---
title: "Jiūkēng chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/jiukeng-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Jiūkēng chá (鸠坑茶)

*Jiūkēng chá* (鸠坑茶) is a green tea of Chun'an County (淳安县), Hangzhou prefecture-level city, Zhejiang Province, from the area of the Qiandaohu reservoir (千岛湖). The name is a toponym: Jiukeng Township (鸠坑乡) in the northwest of the county. The same name is borne by the tea bush variety Jiukengzhong (鸠坑种), which was recognized as a national variety in 1984 and has spread far beyond the county, so the variety and the tea must be distinguished. Since 2025 the name has been protected as a geographical indication product of two shapes — curled and flat, with a chestnut note in the aroma.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The processing scheme in the protection requirements is a green one: fixation by heat (杀青, *shāqīng*) immediately after spreading of the leaf, without oxidation or smothering.
* **Class caveat:** According to a China National Radio report, a local company makes from the same variety not only green but also red and pressed (团茶) tea. The protection requirements describe only green tea of two shapes.
* **Category:** A historical tea of the Tang lists; a geographical indication product.
* **Origin:** China, Zhejiang Province (浙江, *Zhèjiāng*), Hangzhou prefecture-level city (杭州, *Hángzhōu*), Chun'an County (淳安, *Chún'ān*), Jiukeng Township.
* **Protection zone:** According to the 2025 protection requirements — 23 townships and towns of Chun'an County, from Qiandaohu and Wenchang to Weiping, Linqi, Fenkou and Jiukeng itself, 425 administrative villages; 118°20′–119°20′ E, 29°11′–30°02′ N. Applicant — the county agricultural development center (淳安县农业农村发展服务中心).
* **Geographic coordinates:** About 29.2–30.0° N and 118.3–119.3° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Tang.** In the *Supplement to the State History of the Tang* (唐国史补) by Li Zhao (李肇), the list of famous teas contains the line “睦州有鸠坑” — “Muzhou has Jiukeng” (in some editions the last character is given as the variant 坈). Muzhou is the old name of the prefecture that included Chun'an. The line is sometimes attributed to *The Classic of Tea*, but the Classic says something else about Muzhou: “睦州生桐庐县山谷” — the tea of Muzhou grows in the valleys of Tonglu County.
    * **Disputed quotation.** Publications attribute the phrase about the steamed tea of the Jiukeng ridge sometimes to *The Tea Register* (茶谱) of Mao Wenxi and sometimes to the collection *Hanmo Quanshu* (翰墨全书); the attribution is disputed.
    * **Tribute tea.** Reference books cite the local chronicles *Zhishan Yizhi* (雉山邑志) and *Yanling Zhi* (严陵志): “淳[安茶](https://thetea.app/article/ancha)旧产鸠坑者佳，唐时称贡物，宋朝罢贡” — the best tea of Chun'an has long come from Jiukeng; under the Tang it went as tribute, under the Song the tribute was abolished. The line has not been checked against the chronicles themselves.
    * **Export.** According to industry publications, from the late Qing the tea of Jiukeng went for export in blends, and Chun'an's “Suilü” (遂绿), together with “Tunlü” ([屯绿](https://thetea.app/article/tunlu)) and “Wulü” (婺绿), formed the “golden triangle” of Chinese green tea.
    * **1959.** According to a reference description, the “large-leaf Jiukeng” (鸠坑大[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu)) entered the top ten varieties of the country; seeds and seedlings were exported to the USSR, Mali, Guinea, Algeria and Morocco, and resettlers from the Xin'anjiang reservoir zone took seeds with them.
    * **1984.** According to a China National Radio report, the All-China Tea Plant Variety Committee recognized Jiukengzhong as a national variety under the number “Huacha No. 23” (华茶23号); one industry publication gives 1985. An industry weekly writes that the variety was in the first batch of national varieties.
    * **1985.** According to reference books, Jiukeng Maojian (鸠坑[毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/mao-jian)), revived in the early 1980s, received the title of quality product of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery.
    * **2003.** According to a China National Radio report, seeds of the variety flew aboard the “Shenzhou-5” spacecraft in a space breeding experiment.
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (signed 16 July, published 13 August), 1409 products were recognized as geographical indication products; *Jiūkēng chá* is in row 434. The name is also registered as an agricultural product geographical indication: according to a reference description — on 22 December 2017; the date has not been checked against the ministry's publication.
* **Name:** “Jiukeng” (鸠坑) — the name of the township: 鸠 — turtle dove, 坑 — depression, hollow.
* **Cultural significance:** Industry and local publications call the variety the “mother tea” (母亲茶). According to press reports of 2021–2022, in Tanglian village (塘联) of the township, at an altitude of about 600 m, grows a “king of tea trees” (茶树王) over 800 years old, with a crown about 11 m across; according to a local saying, “茶王不摘叶，茶树不下青”, until the leaf has been picked from it, the other bushes are not touched, and the spring harvest is opened at this tree.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Variety:** According to the protection requirements — the local Jiukeng population (鸠坑[群体种](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong)) of Chun'an County and clonal varieties bred from it as the mother form. According to a China National Radio report, Jiukengzhong is the only seed-propagated variety of Zhejiang and one of the most widely distributed varieties in the country; it has been introduced into more than ten countries, among them Japan, Vietnam, the former USSR, India, Guinea, Morocco and Algeria.
* **Descendants:** Since the 1980s the lines “Jiu 20” (鸠20) and “Jiu 16” (鸠16) have been selected from the population; according to an industry publication, the leaf of “Jiu 20” is suitable for both green and red tea. In 2015 the city press wrote of a new variety, “Jiukeng Zao” (鸠坑早), bred from the same population. According to a report in *Nongmin Ribao* (2023), more than half of the county's gardens are planted with the Jiukeng population and its descendants, and the leaf of “Jiu 20” is bought at a higher price than that of other varieties.
* **Harvest:** Picking begins when 10–15 buds per square meter of canopy meet the standard. The leaf is whole, fresh, bright green, without stalk, scales or “fish leaf” (鱼叶), without spoilage or impurities.
* **Harvest standard:** For Jiukeng Maojian a reference book names one bud with one barely opened leaf — the “brush tip” (笔尖); by timing, the raw material is divided into maojian (before Qingming), yuqian (before Guyu) and chaoqing (after Guyu).

