Líshān hóngchá

Lishan Hong Cha (Líshān hóngchá, 梨山紅茶; in English Lishan Black Tea) is a red tea from Taiwan’s high-mountain tea district of Lishan in Heping District, Taichung City. Lishan is known above all for high-mountain oolong, and red tea here, according to descriptions by tea enthusiasts and one local producer, is made from the leaf of Taiwan’s main cultivar Qing Xin Oolong, which usually goes into oolong, but processed according to red tea technology. The name itself is attested by the government agricultural products catalogue of Taichung: it includes a bagged “梨山紅茶” from the Heping District Farmers’ Association. No standard, separate origin mark, or primary description of technology specifically for Lishan red tea was found, so much about it remains unknown.

Not to be confused with Li Shan Hong Oolong (梨山紅烏龍, Líshān hóng wūlóng): “red oolong” in the classification of Taiwan’s Tea Improvement Station is a partially fermented tea in the oolong group, not a red tea.

1. Classification and Origin

• Type: Red tea (紅茶, hóngchá); in European terminology, black. According to the definition of the Tea and Beverage Crop Improvement Station of Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture (農業部茶及飲料作物改良場; hereafter, the Station), red tea is a fully fermented tea (全發酵茶, quán fājiào chá). The class is in the name itself: the government catalogue of Taichung calls the product “梨山紅茶”, in English Black Tea. The fact that it is made by red tea technology rather than oolong technology was noted in 2014 by a participant of a Russian-language tea forum. There is no primary description of stages specifically for Lishan, and no source gives the degree of fermentation of Lishan red tea in numbers.
• Category: Taiwanese small-leaf red tea. In the Station’s classification scheme, the branch of fully fermented teas, Taiwanese red tea, is divided into three groups: large-leaf (大葉種紅茶, dàyèzhǒng hóngchá), small-leaf (小葉種紅茶, xiǎoyèzhǒng hóngchá), and “honey” (蜜香紅茶, mìxiāng hóngchá). If the raw material is Qing Xin Oolong, as enthusiasts and a producer write (Section 3), the tea belongs to the small-leaf group; the Station itself does not name Lishan in this scheme. “Lishan Hong Cha” is a name based on the tea district and tea class, not a cultivar name.
• Origin: Taiwan (臺灣, Táiwān), Taichung City (臺中市, Táizhōng shì), Heping District (和平區, Hépíng qū), Lishan tea district (梨山, Líshān). The supplier of bagged “梨山紅茶” in the Taichung catalogue is the Heping District Farmers’ Association (和平區農會, Hépíng qū nónghuì).
• District boundaries: The boundaries of the tea district in an official document are set by the rules of the origin mark “梨山茶”, issued by the Heping District administration. According to them, “Greater Lishan” (大梨山地區, Dà Líshān dìqū) is the territory of Lishan Village (梨山里, Líshān lǐ) and Pingdeng Village (平等里, Píngděng lǐ), and the gardens lie on slopes from 1450 m (above the Deji police post, 德基派出所) to 2500 m (Tianchi Lake near Fushoushan, 福壽山天池). These boundaries are set for the “梨山茶” mark, not for red tea.
• Origin mark: For the origin mark “梨山茶” (產地證明標章, chǎndì zhèngmíng biāozhāng), the district administration issued usage rules; whether the registration of the mark itself has been completed was not verified. The rules set quality characteristics: dense, even leaf of dark green colour with an oily sheen (墨綠油潤), honey-green with a golden tint, transparent infusion (蜜綠金黃), pure, light aroma (清香淡雅). The tea class is not named in the rules, red tea is not mentioned; such characteristics correspond to a light oolong. This is an editorial conclusion, not the words of the rules. Whether Lishan red tea can obtain this mark does not follow from the rules. No separate standard or mark for Lishan red tea has been found.
• Geographic coordinates: Not given in the sources found; the zone is described by village names and extreme points (Section 4).

