Gùshǐ Huánggūshān chá (固始皇姑山茶) is “the tea of Mount Huanggushan from Gushi”: a green tea from Mount Huanggushan (皇姑山) at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, in Wumiaoji Township of Gushi County (固始县), Xinyang prefecture-level city, Henan Province. The mountain’s name — “mountain of the emperor’s daughter” — is linked by local legend to the Qianlong Emperor. Since 2014 the tea has been protected as an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), and since 2025 as a geographical indication product recognized by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is set by the technology in the 2025 protection requirements: after withering, the leaf is fixed by heat (杀青), there is no oxidation stage, and the color of the dry leaf is tender green.
- Category: Mountain green tea of southern Henan; geographical indication product (2025), and since 2014 also an agricultural product geographical indication.
- Origin: China, Henan Province (河南, Hénán), Xinyang prefecture-level city (信阳, Xìnyáng), Gushi County (固始, Gùshǐ), Wumiaoji Township (武庙集乡, Wǔmiàojí xiāng).
- Protection zone: The territory of Wumiaoji Township, Mount Huanggushan; mainly the villages of Changjianghe (长江河村), Suokou (锁口村) and Huangtuling (黄土岭村). The applicant in 2025 was the People’s Government of Gushi County.
- Geographic coordinates: The document gives a frame of 115°20′–115°56′ E and 31°45′–32°35′ N — almost the entire county, not the location of the gardens.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Tea of the county. A reference note to the 2014 indication description speaks of 2,300 years of tea growing in Gushi: in 1987 tea was found among the grave goods of an ancient burial in the county seat. The dating is the Warring States period; according to another reference, the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
- 1908–1914 — the brand. According to the newspaper Xinyang Ribao (2018), the “Huanggushan” brand dates from 1908. In March 1912 the founder of the farm, Zhang Liangrong (张良荣), and his family cleared the slopes for a garden, and in May 1914 the tea was named after the mountain.
- 1920s–1930s — technology. The family adopted techniques from Anhui’s Lu’an Guapian and Huangshan Maofeng; around 1930 the sequence “withering — fixation — rolling — leaf straightening” (摊放、杀青、揉捻、理条) took shape.
- 2010. The legend of Huanggushan tea was entered in the second list of intangible cultural heritage of Xinyang prefecture-level city.
- 2013–2014. The application was filed by the county’s Xingnong tea cooperative (固始县兴农茶叶专业合作社); in 2013 it passed review by the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, and on 22 May 2014 the ministry approved registration of the agricultural product geographical indication.
- 2025. By announcement No. 625 (signed 1 April, published 14 April), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized 90 products, among them Gùshǐ Huánggūshān chá, as geographical indication products.
- Name: 固始 — Gushi County; 皇姑山 — Mount Huanggushan, “mountain of the emperor’s daughter”; 茶 — tea.
- Legend: According to legend, as retold by the newspaper and reference descriptions, the Qianlong Emperor, travelling incognito, caught a cold in these mountains, and a seventeen-year-old mountain girl, Zhu Fenggu (朱凤姑), nursed him back to health with tea from the mountain. The emperor supposedly named the tea “Yuye xiang” (玉叶香, yùyè xiāng — “fragrance of the jade leaf”) and took the girl as his adopted daughter; on the way to the capital she died at a post station in Xinyang and was buried on her native mountain, and the mountain came to be called Huanggushan. The versions differ, for example, in the season when tea was picked for the court — Guyu (谷雨) or Qingming (清明). A reference description cites the genealogy of the Zhu family, but the document itself was not found in the sources consulted.
- Cultural significance: According to the newspaper Xinyang Ribao, in 2011 a musical stage production based on the legend, “Spring on Mount Huanggushan” (春满皇姑山), was staged and received an award at a provincial theater competition.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: Under the 2025 requirements — local Xinyang varieties (信阳本地种). The 2014 description names the local Benshan variety (本山良种), also known as the Xinyang variety (信阳种). A reference description: a low, semi-spreading shrub; the leaf is medium-sized, elongated-elliptical, dark green; the bud is large and heavily pubescent. Popularly the variety is called “willow tea” (柳叶茶, liǔyè chá).
- Harvest: From late March to mid-May.
- Harvest standard: From a single bud to a bud with two leaves.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The north of the Dabie Mountains, the Huaihe River basin.
- Growing altitude: The protection requirements speak of mountainous terrain at an altitude of 600 m. The newspaper Xinyang Ribao gives the height of the mountain itself — 768 m; one reference description writes of gardens “above 800 m”. The discrepancy is unresolved.
