---
title: "Huángshān gòngjú"
url: https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-gongju
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Huángshān gòngjú (黄山贡菊)

*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:

1. **Picking (采摘):** In sunny weather, once the dew has gone.
2. **Spreading:** The picked flowers are immediately spread in a thin layer so that they do not stew (焖花).
3. **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.
4. **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](https://thetea.app/article/juhua-cha)):** An overview article on chrysanthemum infusion.
* **Macheng Fubaiju ([麻城福白菊](https://thetea.app/article/macheng-fubaiju)):** 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](https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-mao-feng)):** 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.