Huǒtián Dàmàoshān chá

Huǒtián Dàmàoshān chá (火田大茂山茶) is the tea of Mount Damaoshan (大茂山) in Huotian town (火田镇), Yunxiao County (云霄县), Zhangzhou prefecture-level city, in the south of Fujian Province. The main thing this name has is a wild ancient tea forest deep in the mountain: according to the local press, hundreds of trees over 300 years old grow in it. Legend links the discovery of the local tea with the Tang general Chen Zheng and the year 669, hence the popular name — “General Chen’s tea”. Since the end of 2016 the name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark; in 2024 a group standard was adopted for it. Neither the mark nor the descriptions found name the class of the tea, which is why the article stands in the categories section.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Not established. The mark is registered for the goods “tea” without indicating the class; I have not seen the text of the 2024 standard, where the class might be named. The local description — a leaf in the shape of a “dragonfly head”, a golden liquor, an orchid aroma — resembles the appearance of a southern Fujian oolong, and a brand bearing the name of the same mountain received an award for tieguanyin. These are indirect signs, not a document.
Category: A tea with a geographical indication certification mark (2016) and a group standard (2024).
Origin: China, Fujian Province (福建, Fújiàn), Zhangzhou prefecture-level city (漳州, Zhāngzhōu), Yunxiao County (云霄, Yúnxiāo), Huotian town, Mount Damaoshan. The tea village of the mountain is Baishi (白石村).
Protection zone: The provincial list of marks names Yunxiao County as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone. The exact boundaries are probably set by the 2024 standard, but I have not seen its text.
Protection regime: Geographical indication certification mark of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) No. 15262179; the exact name of the mark is “火田大茂山茶 HUOTIAN DAMAOSHAN TEA”, the goods — tea. In the provincial list as of 30 June 2026 the registration is listed as valid.
Geographic coordinates: Yunxiao County — about 24° N and 117.3° E.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- 669 — the legend of General Chen. According to legend, in the second year of the Zongzhang era of the Tang dynasty, the general Chen Zheng (陈政), marching south with his army by imperial decree, found wild tea in the forests of Damaoshan. The leaves were picked, dried and brewed, and the soldiers drank the infusion on campaign. Hence the popular name — “General Chen’s tea” (陈将军茶). No document confirming the episode was found in the sources consulted.
- End of 2016. Huotian town received the geographical indication certification mark “火田大茂山茶”. According to the same local publication, the ancient tea garden and the tea culture associated with it entered the “national list of agricultural cultural heritage” (全国农业文化遗产名录) at the same time. In the published batches of the list “Important Agricultural Heritage of China” (中国重要农业文化遗产) I did not find it among the Fujian sites; I have not established which list is meant.
- After registration. According to the local press, the county leadership came to Baishi to study the industry, and the county tea association brought in specialists to take production beyond the traditional manner and combine it with the techniques of other tea areas of the country.
- 2024. On 6 November the group standard T/YXDBCX 0019-2024 “Geographical indication product. Huotian Damaoshan Cha” was published and put into effect. It sets the place of origin, requirements, inspection rules and labeling. The developers are the county association of the geographical indication industry, the county food rapid testing center, several local tea companies and a family farm. The standard explicitly refers to the product of the mark approved by the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Name: “Huotian” (火田) is the name of the town, literally “fiery field”; “Damaoshan” (大茂山) is the name of the mountain, where 茂 means “lush, dense”.
Cultural significance: According to the local press, Baishi has developed a chain from production and processing to transport and sale, there are brand stores and teahouses, and the village combines tea with tourism.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: Not named in the sources consulted.
Wild trees: The local press calls Damaoshan a valuable repository of tea plant genetic resources (种质资源库): hundreds of wild trees over 300 years old grow in the forest. In retellings the area of the forest is given in units that I could not confirm, so I do not give it.
Garden bushes: Besides the forest, the village has ordinary gardens: in winter the bushes in them are fed and their tops are cut back, lowering the crown.
Raw material: Whether the tea of the mark is made from the wild trees, from the garden bushes or from both, the sources consulted do not specify.
Standard and time of harvest: No data found in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The mountains of southern Fujian, Zhangzhou prefecture.
Altitude: A local publication says that Baishi stands on Mount Damaoshan, 1075.5 m high, and that it is the highest-lying village in the county. The altitude of the gardens and the forest is not found in the sources consulted.
Climate: The mountain, according to the description, is in clouds and mist all year round. No other climate data were found in the sources consulted.
Soils: No data found in the sources consulted.
Forest: The wild tea forest lies deep in the mountain. The local press calls it the largest wild community of tea trees in Fujian; I could not verify this comparison.