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The northwest of Chun'an County near the border with Anhui, the mountains around Qiandaohu.
* **Soils:** According to the protection requirements — acidic red or yellow soils of good structure, pH 4.0–6.0.
* **Climate:** A reference book gives for the Jiukeng valley an annual average of about 17.0 °C, about 263 frost-free days and 1430 mm of precipitation, with frequent fogs.
* **Altitude:** The requirements give no exact data; a reference description singles out sunny slopes above 600 m.
* **Area:** According to the description of the agricultural indication — 6500 ha of gardens, more than 3000 t of tea a year, a protected territory of 27,000 ha.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection requirements set eight steps with parameters:

1.  **Spreading of the leaf (鲜叶摊放, *xiānyè tānfàng*):** 6–12 hours, until the leaf is soft, dark green in color and clean in aroma.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** In a pan or a drum machine.
3.  **Cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*):** 40–60 minutes.
4.  **Straightening (理条, *lǐtiáo*):** On a straightening machine or a flat-tea machine.
5.  **Moisture regain (回潮, *huícháo*):** 20–30 minutes, until the bud is soft.
6.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** 20–25 minutes; the top grade without pressure, the others with light pressure in the middle of the cycle.
7.  **Drying (烘干, *hōnggān*):** In two stages with a 20–30-minute rest between them, to a moisture content below 6 %.
8.  **Finishing (整理, *zhěnglǐ*):** Yellow flakes, scales and old leaf are picked out, and fragments are sifted off.

