Huángshān gòngjú (黄山贡菊) is the Huangshan “tribute” chrysanthemum: the dried flower heads of a small white chrysanthemum of She County (歙县), Huangshan prefecture-level city, Anhui Province. It is not a tea from the leaf of the tea bush but a chrysanthemum infusion: the county association calls it at once a genuine medicinal raw material and “a fine beverage”, while The Great Dictionary of Anhui writes that it is drunk “replacing tea with chrysanthemum” (以菊代茗). Since 2004 the name has been protected as a product with a designation of origin, since 2006 the national standard GB/T 20359-2006 has been in force, and since 2014 the technique of making it has been on the provincial list of intangible heritage.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: A flower infusion, a tea substitute; there is no Camellia sinensis leaf in it, and the product has no tea class. The national standard is assigned to the pharmaceutical heading, not to tea.
- Category: A geographical indication product (formerly a “product with protection of the place of origin”, 原产地域保护); one of the “four famous chrysanthemums of China”.
- Other names: Huizhou tribute chrysanthemum (徽州贡菊), gòngjú (贡菊); the historical name is “Hui chrysanthemum” (徽菊).
- Origin: China, Anhui Province (安徽, Ānhuī), Huangshan prefecture-level city (黄山, Huángshān), She County (歙县, Shèxiàn).
- Protection zone: The entire territory of She County within its current administrative boundaries.
- Homeland of the variety: Jinzhu village (金竹村) of Bei’an town (北岸镇) and the surroundings of Jinzhuling (金竹岭).
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Song. The county association writes that chrysanthemum was already grown in She County under the Song, more than 700 years ago; in its own words in a 2023 report, the flower was brought from Deqing County, Zhejiang Province. A 2025 report gives “more than eight hundred years”.
- 1502. The Huizhou Prefecture Chronicle (according to the association): Wang Zifa, a Song-era native of She, drew eighty-one kinds of chrysanthemum.
- Late Qing — early Republic. Chrysanthemum grows widely around Jinzhuling.
- The name gòngjú, according to legend. In the Guangxu years an eye disease supposedly spread in the Forbidden City; the Huizhou prefect sent dried chrysanthemum to the court, and the sick recovered. This is how the Hui chrysanthemum became a “tribute” one. This is a legend from reference books, not a document.
- Volumes of the last century. According to the association, until 1922 — no more than 33 t a year, in 1935 — about 99 t; after 1949 the plantings spread beyond Jinzhuling — to Bei’an, Chengcunjiang, Xiakeng and others, more than a dozen townships in all.
- 1997. The second channel of China Central Television showed an advertisement in aid of poor areas under the “黄山贡菊” brand — since then, according to the association, the name has taken root.
- 1998. A gold medal at the second international “One Village, One Product” exhibition (according to the association’s list of awards).
- 2004. By announcement No. 105 of 2004, the supervisory authority took the product under protection as a product with a designation of origin. The sources give different dates: the Baidu encyclopedia — October 2004, the list in the Chinese Wikipedia — August 9.
- 2006. The national standard GB/T 20359-2006 was issued on May 25 and has been in force since October 1.
- 2014. In May the making technique “黄山贡菊（徽州贡菊）制作技艺” was entered in the provincial list of intangible heritage.
- 2023. The county was permitted to build a provincial model zone for geographical indication protection.
- Name: 黄山 is the name of the prefecture and of the mountain, 贡 (gòng) — “tribute”, 菊 (jú) — “chrysanthemum”.
- Cultural significance: The 1937 county chronicle writes: “white chrysanthemum, the flower small, the center with green, the people of the county grow it in beds, it clears fumes and is drunk instead of tea”.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Plant: Mulberry-leaved chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum morifolium; according to the association — a flat-petaled small-flowered form of white chrysanthemum (白菊中的平瓣小菊).
- Lines: A 2019 industry review (the journal “现代农业科技”) names four lines — early, mid-season, late and “medicinal chrysanthemum” (药菊); the main one is the mid-season line, and the late one comes into flower 2–3 weeks later. Tissue culture has produced a line that blooms twice a year — in July and in October.
- Propagation: Only by cuttings: around the Qingming festival, basal shoots are taken from overwintered plants.
- Breeding: According to a 2025 report by China News Service, the old variety is degenerating, and the Shuangrui Chrysanthemum Research Institute (霜蕊菊花研究所) from She County sent gòngjú seeds into space on the Shijian-19 satellite (September 2024).
- Raw material: Opened flower heads.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The mountains of southern Anhui between the Huangshan and Tianmushan ranges, along the Xin’anjiang valley; the highest point of the county is Qingliangfeng peak (1787.4 m).