2. History and Cultural Significance

• History:
  • Taiwan context. According to a Station educational leaflet (2024), red tea in Taiwan is produced mainly in the areas of Yuchi (魚池, Yúchí) and Puli (埔里, Pǔlǐ) in Nantou County (南投縣, Nántóu xiàn). The Station considers the best red tea to be from large-leaf cultivars 臺茶8號, 臺茶18號 (紅玉, Hóngyù), 臺茶21號 (紅韻, Hóngyùn), and the new small-leaf 臺茶23號 (祁韻, Qíyùn; written 祈韻 in the leaflet). The same source says that in recent years other tea districts have also been making red tea from small-leaf cultivar leaf, in the summer-autumn season. The Station does not name Lishan in this context.
  • Cultivar for oolong into red tea. A 2025 scientific article (National Chung Hsing University, Taichung) writes about the growing use in red tea production of the Qing Xin cultivar, “traditionally used for oolong”. The article gives neither dates nor districts for this phenomenon.
  • 2010. A Russian-language taster described a batch he titled “Red tea from Da Yu Ling garden”; according to the seller, the tea was made “last winter”. The author considered Da Yu Ling one of the gardens of the Lishan region (Section 4) and wrote that he had not tried red teas from Lishan before.
  • 2014. In the second edition of the Taichung government agricultural products catalogue “尋味臺中” (June 2014), there is a product of the Heping District Farmers’ Association, “御品 梨山紅茶茶包” (Premium Lishan Black Tea), a bagged red tea, according to the supplier’s description, from hand-picked leaf. The same year, a participant of a Russian-language tea forum mentioned Lishan high-mountain red teas made from Qing Xin Oolong.
  • Start of production. When red tea began to be made in Lishan is not stated by the sources found.
• Name:
  • 梨山 (Líshān) is “Pear Mountain”: 梨 is pear, 山 is mountain. This is the name of a high-mountain tea district in Heping District. In Russian texts both renderings occur, “Lishan” and “Li Shan”; in an encyclopaedia, the oolong of this district is called “Li Shan Oolong”.
  • 紅茶 (hóngchá) is “red tea”, a tea class in the Chinese classification; in English, black tea. The English name of the product in the Taichung catalogue is Lishan Black Tea.
  • Tones. Pinyin with tone marks is absent from the sources found; the Latin script there is “Lishan” without tones; the form in the title is given according to the standard reading of the characters.
  • Descriptive Russian forms. Russian-speaking tea enthusiasts wrote about “high-mountain red teas from Lishan” and “red-black teas from Lishan”.
• Cultural significance: Lishan is a land of high-mountain oolong. According to the Station leaflet, Heping District is among the main districts of Taiwanese high-mountain oolong, and a National Taiwan University master’s thesis (2016) calls Lishan the island’s highest tea district. Red tea here, according to descriptions by enthusiasts and a producer, is another way to process the leaf of a cultivar that usually goes into oolong. The boundary between the two teas from one leaf runs through technology (Section 5).

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

• Cultivar: According to descriptions by enthusiasts and a producer, Qing Xin Oolong (青心烏龍, Qīngxīn wūlóng). According to a Taiwan Ministry of Agriculture publication (2024), this is the main cultivated tea cultivar on the island; about nine tenths of the area and more there is occupied by small-leaf cultivars, from which mainly green tea and oolong are made. That Lishan red tea is made from Qing Xin Oolong is written by a participant of a Russian-language forum (2014), a seller of one batch (2010; the cultivar was named “green-heart oolong”, a literal translation of the name 青心烏龍), and a Lishan producer in an author column on a Taiwanese news portal (2026). No primary source about the raw material of this tea exists. Whether other cultivars are also used in Lishan for red tea has not been established.
• Harvest: No data for Lishan. The Station describes small-leaf red tea of other districts as summer-autumn; the 2010 batch, according to the seller, was made in winter.
• Plucking standard: No data for the category. The bagged tea of the Farmers’ Association, according to the description in the Taichung catalogue, is made from hand-picked leaf (手工菁採); what exactly is plucked, a bud with which leaves, is not stated.
• Raw material requirements: Not described in the sources found.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

