巷凤凰茶): A geographical indication product of the same Zhouxiang Town, protected since 2014.
- Dawu Lücha (大悟绿茶): A green tea of neighboring Dawu County in the same Xiaogan prefecture, a geographical indication product of 2012, in three leaf forms.
In Conclusion:
Guānyīnhú lǜchá is a flat green tea of Xiaochang County, from gardens at an altitude of 450–800 m around the lake that gave it its name. The description depicts a straight emerald leaf with down, a lasting aroma with a floral note and a tender green liquor. Documents confirm protection since 2015 and a standard from 2021; the ancient history that the reference works give remains legend.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page