---
title: "Guìlín guìhuā chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/guilin-guihua-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Guìlín guìhuā chá (桂林桂花茶)

*Guìlín guìhuā chá* (桂林[桂花](https://thetea.app/article/guihua)茶) is a tea scented with osmanthus flowers from Guilin prefecture-level city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The name ties the product to the place twice: 桂 (*guì*) is osmanthus, and the name of Guilin itself (桂林) means “osmanthus forest”. The tea base is infused with the aroma of osmanthus flowers, as in jasmine teas; the description of the agricultural mark names two bases — green and red tea, so the name is not limited to one class. The protection zone covers the whole prefecture — six urban districts and eleven counties. Since 2014 it has been an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), and since 2025 a geographical indication product.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Flower-scented tea (花茶, *huāchá*): a tea base infused with the aroma of osmanthus. The description of the agricultural mark names two kinds — on a green and on a red base (绿茶、红茶级型坯); the 2025 announcement does not name the base. The name covers two classes, so the article stands among the categories, not in the folder of one class.
* **Category:** Osmanthus tea of Guangxi; agricultural product geographical indication (2014) and geographical indication product (2025).
* **Origin:** China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区, *Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū*), Guilin prefecture-level city (桂林, *Guìlín*).
* **Protection zone:** Six urban districts — Xiufeng (秀峰), Xiangshan (象山), Qixing (七星), Diecai (叠彩), Yanshan (雁山) and Lingui (临桂) — and eleven counties: Lingchuan (灵川), Xing'an (兴安), Quanzhou (全州), Yangshuo (阳朔), Pingle (平乐), Lipu (荔浦), Longsheng (龙胜), Yongfu (永福), Gongcheng (恭城), Ziyuan (资源) and Guanyang (灌阳).
* **Geographic coordinates:** 109°36′–111°29′ E, 24°15′–26°23′ N — more than two degrees of latitude.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Osmanthus and the city.** The name of Guilin is traced to osmanthus groves; osmanthus is the symbol flower of the city.
    * **Early history according to the description of the mark.** The description of the agricultural mark asserts that osmanthus tea began to be made and drunk in Guilin under the Tang; under the Song the local tea was known as 修仁茶 (*xiūrén chá*), under the Qing — as 六垌茶 and 龙脊茶. The description does not cite the documents on which this dating rests, and the named teas were not necessarily osmanthus teas.
    * **1970s.** According to the same description, osmanthus tea began to be produced by the Guangxi Guilin Tea Factory.
    * **2014.** On November 18 the Ministry of Agriculture, by announcement No. 2179, registered *Guìlín guìhuā chá* as an agricultural product geographical indication, number AGI01551. I did not find the holder of the mark in the sources consulted.
    * **2016.** In January the tea was included in the national list of “famous, special, high-quality and new” agricultural products for 2015, according to reference data.
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 640 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized the name as a geographical indication product; the same announcement contains 1409 names.
* **Name:**
    * “Guilin” (桂林) — “osmanthus forest”, the name of the city.
    * “Guihua” (桂花, *guìhuā*) — osmanthus flowers.
    * “Cha” (茶, *chá*) — “tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** For Guilin, osmanthus is part of the name and the image of the city, and osmanthus tea continues this link. The name assigns the tea to the whole prefecture, not to a single county.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Scenting plant:** Sweet osmanthus (*Osmanthus fragrans*). The descriptions name the local golden osmanthus — 金桂 (*jīnguì*) — as the best for scenting: a large flower, thick petals, golden-yellow color, a dense clean aroma.
* **Flowers:** Fresh, clean, unspoiled and with a strong aroma; the description of the mark also allows freeze-dried osmanthus (真空冷冻).
* **Tea base:** Graded base stock of green or red tea (级型坯). The variety of the tea bush is not named in the description.
* **Timing:** Flowering and harvest times are not found in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

According to the description of the agricultural mark (2014):

* **Region:** Northeast Guangxi, the southwestern part of the Nanling (南岭) mountain system; typical karst topography. The zone covers both the city of Guilin and the mountain counties to its north and south.
* **Altitude:** The average altitude of the area is about 150 m.
* **Climate:** Subtropical monsoon, mild and humid. Average annual temperature — 19.3 °C, frost-free period — 309 days, precipitation — 1949.5 mm a year, relative humidity — 73–79%, sunshine — 1670 hours a year.
* **Soils:** Mainly red, loose and deep, pH 4.5–6.5.
* **Waters:** Five rivers — the Lijiang (漓江), Xiangjiang (湘江), Luoqingjiang (洛清江), Xunjiang (浔江) and Zijiang (资江).
* **Feature:** The description of the mark speaks of conditions for two plants at once — osmanthus and the tea bush: for a scented tea the place is defined not only by the garden but also by the flower.