• Region: Lishan tea district of Heping District, Taichung City; according to a National Taiwan University master’s thesis (2016), the highest tea district in Taiwan. The extreme points of the “梨山茶” mark zone are: in the east, Mount Luoxian (羅閑山, Luóxiánshān, 2527 m); in the west, Mount Mawuba (馬武霸山, Mǎwǔbàshān, 2494 m); in the south, the Deji police post (德基派出所, Déjī pàichūsuǒ, 1450 m); in the north, Siyuan Bridge No. 2 (思源二號橋, Sīyuán èr hào qiáo, 1950 m).
• Growing altitude: For the “梨山茶” mark zone, 1450–2500 m. There are no altitudes in primary sources specifically for red tea; the seller of the 2010 batch named “around 2000 metres”.
• Climate and soils: No descriptions pertaining to red tea. The rules of the “梨山茶” mark link the quality of its tea to the zone’s conditions, but red tea is not mentioned in them, and this description cannot be transferred to it.
• Da Yu Ling (大禹嶺, Dàyǔlǐng): Here sources diverge.
  • Russian-language amateur texts of 2009–2010 consider Da Yu Ling one of the gardens of the Lishan region, and one of the highest.
  • A 2026 author column on a Taiwanese news portal lists Lishan and Da Yu Ling as separate high-mountain districts; in an encyclopaedia, Da Yu Ling Oolong is also described separately from Li Shan Oolong.
  • The rules of the “梨山茶” mark do not say directly whether Da Yu Ling is included in the “大梨山地區” zone.
  • The altitude “around 2000 metres” named by the seller of the 2010 batch is lower than that which amateur texts attribute to Da Yu Ling gardens, so the attribution of this batch also cannot be verified. Red tea of Da Yu Ling as a separate style is not described in the sources found.

5. Production Technology

No description of stages and regimes for Lishan red tea exists in the sources found. Something else is known: where the boundary between red tea and oolong from the same leaf lies. It is described by a 2025 scientific article in the journal Scientific Reports (National Chung Hsing University).

• Oolong. The decisive step is fixation (殺青, shāqīng): heating suppresses the oxidative enzymes of the leaf and stops fermentation at the desired degree.
• Red tea. There is no fixation: the leaf is withered, rolled, fermented, and dried, and fermentation is the key step for its quality.

As for most red teas, the main steps look as follows. The explanations describe the purpose of the step, not Lishan regimes.

1. Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo). The leaf loses part of its moisture and becomes soft.
2. Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn). Leaf cells are broken, sap comes to the surface.
3. Fermentation (發酵, fājiào), essentially oxidation. The leaf darkens, the infusion becomes red.
4. Drying (乾燥, gānzào). Heating stops reactions and dries the leaf for storage.

The authors of the same article also processed the Qing Xin cultivar (Chin-shin in the article) according to a red tea protocol: red tea from it gave a lighter infusion than from the large-leaf 臺茶18號. The samples were from Nantou County, not Lishan, and the experimental regimes are not transferable to production.

One Lishan producer, according to a 2026 author column, says that because of the low air temperature during processing, the fermentation of Lishan red tea is somewhat weaker than that of traditional red tea. These are the words of one person in a journalist’s retelling, not a measurement; there is nothing to verify them with.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

There are no descriptions by standard in the sources found; the Taichung government catalogue gives only the supplier’s advertising description for the bagged tea. Below are the impressions of one Russian-language taster about one 2010 batch, which he titled “Red tea from Da Yu Ling garden”. This is not a description of a style.

