Kāixiàn lóngzhū chá

Kāixiàn lóngzhū chá (开县龙珠茶) is a mountain green tea from Kaizhou District (开州区) in the northeast of Chongqing. Until 2016 the district was Kaixian County, and the name of the mark has kept the old name. Local sources name Longzhu Village (龙珠村) of Dunhao Town (敦好镇) as the birthplace of the tea. The name means “dragon pearl”, but according to the description of the mark the leaf is rolled not into balls but into thin, round and straight strands with white hairs. The name is protected by geographical indication certification mark No. 7761280, and the making technique is included in lists of intangible heritage.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The document of the mark does not name the class; the conclusion is drawn from the description of the appearance in the mark’s reference: green leaf with white hairs, tender green liquor. The technology is not found in the sources consulted.
Name trap: “龙珠” (lóngzhū) — “dragon pearl” — is not the shape of the leaf here. The name “lóngzhū” is used for the balls of other teas, for example the jasmine Moli Longzhu (茉莉龙珠) and the red Hong Longzhu (红龙珠). The Kaixian tea has nothing to do with them: its name coincides with the name of Longzhu Village, which the sources call its birthplace. A direct explanation of the name is not found in the sources consulted.
Category: Mountain green tea of northeastern Chongqing; geographical indication certification mark.
Origin: China, the directly administered municipality of Chongqing (重庆, Chóngqìng), Kaizhou District (开州, Kāizhōu; until 2016 — Kaixian County, 开县, Kāixiàn), Dunhao Town.
Mark zone: According to the reference of the geographical indications platform — the current administrative territory of Kaixian County. This is a description from the reference, not the legal boundary; I have not checked the latter.
Geographic coordinates: No data in the sources consulted.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Tribute legend. The Chongqing Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, in the Map of Chongqing Intangible Heritage Tea Crafts (2022), writes that under the Tang and under the Qing the tea was tribute to the court. The map does not cite primary sources.
- Chronicle. The same map quotes the Kuizhou Fuzhi (夔州府志) of the Jiaqing (嘉庆) reign of the Qing dynasty: “开县茶岭产茶，味绝佳，不生杂卉” — “on the tea ridge of Kaixian County tea is born, its taste is superb, and no weeds grow there”. I have not seen the chronicle itself.
- Mark. Geographical indication certification mark No. 7761280 (goods — tea) is listed under the Kaixian County “Longzhu” Tea Association (开县龙珠茶叶协会) in the 2012 list of the Trademark Office. The year of registration is not found in the sources consulted.
- 2012–2013 — survey of the craft. According to a publication reprinted by the intangible heritage portal, the district gathered specialists, surveyed the history, technology and bearers of the craft, and prepared texts and video materials. The technique was entered into the district list of intangible heritage, and an application was submitted for the municipal one.
- 2022. The technique “开州龙珠茶制作技艺” entered the Map of Tea Crafts as one of five, together with the crafts of Banan, Youyang, Chengkou and Qianjiang.
- 2024. A publication of the district People’s Political Consultative Conference (December 2024) describes the tea as included in the municipal list of intangible heritage; a travel sketch about the town says the same. The year of inclusion and the batch number are not in the texts I opened.
- 2026. According to a report by the Chongqing Intellectual Property Administration, a company in the district received the right to use the special geographical indication mark: the application was checked by the district and the city and approved by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).
Name: “Kaixian” (开县) is the former name of the county; “lóngzhū” (龙珠) means “dragon pearl”, the name of the village; “chá” (茶) means tea.
Cultural significance: The 2024 publication describes the path of the tea with a four-step formula: under the Tang — “tea aroma in Chang’an”, under the Qing — “tribute to the court”, at the start of the reforms — “famous tea of the Three Gorges”, today — “famous product of intangible heritage”.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: No data in the sources consulted.
Raw material: Tender leaf — the description of the mark speaks of fresh and tender spent leaves. A harvest standard is not found in the sources consulted.
Harvest time: No data in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The north of Kaizhou District, Dunhao Town.
Growing altitude: The 2022 map gives about 800 m for Longzhu Village, the 2024 publication 800–1200 m.
Climate: According to the map — fogs all year round, four distinct seasons, abundant rain, high air humidity and moderate sunshine.
Soils: No data for this zone. The map names in general terms mountain yellow clays, purple sandstones and old red soils for the tea areas of Chongqing; this is not tied to Dunhao.
Scale: The 2024 publication speaks of 5000 mu of new gardens in eight united villages and the reconstruction of 5000 mu of old ones, of an output of more than 30,000 jin a year, of revenue of 10 million yuan and of a brand value of 100 million yuan. These are the publication’s figures, not statistics.