- Soils: Yellow-brown (黄棕壤), acidic, pH 4.0–6.5, organic matter above 1.0%. The 2014 description adds yellowish-brown soils (黄褐土).
- County climate (according to the 2014 description): a transition from the subtropics to the warm temperate zone; mean annual temperature 15.3 °C, frost-free period 228 days, sunshine 2,150.6 hours, precipitation 1,073.5 mm per year.
- Area and output: The 2014 description gives 400 ha of land suitable for tea and 240 t of tea per year.
5. Production Technology
The 2025 protection requirements set out eight stages:
- Fresh leaf grading (鲜叶分级, xiānyè fēnjí): Sieving by tenderness and size.
- Withering (摊放, tānfàng): A 3 cm layer, 6–8 hours, turning every 2 hours; weight loss about 12%.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): 110–120 °C, 2.5–3 minutes — until the sheen and grassy smell are gone; the stalk bends without breaking.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): Following the rule “light — heavy — light”, 6–10 minutes; more than 95% of the leaf is rolled.
- Leaf straightening (理条, lǐtiáo): 90–100 °C, 5–6 minutes, until the leaf is tight and straight; moisture about 25%.
- First drying (初烘, chūhōng): A 1 cm layer, 110–120 °C, 10–12 minutes, to a moisture content of 10–15%.
- Cooling (摊晾, tānliàng): 4–6 hours, until the moisture evens out.
- Final drying (复烘, fùhōng): 80 °C, 25–30 minutes, to a moisture content of 5–6%; after cooling, the tea is sealed.
The 2014 description gave a different, manual scheme: a “raw” pan (生锅) at 140–160 °C, a “ripe” pan (熟锅) at 80–100 °C with the leaves straightened by hand, and three rounds of heating to a moisture content below 6%. The sources do not say which scheme prevails today.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
According to the 2025 protection requirements:
- Dry leaf appearance: The leaf is tight, delicate, round and straight (条索紧秀圆直), the bud large and plump, the color tender green.
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description was not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Orchid (兰花香气).
- Taste: Fresh and brisk, with a sweet return (鲜爽回甘).
- Liquor color: “The color of a willow bud” (柳芽黄), clear and bright.
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender and even, without breaks or impurities.
Reference descriptions call the liquor emerald (汤色碧绿); the protection text is taken as authoritative.
7. Chemical Composition
The norms are the same in the 2014 description and in the 2025 requirements:
| Indicator | Norm |
|---|---|
| Free amino acids | not less than 2% |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 18% |
| Vitamin C | not less than 130 mg/100 g |
| Selenium | not less than 0.1 mg/kg |
A reference website gives higher figures — polyphenols from 19.6%, selenium from 0.129 mg/kg — without a source.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The selenium in the table is a content norm, not a promise of benefit.
9. Brewing
Class practice for green tea. Water at 80–85 °C, 3 g per 150 ml, a glass or a white gaiwan. Pour the water down the side; the first infusion after 40–60 seconds; drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up — two or three further infusions.
10. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; best drunk within a year.
11. Price and Counterfeits
Price data were not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to use it is granted to a producer from the zone by CNIPA on the recommendation of the county and the province.
- Do not confuse the brand with the indication: according to reference websites, Xinyang Maojian is also sold under the “Huanggushan” (皇姑山) brand.
- The leaf is tight, round and straight, with a large bud; the liquor is the color of a willow bud; the aroma is orchid.
12. Interesting Facts
- The legend that gave the mountain its name has itself become protected heritage: since 2010 it has been on Xinyang’s list of intangible heritage.
- The newspaper places the mountain at the junction of the villages of Suokou, Changjianghe and Huangling (黄岭); in the protection documents the last is replaced by Huangtuling (黄土岭).
- According to the newspaper Xinyang Ribao, in 2017 the tea received organic product certification.
13. Comparison with Neighboring Teas
- Xinyang Maojian (信阳毛尖): The main tea of the prefecture; the 2014 manual scheme for Huánggūshān chá is the Xinyang one, with “raw” and “ripe” pans.
- Yangtian Xuelü (仰天雪绿): A green tea from the same Gushi County, but flat.
- Gushi Yunwu (固始云雾): A certification mark of the same county; the class is not stated.
- Lu’an Guapian (六安瓜片): An Anhui tea whose techniques, according to the newspaper, the founder’s family adopted.
In Conclusion:
Gùshǐ Huánggūshān chá is a small mountain green tea from a single mountain on the northern slope of the Dabie Mountains: 400 ha of suitable land, a local downy variety, a round, straight leaf, a liquor the color of a willow bud and an orchid aroma. Behind it stand a family brand dating from 1908, the legend of Qianlong and two protections — from 2014 and from 2025.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page