• Appearance of dry leaf: Not uniform; in the taster’s words, “somewhat battered”, meaning with broken leaf.
• Aroma of dry leaf: A note the taster called “a note of fresh air”; behind it, according to him, one can “sniff out” the usual sweet tones of red tea.
• Aroma of infusion: The taster names no specific notes, only a general impression; in the description of the infusion he noted “fragrance” and “broom-like” quality.
• Taste: “Oolong-like” oiliness and sugariness, “detached” astringency, long sweet aftertaste.
• Infusion colour: Not described for tea from Lishan. In the 2025 experiment, red tea from the Qing Xin cultivar (samples from Nantou) gave a lighter infusion than large-leaf 臺茶18號.
• Wet leaf (spent leaf): No descriptions in the sources found.

7. Chemical Composition

No analyses of Lishan red tea exist in the sources found. The 2025 scientific article links the lighter infusion of red tea from the Qing Xin cultivar to the lower initial catechin content of this cultivar; the samples were from Nantou County, not Lishan.

As for most red teas, during fermentation part of the catechins turns into theaflavins and thearubigins, which give the infusion its red colour and full taste; the leaf contains caffeine and amino acids, including L-theanine. There are no numbers for this tea.

8. Health Benefits

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea: the sources found deal with name, district, and technology, not health. Like any red tea, it contains caffeine, which should be borne in mind by those who limit it.

9. Brewing

No recommendations for Lishan red tea exist in the sources found. Below is practice, as for most red teas; the regime should be adjusted for a specific batch.

• Water temperature: 90–95 °C.
• Amount of tea: 3–5 g per 150 ml.
• Teaware: Gaiwan or a small porcelain teapot; in a white cup the infusion colour is clearly visible.
• Process:
  1. Warm the teaware with hot water.
  2. Add the tea.
  3. A rinse for red tea is not always done; if done, a short pour that is discarded.
  4. First infusion, about a minute.
  5. Pour the infusion completely into a pitcher.
  6. Lengthen each subsequent infusion slightly; how many infusions the tea will sustain depends on the batch.

10. Storage

No information on storage specifically for this tea. As for most red teas: in a tightly closed opaque package, in a dry, dark, cool place at room temperature, away from foreign odours. The main enemies are moisture, light, and foreign smells.

11. Price and Counterfeits

No retail prices exist in the sources found. The only product under this name found in an official source is the bagged “御品 梨山紅茶茶包” of the Heping District Farmers’ Association in the 2014 Taichung catalogue; whether it is still produced was not verified.

• How to avoid counterfeits and confusion:
  • Distinguish from red oolong. Li Shan Hong Oolong (梨山紅烏龍) is an oolong with a high degree of fermentation, not a red tea; the word “red” in both names does not make them the same tea. It is useful to ask the seller about technology: whether fixation was done.
  • Ask about origin: Lishan is Heping District, Taichung City, Taiwan.
  • Remember that no standard or separate origin mark for Lishan red tea has been found, and the characteristics of the “梨山茶” mark describe a tea of light appearance: the name “Lishan” on the package by itself does not confirm the origin of red tea.
  • Verify attribution to a specific garden, for example Da Yu Ling: sources draw the boundary between Lishan and Da Yu Ling differently.
  • Treat sellers’ advertising descriptions as advertising, not as a sign of authenticity.

12. Interesting Facts

• According to a National Taiwan University master’s thesis (2016), Lishan is the island’s highest tea district; the “梨山茶” mark zone rises to 2500 m, to Tianchi Lake near Fushoushan.
• From the leaf of the same Qing Xin cultivar one can make both oolong and red tea: according to a 2025 scientific article, the key difference in technology is fixation: oolong has it, red tea does not.
• “Red oolong” (紅烏龍, hóng wūlóng) is a new tea type that the Station’s eastern branch developed in 2008; according to the Station’s description, its infusion has the colour of red tea and the taste of oolong. Its main production area is Luye (鹿野, Lùyě) in Taitung County, not Lishan.
• In the Taichung government catalogue, Lishan red tea is presented as bagged, with the English name Premium Lishan Black Tea.
• Among the cultivars from which, according to the Station, the best Taiwanese red tea is obtained, three are large-leaf and one is small-leaf, 臺茶23號; Qing Xin Oolong is not on this list.