**5. Production Technology:**

The description of the agricultural mark (2014) gives two schemes — with fresh flowers and with dried ones.

* **With fresh flowers:** flowers → tea base → scenting → drying → final aroma infusion → finished tea.
    * **Raw material:** Flowers fresh, free of contamination, spoilage and foreign matter, with a strong aroma; the base is graded base stock of green or red tea.
    * **Scenting (窨制 — *xūnzhì*):** Tea and flowers are mixed in a set proportion and piled in a heap 40–50 cm high for 10–12 hours. When the heap warms up to 45 °C, it is turned over and cooled (通花、摊凉).
    * **Drying (烘干 — *hōnggān*):** At a temperature no higher than 100 °C.
    * **Final aroma infusion (提花 — *tíhuā*):** Flowers used — 5–8%.
* **With dried flowers:** Freeze-dried osmanthus is mixed with the base at a rate of 8–10% flowers and left in a closed container for 20 days so that the tea absorbs the aroma.

The description does not state the number of repeated scentings.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description of the agricultural mark gives a general formula — the shape in strands or granules (条形、颗粒), even, dotted with golden flowers (缀金花), the liquor bright, the osmanthus aroma dense and lasting, the taste mellow and full — and separately describes two kinds: on a green and on a red base.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tight, even strands or granules dotted with golden osmanthus flowers. On a green base — dark green (墨绿), on a red base — black and glossy (乌润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** A dense and lasting osmanthus aroma (桂花香气浓郁持久) — in both kinds.
* **Taste:** On a green base — mellow and full (醇厚), on a red base — mellow and smooth (醇和).
* **Liquor color:** On a green base — yellow-green and bright (黄绿明亮), on a red base — red and bright (红亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** On a green base — yellow-green and bright (黄绿明亮), on a red base — even, red and bright (红匀明亮).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The description of the agricultural mark sets lower limits: free amino acids (calculated as glutamic acid) — not less than 3.0%, potassium — not less than 1200 mg per 100 g, calcium — not less than 230 mg per 100 g. Other physicochemical data are not found in the sources consulted. The aroma comes from the volatile substances of the osmanthus flowers, which the base absorbs.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for scented tea.

* **Water temperature:** 85–90 °C for a green base, 90–95 °C for a red one.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A gaiwan with a lid — it holds the aroma — or a porcelain teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea.
    3. Pour in the water and cover with the lid at once.
    4. First infusion — 1–2 minutes in the gaiwan.
    5. Before drinking, lift the lid and breathe in the aroma.
    6. Two or three further infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a dry, cool, dark place, strictly away from foreign odors: a base that has absorbed the aroma of osmanthus will just as easily absorb another one. The floral aroma weakens over time, so the tea is 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 and an origin in Guilin.
    * Ask about the base — green or red tea: it changes both the taste and the liquor color.
    * The aroma should come from scenting with flowers — fresh or freeze-dried, as the description of the mark allows; a sharp, “perfumy”, quickly fading smell is a sign of a flavoring agent.
    * Flowers in the pack prove nothing by themselves: they can simply be mixed into unscented tea.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The name of the city and the name of the flower are one and the same here: 桂林 — “osmanthus forest”.
* The protection zone covers six districts and eleven counties — the whole prefecture.
* The description of the mark allows two paths: fresh flowers with 10–12 hours in a heap, or freeze-dried osmanthus that gives its aroma to the tea over 20 days.
* The name covers two bases — green and red, so the tea has two faces: a yellow-green liquor in one and a red liquor in the other.

**13. Comparison with Other Scented Teas:**

* **Osmanthus oolong ([桂花乌龙](https://thetea.app/article/guihuawulong)):** The most widespread of the osmanthus teas; its base is oolong, which does not appear in the descriptions of *Guìlín guìhuā chá*.
* **Osmanthus red tea ([桂花红茶](https://thetea.app/article/guihuahongcha)):** Red tea infused with the aroma of osmanthus — a generic type close to the Guilin tea on a red base.
* **Osmanthus Longjing ([桂花龙井](https://thetea.app/article/guihualongjing)):** Green Longjing with the aroma of osmanthus — an example of scenting a famous green base.
* **Guilin Maojian ([桂林毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/guilin-mao-jian)):** An unscented green tea of the same city.

**In Conclusion:**

*Guìlín guìhuā chá* is the osmanthus tea of a city named after osmanthus. The name protects not a variety and not a single base, but the craft of the prefecture: golden osmanthus, a green or red base, scenting in a heap with 10–12 hours of resting, an even leaf dotted with golden flowers, and a dense, lasting aroma.