Língshān lǜchá (灵山绿茶) is a green tea of Lingshan County (灵山县), Qinzhou prefecture-level city, in the south of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, near the Beibu Gulf. Its zone lies entirely south of the Tropic of Cancer, and in 2023 the spring harvest began right after the Spring Festival. The protection document describes the tea down to the figures: the varieties Fuyun No. 6 and the local population, fixation in a drum, double drying with hot air; the finished tea — tight downy strips, a yellow-green liquor, a clean high aroma, a sweet return. The name is protected by two regimes: an agricultural product geographical indication since 2020 and recognition as a geographical indication product by the China National Intellectual Property Administration in 2025.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá), unfermented. The class is stated in the name and confirmed by the technology of the protection document: fixation, rolling, drying.
- Drying method: Both dryings are done in a drying machine with hot air, without pan-firing in a wok; by drying method this is a hongqing-type tea (烘青, hōngqīng), although the document does not use the word itself.
- Category: A southern Guangxi green tea; a geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西, Guǎngxī), Qinzhou prefecture-level city (钦州, Qīnzhōu), Lingshan County (灵山, Língshān).
- Protection zone: According to the document — 19 units of the county: the towns of Xinxu (新圩), Fengtang (丰塘), Pingshan (平山), Shitang (石塘), Fozi (佛子), Pingnan (平南), Yandun (烟墩), Tanxu (檀圩), Nalong (那隆), Sanlong (三隆), Luwu (陆屋), Jiuzhou (旧州), Taiping (太平), Shaping (沙坪), Wuli (武利), Wenli (文利), Bolao (伯劳) and the subdistricts of Lingcheng (灵城) and Sanhai (三海). According to the county website, it has exactly 17 towns and 2 subdistricts — the zone covers the whole county.
- Geographic coordinates: 108°44′–109°35′ E, 21°51′–22°38′ N — the same in the protection document and in the description of the county on its website.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Antiquity of tea growing. According to the county’s statements in the press (2023 and 2025), the history of tea in Lingshan is more than 500 years old and goes back to the Yuan era. The figures do not agree well: more than 650 years have passed since the end of the Yuan. I have not seen any documents.
- 2013, 2015, 2017. Língshān lǜchá was included in the national list of famous, special, high-quality and new agricultural products “全国名特优新农产品目录” (according to Renmin Wang, 2023).
- On 30 April 2020 the tea received an agricultural product geographical indication (农产品地理标志), number AGI03001. In November of the same year “灵山绿茶” was included in the Guangxi list of regional brands “广西好嘢”.
- 2025. By announcement No. 640 of 16 July 2025 (published 13 August), the China National Intellectual Property Administration recognized 1409 geographical indication products; Língshān lǜchá is number 1145. The applicant is the Lingshan County station for the extension of cash crop technologies (灵山县经济作物技术推广站).
- Awards. According to a county representative in a Xinhua report (2025), “灵山绿茶” received the “gold medal of international famous tea” at the 12th Hong Kong International Tea Fair, and “灵山香茗” a gold at a tea competition in Brussels. The report does not give the years.
- Name: “Lingshan” (灵山) — “miraculous mountain”; lǜchá (绿茶) — “green tea”. According to the county website, the name was given under the Tang after a rock with six peaks: one of them was called the turtle peak, and the turtle is a “灵物”, a miraculous creature. The website gives the year of the renaming in two ways — 636 or 742.
- Cultural significance: The county bears the title “中国名茶之乡” — “hometown of famous Chinese tea” — alongside the titles of hometown of lychee and of buffalo milk. According to 2023 data, more than 100,000 people work in the tea industry, and 120 tea factories operate.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: According to the protection document — medium- and small-leaf varieties; the main ones are Fuyun No. 6 (福云六号, Fúyún liù hào) and the Lingshan population (灵山群体种, Língshān qúntǐzhǒng).
- Planting: Clonal seedlings with healthy roots, free of pests and serious damage, are planted from early January to mid-February in double rows: row spacing 1.3 m, 0.4 m between the rows of a pair, 0.25 m between bushes — about 4100 bushes per mu.
- Harvest: In young gardens “grow more than pick”: dense shoots are picked and sparse ones left, tall ones plucked and low ones left. In mature gardens — in batches: what unfurls earlier is picked earlier. The document does not set the plucking level (bud with leaves).
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The south of Guangxi near the Beibu Gulf; the area of the county is 3558 km², and in the north it borders Hengzhou and Yongning District of the city of Nanning.
- Climate: South subtropical monsoon. According to the county website, in 2025 the mean temperature was 22.8 °C, the minimum 2.2 °C, precipitation 1593.0 mm, humidity 79%, sunshine 1416.3 hours. In winter there are occasional frosts, in summer typhoons.
