Jīnshān cuìyá (金山翠芽) is a flat green tea of Zhenjiang (镇江) prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province. The tea is young: trial production began in 1982, and in 1985 it passed a technical appraisal and received the titles of a provincial and a national famous tea. The name means “emerald buds of Jinshan”: according to the story of the tea’s creation, to the expert evaluating the samples, the shape of the dry leaf recalled the pagoda on Mount Jinshan (金山) — a well-known landmark of the city. The name is protected under three regimes: an agricultural product geographical indication (2009), a geographical indication certification mark and recognition as a geographical indication product (2025).
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The protection requirements describe a green tea technology: fixation, straightening and shaping, drying.
- Category: A flat green tea created in the 1980s; a geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Jiangsu Province (江苏, Jiāngsū), Zhenjiang prefecture-level city (镇江, Zhènjiāng).
- Protection zone: According to the protection requirements attached to announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration — the districts of Runzhou (润州), Jingkou (京口) and Dantu (丹徒), the Zhenjiang New Area (镇江新区) and the county-level cities of Danyang (丹阳) and Jurong (句容): 27 towns and subdistricts in all. The coordinates of the zone are 119°00′–119°58′ E and 31°33′–32°19′ N.
- Applicant: The Zhenjiang Tea Industry Association (镇江市茶业协会) — according to the list attached to announcement No. 640.
- Geographic coordinates: Zhenjiang — about 32.2° N and 119.4° E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- 1982. According to a publication on the creation of the tea, trial production was started by the Xiashu tea farm (下蜀茶场), the Wuzhou tea farm (五洲茶场) and other farms of Zhenjiang.
- 1983. The samples were sent for evaluation to Anhui Agricultural College (安徽农学院). Professor Chen Chuan (陈椽), who evaluated them, noted that the tea was made from whole buds, was emerald in color and resembled the Jinshan pagoda in shape, and proposed the name “金山翠芽”.
- 1984. The city science and technology commission set up a project to create a new famous tea, and a research group was assembled; according to Xinhua Ribao (2024), the work was led by the same professor.
- 1985. According to Xinhua Ribao (2024), the development was completed that year by seven organizations, among them the Xiashu and Gaozi (高资茶场) tea farms. The tea passed a technical appraisal and became a provincial famous tea. In the same year the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (农牧渔业部) awarded it the title of a national famous tea: according to Xinhua Ribao (2024), 11 such teas were selected at that year’s all-China review of famous teas.
- 2009. The Ministry of Agriculture registered the name as an agricultural product geographical indication; reference descriptions date the registration to 15 April 2009.
- Mark. The name is also registered as a national geographical indication certification mark; the year of registration was not given in the sources consulted.
- 2023. On 26 April, World Intellectual Property Day, the Zhenjiang Intermediate People’s Court opened a judicial protection base for this geographical indication at the Zhenjiang Nanshan Tea Forest Research Institute (镇江南山茶林研究所) — against counterfeits and unfair competition.
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration recognized the name as a geographical indication product by announcement No. 640, signed on 16 July 2025; this announcement recognized 1,409 products at once. In the list annexed to it, this is item 286. The product requirements summarized below are taken from the second annex to this announcement.
- Awards: According to Xinhua Ribao (2024), the tea twice took first place by total score at the all-China “Zhongcha Bei” (中茶杯) competition.
- Name: 金山 — Mount Jinshan in Zhenjiang, 翠 — “emerald”, 芽 — “bud”.
- Cultural significance: The name links the new tea with Mount Jinshan and its pagoda — a well-known landmark of Zhenjiang. Xinhua Ribao (2024) gives the local quality formula: “emerald color, clean aroma, fresh taste, beautiful shape” (色翠、清香、味鲜、形美).
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties: According to the protection requirements — the clonal varieties 福鼎大毫茶 (Fúdǐng dàháochá), 福鼎大白茶 (Fúdǐng dàbáichá), 福云六号 (Fúyún liùhào) and others.
- Harvest standard: According to the protection requirements, picking starts when the overwintered buds have grown to “one bud with one leaf” (一芽一叶); the top grade is made mainly from single buds about 2.5 cm long (特级以单芽为主). The story of the tea’s creation also says that the 1983 samples were made from whole buds (全芽制成).
- Harvest time: From late March or early April until about Guyu (谷雨, gǔyǔ).
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: Zhenjiang prefecture; the protection zone includes six districts and county-level cities.
- Mount Wuqishan: One of the publications on the tea names Mount Wuqishan (武岐山) near Xiashu in Jurong as the place of production, “the second highest peak in the province”, wrapped in clouds almost all year round. Its altitude was not found in the sources consulted, and this is not confirmed by other sources. Xinhua Ribao (2024) also calls Mount Wuqishan near Xiashu Yunwushan (云雾山) — “mountain of clouds and mists”.