For the historical Jiukeng Maojian, reference books describe a manual scheme: spreading of the leaf for 6–12 hours, fixation, rolling, second drying (烘二青, *hōng èrqīng*), shaping (整形做条), bringing out the down (提毫, *tíháo*) and final drying. The leaf acquires its straight, tight shape in a pan at 60 °C; then the pan is cooled to about 40 °C and the leaf is rubbed between the palms until the down shows. Final drying is done in a bamboo basket over a fire.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the protection requirements, for the two shapes.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Curled shape (卷曲形) — a curled emerald leaf with noticeable down. Flat (扁形) — flat, smooth, straight, green.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description was found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Curled — tender chestnut, lasting (嫩栗香持久); flat — rich chestnut (栗香馥郁).
* **Taste:** Curled — fresh and mellow (鲜醇); flat — full-bodied and mellow (浓醇).
* **Liquor color:** Curled — green, bright; flat — tender green, bright.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Curled — tender, even, green and bright; flat — fleshy, thick, green and bright.

The document formulates the distinguishing feature as follows: “叶肥耐冲泡、栗香味鲜浓” — a fleshy leaf that stands many infusions, a chestnut aroma, a fresh, rich taste.

Reference books describe Jiukeng Maojian as follows: the leaf is tight, large, straight, tender green, with white down; in the liquor the buds are fleshy, the color is yellow-green and bright, the down is long and silvery, the aroma is of roasted chestnut (熟栗子香), the taste is fresh and rich.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The protection requirements set for the finished tea:

| Indicator | Content |
| :--- | :--- |
| Water extract | 40–53 % |
| Tea polyphenols | 18–28 % |
| Amino acids | 3–6 % |

No data on caffeine were found in the sources consulted.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for green tea; sellers recommend water at 80–90 °C and three or four infusions, but this is not a norm of the indication.

* **Water temperature:** 80–85 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up with water.
    5. Three or four infusions, each a little longer.

**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:**

No price data were found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Variety and place are not the same thing: the Jiukeng bush grows all over China, while *Jiūkēng chá* is only the tea of Chun'an County.
    * Look for the geographical indication product mark.
    * Both shapes are legitimate; what they share is the chestnut aroma and fleshy spent leaves.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The line “睦州有鸠坑” is often attributed to *The Classic of Tea*, but it stands in the *Supplement to the State History of the Tang*.
* Jiukeng seeds flew into space in 2003.
* According to reference books, Jiukeng Maojian also served as the base for a jasmine tea — “Jiukeng Moli Maojian” (鸠坑茉莉毛尖).
* The lower limit for water extract is 40 %; for Yuyao Pubu Xianming ([余姚瀑布仙茗](https://thetea.app/article/yuyao-pubu-xianming)) and Sanbeixiang Cha (三杯香茶) in the same announcement it is 36 and 37 %.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas of Chun'an and Its Neighbors:**

* **Qiandao Yuye ([千岛玉叶](https://thetea.app/article/qiandao-yu-ye)):** A flat green tea of the same county from the same variety, created in 1982.
* **Zhejiang Songzhen ([浙江松针](https://thetea.app/article/zhejiang-songzhen)):** A needle-shaped green tea of the same county.
* **Tonglu Xueshui Yunlü Cha ([桐庐雪水云绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/tonglu-xueshui-yunlu-cha)):** A tea of Tonglu County, which *The Classic of Tea* names as the place of Muzhou tea.
* **Tunlü (屯绿):** An Anhui export green tea, a neighbor in the “golden triangle”.

**In Conclusion:**

*Jiūkēng chá* is a tea whose name is bigger than the tea itself: the township gave its name to a variety that spread across China and beyond, while only the green tea of Chun'an County remains protected. Curled or flat, it is recognized by its fleshy leaf, its chestnut aroma and its endurance over many infusions.