- Growing altitude: Mainly slopes at 200–800 m (association).
- Soils: At these altitudes — yellow-brown, yellow-red and sandy loam yellow soils, deep, rich in humus, holding moisture and fertilizers well.
- Climate: Humid monsoon climate on the edge of the subtropics: no severe frosts in winter, no exhausting heat in summer, frequent summer and autumn droughts.
- Scale: The figures differ: the association — more than 2300 ha and 1500 t a year; the 2019 review — by 2017 the area had shrunk to 2700 ha; in 2023 the chairman of the county association gave 60,000 mu of gòngjú for the whole of Huangshan prefecture-level city.
5. Production Technology
According to the descriptions of the making technique:
- Picking (采摘): In sunny weather, once the dew has gone.
- Spreading: The picked flowers are immediately spread in a thin layer so that they do not stew (焖花).
- Drying (烘干): In a multi-tier drying house; the heat is stronger at first, then weaker, and the temperature is regulated by moving the flowers from tier to tier.
- Turning: Often and carefully, otherwise the flowers oxidize and turn red (红变).
The flowers are dried fresh, so they remain whole and separate; Hangzhou white chrysanthemum, according to descriptions, is first steamed. There are no exact temperatures in reliable sources. The standard GB/T 20359-2006 covers production, grades with reference samples and test methods; its text has not been read.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The association’s reference formula: “white in color, green calyx, small center, soft flower head, fragrant aroma, even and not falling apart; poured with boiling water — the liquor is clear, the taste sweet”.
- Dry leaf appearance: There is no leaf; the product is flower heads: flattened-spherical or irregularly spherical, 1.5–2.5 cm; the ray florets are white or whitish, raised obliquely, with turned-back tips; there are few disc florets, and the calyx is green (蒂绿).
- Dry leaf aroma: Warm and rich (干茶香暖郁) — according to a popular description.
- Liquor aroma: Light and natural.
- Taste: Sweet, mellow, with a light sweet aftertaste.
- Liquor color: Clear, slightly yellowish.
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): According to a popular description, the infused flowers are pale and translucent, soft and juicy, and gradually turn brown after many infusions.
7. Chemical Composition
No numerical data found in the sources consulted: the physico-chemical requirements of the standard GB/T 20359-2006 have not been read.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular product. Reference texts give formulas of traditional medicine (“dispels wind and heat”, “brightens the eyes”); here they are not retold as established.
9. Brewing
Class practice — for chrysanthemum infusion. 3–5 g of flower heads per 200–250 ml of water at 85–95 °C, a glass tumbler or a gaiwan, 2–4 minutes for the first infusion, two to four infusions.
10. Storage
Class practice. Dry, dark, in a tightly closed container, away from odors: flower raw material is hygroscopic, quickly loses its aroma and suffers from insects.
11. Price and Counterfeits
No price data found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication product mark and an origin in She County.
- Check the appearance: a small flat white flower head of 1.5–2.5 cm, a green calyx, a small center, whole flowers that have not fallen apart.
- Do not confuse it with Hangzhou white chrysanthemum: that one has a larger dark center, and its flowers stick together after steaming.
12. Interesting Facts
- In the genealogy of the Hu clan (《金川胡氏宗谱》, 1932), according to the association, there is a line: “plant less mulberry and hemp, plant chrysanthemum — the profit from it is twice as great”.
- The name Huángshān gòngjú took root thanks to the 1997 television advertisement.
- Seeds of gòngjú flew on the Shijian-19 satellite.
13. Comparison with Other Chrysanthemums and Teas
- Chrysanthemum tea (菊花茶): An overview article on chrysanthemum infusion.
- Macheng Fubaiju (麻城福白菊): A Hubei white chrysanthemum protected in China and the EU; its flower head is larger — 2–5 cm against 1.5–2.5 cm in gòngjú.
- Hangzhou white chrysanthemum (杭白菊): A Zhejiang white chrysanthemum, one of the “four famous”; it is steamed, and the flower heads stick together.
- Huangshan Mao Feng (黄山毛峰): A true green tea of the same prefecture-level city.
In Conclusion:
Huángshān gòngjú is a small flat white chrysanthemum with a green calyx from She County, dried fresh and sold as whole, separate flowers. It has had protection since 2004, a national standard since 2006 and provincial heritage status since 2014, but it is not a tea; it is a chrysanthemum infusion that has long been drunk here instead of tea.
Sources
Standards
Full list — on the Sources page