5. Production Technology

The technology of the mark’s tea is not described in the sources consulted, and I have not seen the text of the 2024 standard. Since the class has not been established, I do not give the general scheme of any class here: it would pass off a guess as a description.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The description below is taken from a local publication about “Damaoshan tea”; I have not checked it against the text of the standard.

Dry leaf appearance: In the shape of a “dragonfly head” — in China this image usually describes the tightly rolled leaf of southern Fujian oolongs.
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions found in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Orchid (有兰花味).
Taste: “The water is soft, smooth and tender” (水软滑嫩); first bitter, then sweet (先苦后甘); the aroma lingers long in the mouth (颊齿留香，经久不散). Withstands many infusions (耐冲泡).
Liquor color: Golden (汤色金黄).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): No descriptions found in the sources consulted.

The trade description of “General Chen’s tea” adds a “rock resonance” (岩韵), sweet mellowness and a clean aroma. This is advertising for one product, not a description of the mark.

7. Chemical Composition

No physicochemical data found in the sources consulted.

8. Health Properties

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The story that the infusion of “General Chen’s tea” helped the soldiers on campaign is a legend, not information about the effects of the tea.

9. Brewing

Class practice. The class of the tea has not been established; below are the usual parameters for a tightly rolled southern Fujian oolong, which the description resembles.

Water temperature: 95–100 °C.
Tea amount: 6–8 g per 110 ml.
Teaware: A gaiwan or a small clay teapot.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware, rinse the tea with a short infusion.
2. First infusion — 20–30 seconds, each next one 5–10 seconds longer.
3. The description promises staying power, so there may be many infusions.

10. Storage

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a cool dark place, away from moisture and foreign odors. If the tea turns out to be a light fragrant oolong, it is better kept cold and drunk within a year.

11. Price and Counterfeits

No price data were found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark “火田大茂山茶” on the packaging.
- Check that the producer is from Yunxiao County.
- Remember that trademarks bearing the name of the mountain are not the same as the mark.

12. Interesting Facts

Hundreds of wild tea trees over 300 years old grow in the Damaoshan forest.
The main tea village, Baishi, according to the local press, is the highest in Yunxiao County.
A local collection on the county’s geographical marks includes poems about Damaoshan tea — about the “thousand-year-old trees” and the “Tang wind” of the mountain.
A brand bearing the name of the mountain received a gold medal at the 7th China International Tea Expo for tieguanyin; this is an award of the brand, not of the mark.

13. Comparison with Neighboring Teas of Zhangzhou Prefecture

Pinghe Bai Ya Qi Lan (平和白芽奇兰): An oolong of neighboring Pinghe County; behind the Damaoshan name stands first of all the wild forest, and the class has not been established by a document.
Zhao’an Ba Xian (诏安八仙): An oolong of neighboring Zhao’an County from a 20th-century variety; Damaoshan relies on old wild trees.
Zhangzhou Se Zhong (漳州色种): A blended oolong of the prefecture; according to the corpus article, its production zone covers eleven counties and districts, whereas the Damaoshan name is tied to a single mountain.

In Conclusion:

Huǒtián Dàmàoshān chá is the name of a mountain with a wild tea forest, hundreds of trees over three centuries old and a legend about General Chen. There are few documents about the tea itself: the mark since 2016, the 2024 group standard and a local description — “dragonfly head”, a golden liquor, an orchid aroma, a bitterness turning into sweetness. The class has not been established by a document, and this is the main question the text of the standard must answer.

Sources

Standards

T/YXDBCX 0019-2024

Full list — on the Sources page