Kāishān báimáo chá (开山白毛茶), “the white-downy tea of Kaishan”, is a green tea from Kaishan Town (开山镇) of Babu District of Hezhou prefecture-level city in the east of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The “white down” (白毛) in the name refers to downy buds, not to the white class: the specification states plainly “开山白毛茶（绿茶）”. The main feature, which the specification also names, is a pronounced apple aroma. Descriptions count the tea among the five traditional famous teas of Guangxi. Since 2014 the name has been protected as an agricultural product geographical indication, and since 2025 as a geographical indication product.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá); the class is given in parentheses in the quality requirements. The intangible heritage reference says that the leaf is pan-fired (炒制, chǎozhì) and all operations are done by hand.
- Category: Mountain downy green tea from a local seed-propagated variety; geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西, Guǎngxī), Hezhou prefecture-level city (贺州, Hèzhōu), Babu District (八步区, Bābù).
- Protection zone: The towns of Kaishan (开山镇), Guiling (桂岭镇) and Daning (大宁镇) and Huangdong Township (黄洞乡). In one of the annexes to the 2025 list the township is written as 黄桐乡.
- Geographic coordinates: 24°28′54″–24°46′24″ N and 111°41′12″–111°47′41″ E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Ming era. According to reference descriptions, tea began to be grown here under the Ming dynasty; the bushes were originally wild.
- Qianlong reign (1736–1795). According to the same descriptions, which cite the Records of Famous Chinese Teas, “Guangxi” volume (中国名茶志·广西卷), residents transplanted the wild bushes next to their houses, and household gardens (家园茶) appeared.
- Legend. Legend attributes to the Qianlong Emperor the words “一品开山茶，天下无佳茗” — “having tasted Kaishan tea, you will find no better under Heaven”; the agricultural brand catalogue of the Guangxi Department of Agriculture and popular publications add that after this the tea became tribute to the court. Documentary confirmation of either the words or the tribute status is not found in the sources consulted.
- Awards. According to the agricultural brand catalogue of the Guangxi Department of Agriculture, the tea won the top prize (特等奖) of the Guangxi “桂茶杯” competition. The 茶百科 reference work dates it to 2004; there is no independent confirmation of the year.
- 2012. The making technique was entered by the government of the autonomous region into the fourth list of the intangible cultural heritage of Guangxi — so writes the reference on this heritage item on the website of the protected old town of Huangyao (黄姚古镇) in Hezhou.
- 2014. By Ministry of Agriculture announcement No. 2179 the tea was registered as an agricultural product geographical indication. The indications catalogue gives the date 28 November 2014, the 茶百科 reference work 18 November; the discrepancy is not resolved. Applications for the right to use the mark are accepted by the Babu District Agricultural Technology Extension Center (八步区农业技术推广中心).
- 2017 and 2022. The tea was included in the national list of famous, special, high-quality and new agricultural products (名特优新).
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration, by announcement No. 640, recognized the name as a geographical indication product; the applicant listed is the People’s Government of Babu District.
- Name: “Kaishan” (开山) is the name of the town; “báimáo” (白毛) means “white hairs”; “chá” (茶) means tea. The local variety of the tea bush bears the same name.
- Cultural significance: The “Kāishān báimáo chá tea culture system” (广西八步开山白毛茶文化系统) was included in the results of the nationwide survey of agricultural heritage.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: A local variety that bears the same name as the tea — 开山白毛茶. Reference descriptions characterize it as a seed-propagated (有性系) variety: a small tree (小乔木型), medium-leaf, mid-season, diploid; the leaf is elliptical and soft. A registration number for the variety is not found in the sources consulted.
- Harvest standard: The 2025 requirements describe the rules: pick in batches, as the shoots grow, with a “lifting” motion of the fingers, without pinching with the nail or tearing; no scales, “fish” leaves, fruits or old shoots. A “bud with leaf” standard is not found in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The Mengzhuling Range (萌渚岭) on the border of Guangxi and Hunan. The original tea places are the hollows of Dongnan Village (东南村) of Kaishan Town: Miaotangchong, Gaotianchong, Zhaiyanchong and Gongdanchong (庙塘冲、高田冲、寨岩冲、公胆冲); the 茶百科 reference work names the leaf from Gongdanchong as the best raw material. The massif serves as a watershed between tributaries of the Yangtze and the Pearl River basin.
- Growing altitude: The data diverge. The 2014 specification names slopes at 300–600 m for laying out gardens. About the original tea area the specification itself writes “above 500 m”, the reference descriptions “above 1000 m”, the intangible heritage reference “about 1000 m”.