13. Comparison with Neighbouring Teas

• Li Shan Oolong (梨山烏龍, Líshān wūlóng): A high-mountain oolong of the same district, the tea for which Lishan is known.
• Li Shan Hong Oolong (梨山紅烏龍, Líshān hóng wūlóng): Red oolong; in the Station’s scheme this tea stands among partially fermented teas, in the oolong group. The similarity of names is the main cause of confusion.
• Da Yu Ling Oolong (大禹嶺烏龍, Dàyǔlǐng wūlóng): An oolong of the neighbouring high mountains; whether Da Yu Ling is part of Lishan is stated differently by different sources.
• Alishan Hong Cha (阿里山紅茶, Ālǐshān hóngchá): Red tea of another Taiwanese high-mountain district known for oolongs.
• Taiwan Hong Yu No. 18 (臺茶18號紅玉, Táichá 18 hào hóngyù): Red tea of a large-leaf cultivar, one of those the Station names as best for red tea; the Qing Xin cultivar was compared with it in the 2025 experiment.
• Taiwan Mi Xiang Hong Cha (臺灣蜜香紅茶, Táiwān mìxiāng hóngchá): “Honey” red tea, a separate group of Taiwanese red tea in the Station’s scheme.

In Conclusion:

Lishan Hong Cha is a red tea from Taiwan’s highest tea district, made, according to descriptions by enthusiasts and a producer, from the leaf of a cultivar that usually goes into oolong. Reliably known about it is little: the characters and English name from the Taichung government catalogue, the place, Heping District, and the class, from the name “紅茶” itself. Season, altitudes, processing regimes, and time of appearance are not yet confirmed by primary sources, and the boundary with Da Yu Ling and the relation to the “梨山茶” mark remain open.

All the more interesting as a pair to its famous neighbour: the same district, leaf of an oolong cultivar, and a different technology. To one who knows Li Shan Oolong, this tea shows what comes from the mountain leaf without fixation, and reminds that red oolong and red tea from Lishan are different teas.

Sources

Documents and publications

1. 臺灣特色茶 — 農業部茶及飲料作物改良場; 國產農漁畜產品教材-2024.9出版
2. 臺中市和平區「梨山茶」產地證明標章使用規範書 — 臺中市和平區公所
3. 尋味臺中—臺中市農特產品精選 (Savoring Taichung — Agricultural Products of Taichung) — 臺中市政府, 農業局
4. Effect of tea manufacturing processes and cultivars on tea infusion color — Scientific Reports (2025); DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-14852-w; PMID 40813605; Chen C.-T., Yang C.-Y., Tzen J.T.C. (National Chung Hsing University, Taichung)
5. 茶樹新品種「臺茶 25 號（紫韻）」 (農科快訊, 第388期, 113年10月號) — 農業部
6. 高山出好茶？臺灣梨山高山茶崛起的個案研究 (Is High Mountain Tea the Best? A Case Study of the High Mountain Tea Industry in Lishan, Taiwan) — National Taiwan University; DOI 10.6342/NTU201603540
7. 小葉紅茶與高山紅茶在台崛起 — 蕃新聞 (n.yam.com)
8. 台灣新活力》台東．新峰茶園 特等獎茶農廖縣山 自然農法養出琥珀紅烏龍 — 今周刊 (Business Today), 2012-10-18
9. 梨山．遇見好茶‧南港，遇見梨山 臺中市和平區公所推動「梨山茶產地證明標章」首次率領七家茶農進軍台北國際茶業博覽會 — 蕃新聞 (n.yam.com)

Full list — on the Sources page