- Soils: According to a reference description, the soils of the area are transitional between northern and southern ones. The protection requirements name two types — “yellow sandy soil” (黄砂土) and “yellow compact soil” (黄刚土). The second contains many clay particles and much exchangeable hydrogen, aluminum and bases; it is rich in mineral nutrients and suits tea. According to the reference description, the topsoil pH of the yellow sandy soil is 5.1–6.0, and it retains moisture and fertilizers well.
- Gardens under the protection requirements: The bushes are planted in low furrows — 150 cm between rows, 30 cm for narrow rows, 25–30 cm between bushes; after planting the soil is covered with straw or black film. The canopy is formed by three prunings, and after the spring harvest a heavy pruning is done and the bushes are given a rest from picking.
- Altitude and climate: No verified data were found in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
The protection requirements describe the following sequence:
- Spreading of fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng): In a layer no thicker than 2 cm, in a clean, dry, cool and ventilated room at a temperature of about 20 °C and relative humidity above 70%.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Temperature and time are chosen so that the leaf turns from fresh green to dark green and the grassy smell goes away.
- Cooling (摊凉, tānliáng): In a layer of 2–4 cm in a ventilated place, for 15–20 minutes.
- Straightening and shaping (理条整形, lǐtiáo zhěngxíng): At a leaf temperature of about 40 °C; then the leaf is cooled again in a layer no thicker than 3 cm for about 20 minutes.
- Repeated drying in the pan (回锅干燥, huíguō gānzào): Until the leaf begins to crumble slightly between the fingers; weight loss — 65%.
- Final drying (足干, zúgān): With hot air at 60–80 °C, in a layer of 1–1.5 cm, with stirring.
- Cooling: The fully dried tea is cooled to room temperature.
- Manual refining (手工精制, shǒugōng jīngzhì): The tea is winnowed on a winnowing machine or by hand, flakes and broken pieces are removed, and dust is sifted out.
The requirements do not give pan temperatures or the duration of fixation. The local standard of Zhenjiang DB3211/T 1010-2019 “农产品地理标志 镇江金山翠芽茶” is in force: approved on 20 December 2019, effective from 1 January 2020; its text could not be opened.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below is from the protection requirements.
- Dry leaf appearance: Flat, straight, pointed and even (扁平挺削匀整), emerald, with visible down (色翠显毫).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description was found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: High and lasting (香高持久).
- Taste: Fresh and rich (滋味鲜浓).
- Liquor color: Emerald green, bright (汤色翠绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender, even and plump (叶底嫩匀肥壮).
According to one of the publications on the tea, in the glass the buds now hang in the water, now stand upright on the bottom; this is compared with young bamboo shoots.
7. Chemical Composition
The protection requirements set the following norms:
| Indicator | Norm |
|---|---|
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 36% |
| Total ash | not more than 6.5% |
| Crude fiber | not more than 10.5% |
| Fines | not more than 1.0% |
| Moisture | not more than 6.5% |
No data on polyphenols, amino acids and caffeine were found in the sources consulted.
8. Brewing
The practice of the class for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler — in it you can see the buds standing upright.
- Process:
- Warm the glass.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side of the glass.
- The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three more infusions.
9. Storage
The practice of the class. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
No price data were found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the marking of the geographical indication or the certification mark.
- Check that the producer is from the protection zone — the six districts and county-level cities of Zhenjiang.
- The leaf is flat, straight, emerald, with down; the liquor is emerald and clear.
- Many teas have a flat green leaf, so the appearance by itself does not prove origin.
11. Interesting Facts
- The tea got its name in 1983 during the evaluation of the samples — for the resemblance of its shape to the pagoda of Mount Jinshan.
- To protect this indication, the Zhenjiang court opened a separate judicial protection base — right in the tea institute.
- A legend retold by Xinhua Ribao (2024) says that Liu Bowen (刘伯温), a dignitary of the Ming era, attained immortality and planted tea on Mount Wuqishan. This is a legend about the mountain, not the history of the tea itself: the tea was created in the 1980s.
- The protection zone overlaps with the zone of another tea: the county-level city of Jurong is part of the Jīnshān cuìyá zone and lies entirely within the Maoshan Changqing zone.
12. Comparison with Other Flat Teas of Jiangsu
- Maoshan Changqing (茅山长青): A flat, straight green tea of the Maoshan mountains in Jurong — in the same Zhenjiang prefecture; also created in the 1980s.
- Jintan Queshe (金坛雀舌): A flat green tea of Jintan in neighboring Changzhou prefecture, also a new tea of the 1980s.
- Taihu Cuizhu (太湖翠竹): A flat green tea of Wuxi from the late 1980s; in the glass its leaves also stand upright.
- Nanjing Yuhua Cha (南京雨花茶): A tea of neighboring Nanjing, but needle-shaped rather than flat.
In Conclusion:
Jīnshān cuìyá is a young flat tea of Zhenjiang, created in the early 1980s and named after the pagoda on the city’s mountain. The protection requirements describe it in detail: a flat emerald leaf with down, a high lasting aroma, a fresh rich taste. Three protection regimes and a separate judicial base show how much the city values this name.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page