- Mountains: The highest point is Matangding Peak (马塘顶, 1787 m) on the border with Jianghua Yao Autonomous County of Hunan Province; there are about twenty peaks 900–1300 m high in the massif.
- Climate: According to the 2014 specification — mean annual temperature 19.9 °C, precipitation 1516.9 mm, 320 frost-free days, frequent fogs, little sunshine and a large daily temperature range.
- Soils: Red earths and yellow-red earths on sandstones, shales and granites, pH 4.5–6.5. The 2025 requirements name loams and sandy loams with organic matter of 1–2% or more and a slope of up to 25°.
- Area: According to the 2014 registration data, the protected zone is 4000 ha, the area under tea 400 ha, and the fresh leaf harvest about 500 t a year.
- Rivers: According to the same registration data, the Guiling River (桂岭河) flows for about 100 km through the towns of Kaishan, Guiling, Daning, Huangdong and Hejie, and beyond Hejie it flows into the Hejiang River (贺江).
5. Production Technology
Neither the 2014 specification nor the 2025 requirements give processing schemes with parameters; for the gardens the specification refers to the production rules NY/T 5018-2001, for the environment to NY 5020-2001. Little is known:
- According to the intangible heritage reference, the path from fresh leaf to finished tea takes 7–8 operations, and all of them are done by hand.
- The craft was passed down for centuries from master to apprentice; according to the same reference, the masters have no exact parameters, everything is decided by experience, and the weather and the raw material strongly affect processing.
- According to the same reference, the leaf is pan-fired (炒制).
For green tea fixed by pan-firing, the usual sequence is as follows:
- Spreading (摊放, tānfàng).
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): heating stops oxidation.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
- Drying (干燥, gānzào).
This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of Kāishān báimáo chá.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
According to the specification, with additions from reference works.
- Dry leaf appearance: Tight, fine and even, with sharp tips (有锋苗), the white hairs on show (白毫显露). The intangible heritage reference describes a spiral roll (螺形卷曲) and the color “silvery green with an emerald sheen” (银绿隐翠); other reference descriptions call the tea needle-shaped, “fine, round and straight” (细圆光直). The descriptions diverge on the shape.
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and rich, with a pronounced apple note (清香、浓郁，苹果香突显). Local descriptions call the tea “the only tea in the country with an apple aroma” — this is an advertising formula.
- Taste: Full, mellow, sweet and fresh (醇厚甘爽). According to reference descriptions, the first sip is slightly bitter, then come sweetness and abundant salivation.
- Liquor color: Clear green and bright (清绿明亮); the intangible heritage reference writes “yellow-green, clear” (黄绿清澈).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender yellow and even (叶底嫩黄匀称) — according to the intangible heritage reference; the protection documents give no description.
7. Chemical Composition
Indicators from the 2014 registration:
| Indicator | Norm |
|---|---|
| Moisture | not more than 6.3% |
| Total ash | not more than 4.92% |
| Crude fiber | not more than 11.4% |
| Water-soluble substances | not less than 56.4% |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 23.6% |
| Free amino acids | not less than 2.5% |
The 2025 requirements set the same indicators as ranges: moisture 4.12–6.3%, total ash 4.74–4.92%, water-soluble substances 56.4–57.9%, crude fiber 9.39–11.4%, polyphenols 23.6–26.9%, free amino acids 2.5–2.9%. These are norms for the protected product, not measurements of an individual batch.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three repeat infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. 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
Verified price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the agricultural product geographical indication mark and the product name on the packaging.
- Check that the producer is from the towns of Kaishan, Guiling or Daning or from Huangdong Township of Babu District.
- The leaf is fine and tight, with noticeable white hairs; the aroma has an apple note.
11. Interesting Facts
- The variety and the tea bear one name: 开山白毛茶 is both the bush and the finished green tea.
- The apple aroma is recorded not only in advertising but also in the quality requirements.
- Under the 2014 specification gardens are laid out at 300–600 m, while the highest point of the massif is 1787 m.
12. Comparison with Other Teas
- Zhaoping Yinshan Cha (昭平银杉茶) and Zhaoping Lücha (昭平绿茶): Green teas of Zhaoping County in the same Hezhou prefecture-level city.
- Lechang Baimao Cha (乐昌白毛茶): A Guangdong downy green tea with the same naming trap.
- Lingyun Baicha (凌云白茶): A Guangxi tea from the downy raw material of Lingyun — for contrast: there “white” already means the class.
In Conclusion:
Kāishān báimáo chá is a mountain green tea from the Guangxi-Hunan border, made from a local seed-propagated variety of the same name. The specification describes a fine downy roll, a clear green liquor, a sweet and fresh taste and an apple note, and the tea is still made by hand. The “white down” in the name refers to the hairs on the buds, not to the class.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page