5. Production Technology

The technique of Kāixiàn lóngzhū chá is included in lists of intangible heritage, but its stages and parameters are not found in the sources consulted.

Below is the general scheme for straight rolled green tea, not a description of this particular tea:

Spreading (摊放, tānfàng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that some of the moisture leaves.
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation and preserves the green color.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
Straightening (理条, lǐtiáo): The rolled leaf is drawn out into a straight round strand.
Drying (干燥, gānzào).

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The description below is taken from the mark’s reference.

Dry leaf appearance: The strands are thin, round, tight and straight, elegant; the color is green, moist and glossy; the white hairs are noticeable (条索细、圆、紧、直，紧结秀丽，色泽绿润，白毫披露).
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: Clean, immediately perceptible (清香扑鼻).
Taste: Sweet and pleasant, induces salivation; the aftertaste is long and subtle (滋味甘美生津，回味幽长).
Liquor color: Tender green and bright (汤色嫩绿明亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Fresh and tender, the shoots unfold completely (叶底鲜嫩，枝叶伸展).

The reference separately notes that the tea withstands many infusions (耐冲泡).

7. Chemical Composition

Physicochemical data are not found in the sources consulted.

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:
1. Warm the teaware.
2. Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
4. Drink, leaving a third of the liquor.
5. Top up with water.
6. Two or three repeat infusions, and according to the mark’s reference even more.

9. Storage

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. The green color and the fresh aroma are the first to go, so the tea is best drunk within a year.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for geographical indication certification mark No. 7761280 and the producer’s right to use it.
- Check that the producer is from Kaizhou District.
- The leaf forms thin, straight, round strands with white hairs; the liquor is tender green.
- Do not confuse it with teas rolled into “lóngzhū” balls: according to the description of the mark, the leaf of the Kaixian tea is a straight strand.

11. Interesting Facts

Kaixian County has not existed since 2016 — it is now Kaizhou District, but the mark is still called “开县龙珠茶”.
“Dragon pearl” is the name of a village, not a shape: the leaf of this tea is straight.
The chronicle’s praise is about the place, not the leaf: a tea ridge, a superb taste and not a single weed around.

12. Comparison with Other Chongqing Teas

Yongchuan Xiuya (永川秀芽): The flagship green tea of Chongqing, with a straight, slightly flattened needle-shaped leaf; Kāixiàn lóngzhū chá has a round strand with noticeable hairs.
Banan Yinzhen (巴南银针): A needle-shaped green tea of Banan District; the Banan craft stands on the same map of Chongqing tea heritage.
Nanchuan Dashu Cha (南川大树茶): Tea from local tea trees of Nanchuan District in the south of the city — another edge of Chongqing and another type of raw material.
Moli Longzhu (茉莉龙珠): A jasmine tea rolled into balls — for contrast: one word in the name, different teas.

In Conclusion:

Kāixiàn lóngzhū chá is a green tea from the mountain village of Longzhu in the northeast of Chongqing, and its name is deceptive: “dragon pearl” here is the name of a place, and the leaf itself is rolled into thin straight strands with white hairs. The mark’s reference describes a clean aroma, a tender green liquor and a sweet taste with a long aftertaste; the Kuizhou chronicle praises the tea ridge of Kaixian. The documents give no varieties, technology or chemistry — but there is a mark protecting the name, and the craft is on the heritage lists.

Sources

Geographical indication

CNIPA 地理标志证明商标 №7761280

Full list — on the Sources page