- Site: Deep, loose, fertile soil with pH 5–6; plains or slopes of low hills no steeper than 25°.
- Fertilization: The base application — in early December, after the end of the harvest: no less than 1000 kg of organic matter and 50 kg of superphosphate per mu. Top dressings — four times a year, from January to August.
- Pruning: Annual light pruning — after the spring harvest: from half to two thirds of the green layer of the crown is removed, along with all the knotty “chicken feet” (鸡爪枝, jīzhuǎzhī). Weakened bushes are pruned deeply in mid-December, at a height of 0.4–0.6 m above the ground.
- Growing altitude: No numerical data; the document speaks of plains and low hills.
- Areas: According to Renmin Wang (2023) — 76,500 mu of gardens, 16,200 t of dry tea and 732 million yuan; sixth place in Guangxi by area and third by output and value.
5. Production Technology
The protection document sets five operations with figures:
- Spreading (摊青, tānqīng): In a layer of 3–5 cm for 4–6 hours, with one or two turnings, until the leaf becomes soft and loses 20–25% of its moisture.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): In a drum machine, with even loading; hot air at the outlet — 100–110 °C, 3–6 minutes. Readiness — the leaf is dark green, matte, soft, slightly sticky in the hand, the grassy smell has gone and the tea aroma has emerged.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): In a roller for 25–40 minutes, mainly under light pressure, until 50–60% of the cells are broken and more than 80% of the leaf is rolled into strips.
- First drying (初烘, chūhōng): Hot air at 100–110 °C, a layer of 1.5–2 cm, 10–15 minutes — to “seven-tenths dryness”.
- Final drying (复烘, fùhōng): Hot air at 90–100 °C, a layer of 2–2.5 cm, 10–15 minutes — to a moisture content of 4.5–5%, when the tea crumbles between the fingers; then it is cooled.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The profile is set by the protection document.
- Dry leaf appearance: Tight strips with down (紧结有毫), green and glossy, even (绿润匀整).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and high (清高).
- Taste: Mellow and full, with a sweet return (醇厚回甘); the tea withstands many infusions (耐冲泡).
- Liquor color: Yellow-green, clear and bright (黄绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Yellow-green (叶底黄绿).
7. Chemical Composition
The protection document sets lower limits:
| Indicator | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 20% |
| Free amino acids, total | not less than 4% |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 40% |
The moisture content of the finished tea, according to the technology, is 4.5–5%. Other safety requirements follow general national norms.
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, pour the water down the side; first infusion after 40–60 seconds; drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in the refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; to be drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
According to Renmin Wang (January 2023), the county’s spring tea sold for about 200 yuan per kilogram; the county expected about 800 t of spring tea worth 160 million yuan. The main markets are Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Sichuan.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is approved by the China National Intellectual Property Administration on the submission of the county and of Guangxi.
- Check that the producer is from Lingshan County, Qinzhou prefecture-level city.
- Compare the appearance with the document: tight downy strips, a bright yellow-green liquor, yellow-green spent leaves.
11. Interesting Facts
- The northern boundary of the zone is 22°38′ N, so the entire protected area lies south of the Tropic of Cancer.
- According to Renmin Wang, in 2023 the harvest began right after the Spring Festival, and Lingshan calls itself one of the earliest spring tea areas in the country.
- According to the county website, in 1952 the county was transferred to Guangxi, in 1955 it returned to Guangdong, and in 1965 it finally passed to Guangxi.
12. Comparison with Other Guangxi Teas
- Hengxian Molihua Cha (横县茉莉花茶): Jasmine tea of Hengxian (now Hengzhou), which borders Lingshan on the north; Língshān lǜchá has its own aroma, without flowers.
- Xishan Cha (西山茶): A green tea of Mount Xishan in Guiping.
- Zhaoping Lü Cha (昭平绿茶): A green tea of a combined processing type; the Lingshan tea is dried with hot air at both stages.
- Sanjiang Lü Cha (三江绿茶): A northern Guangxi green tea, also proud of its early spring harvest.
- Guilin Maojian (桂林毛尖): A green tea of Guilin, also dried with hot air.
In Conclusion:
Língshān lǜchá is a tropical green tea of Guangxi from the varieties Fuyun No. 6 and the local population, with one of the earliest spring harvests in the country. A rare stroke of luck for an encyclopedia: the protection document describes it down to the figures — the planting scheme, fertilization, the temperature and time of each operation, the thresholds for polyphenols and amino acids. According to this document, it is a tight, downy tea with a yellow-green liquor, a clean high aroma and a sweet return.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page