--- title: "Máoshān chángqīng" url: https://thetea.app/article/maoshan-changqing lang: en updated: 2026-10-01 source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app) --- # Máoshān chángqīng (茅山长青) *Máoshān chángqīng* (茅山长青) is a green tea of Jurong county-level city (句容市), Zhenjiang prefecture-level city, Jiangsu Province, from the Maoshan mountains in the south of the county. The tea is young: according to the description of the Ministry of Agriculture, it was created by the Maoshan Tea Farm in 1986. The leaf is flat and straight, emerald, the liquor tender green, the taste fresh. Since 2020 the name has been entered in the register of agricultural product geographical indications; the protection zone is the whole of Jurong. **1. Classification and Origin:** * **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The described technology — fixation, straightening, shaping, drying, without withering or oxidation — is a green one; a reference publication explicitly assigns the tea to the green class. * **Category:** A modern green tea of Jiangsu created by a tea farm; a geographical indication product (2020). * **Origin:** China, Jiangsu Province (江苏, *Jiāngsū*), Zhenjiang prefecture-level city (镇江, *Zhènjiāng*), Jurong county-level city (句容, *Jùróng*), the Maoshan mountains (茅山, *Máoshān*). * **Protection zone:** The present administrative territory of Jurong: nine towns — Tianwang, Maoshan, Houbai, Guozhuang, Baitu, Biancheng, Huayang, Baohua, Xiashu — and three special areas: the Maoshan and Chishanhu scenic areas and the Jurong Economic Development Zone. This is how announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) describes it. * **Geographic coordinates:** In the announcement — 118°59′–119°22′ E and “31°37′–31°12′ N”: the northern boundary is written as smaller than the southern one. This is a recording error; when checking the boundaries, the original text of the announcement should be used. **2. History and Cultural Significance:** * **History:** * **Maoshan tea before Changqing.** According to a reference publication, the Maoshan area was already a tea area under the Sui; under Shunzhi (Qing) “qiancha” (乾茶) from the surroundings of the Qianyuanguan temple (乾元观) was famous, and in the Republican years “Maoshan lucha” (茅山麓茶) of the Maolu company. The same publication writes that the cloud tea of the monks of the Fangshansi temple (方山寺) was exchanged at one dan of rice per jin of tea. In a China National Radio report (2022) the history of tea growing in the county is traced from the era of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. I have not seen the documents on which these claims rest. * **1983.** According to the description of the Ministry of Agriculture, the first-grade aromatic baked green tea (烘青, *hōngqīng*) of the Maoshan Tea Farm was recognized as a provincial quality tea. * **1986 or 1987.** The Ministry of Agriculture writes that the farm created *Máoshān chángqīng* in 1986; the reference publication names 1987. I have not resolved the discrepancy. * **2008.** The provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce recognized the trademark “茅山长青” as a well-known trademark of Jiangsu (according to the China National Radio report). * **2019.** The technique of making Maoshan handmade tea (茅山[手工茶](https://thetea.app/article/shougong-cha)制作技艺) was included in the intangible heritage list of Zhenjiang prefecture-level city. This is the technique of Maoshan handmade tea in general, not only of Changqing. * **2020.** In April the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs entered *Máoshān chángqīng* in the register of agricultural product geographical indications; the number is AGI02820. * **2021–2022.** The Jurong Tea Association adopted rules for managing the mark, launched product traceability for 13 companies with the “green product” certificate, and in March 2022 a group standard. The catalogue of group standards also lists a 2023 edition (T/JRCY 001-2023); the text of the standard could not be opened. * **2025.** By announcement No. 640 of 16 July, CNIPA recognized 1,409 names as geographical indication products; *Máoshān chángqīng* is among them. * **Name:** “*Máoshān*” (茅山) — the mountains in the south of Jurong. “*Chángqīng*” (长青) — “evergreen”, as in the expression 万古长青 (“to stay green forever”). According to the reference publication, the name was given in memory of the anti-Japanese struggle in the Maoshan area. * **Cultural significance:** According to the China National Radio report, *Máoshān chángqīng* is one of the “ten famous teas of Jiangsu” and remains the main brand of the county; in 2022 a tea brand evaluation group valued the regional brand at 1.624 billion yuan. Maoshan is known as a Taoist mountain, and in 2021 the Ministry of Agriculture included the “茅山长青” route in its summer recommendations for rural tourism: a tea park, the Maoshan Tea Farm and memorial sites of the war years. **3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:** * **Variety / Cultivar:** Which varieties the mark permits is not stated in the sources consulted. The Maoshan Tea Farm, according to the description of the Ministry of Agriculture, plants 10–20 mu of clonal varieties every year — Longjing 43 (龙井43, *Lóngjǐng 43*), Longjing Changye (龙井长叶, *Lóngjǐng chángyè*), Wuniu Zao ([乌牛早](https://thetea.app/article/wuniu-zao), *Wūniú zǎo*) — in place of the local Jurong variety. * **Harvest:** The buds open in March. * **Harvest standard:** According to the chairman of the tea association in a 2022 report, the best tea is made from single buds, the next from a bud with one leaf or a bud with two leaves in a certain proportion. The most expensive local *Máoshān chángqīng* (极品), according to the same report, yields only 1.5 kg per mu. * **Raw material requirements:** According to the same report, only a producer with a “green product” certificate may use the mark; fertilizers are mainly organic (rotted straw, manure), and against pests — light traps and yellow sticky boards. **4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:** * **Region:** Jurong lies at the 31st parallel. The area of the county is 1,385 km²; in the south are the Maoshan mountains, in the north the Ningzhen ridge. Local texts describe the topography with the formula “five parts mountains, one part water, four parts fields” (五山一水四分田). * **Climate:** Subtropical monsoon, with distinct seasons. * **Soils:** According to the report — low mountains, hills and ridges with suitable soil acidity and a rich mineral composition; high forest cover has produced much organic matter over the years. * **Growing altitude:** No data were found in the sources consulted. * **Scale:** According to the 2022 report, the tea gardens of Jurong cover about 50,000 mu, output is about 900 t a year, and the value of production about 0.5 billion yuan. This is all the tea of the county, not only *Máoshān chángqīng*. **5. Production Technology:** The China National Radio report lists the following operations and notes that the list is not exhausted by them (“and others”); the source gives no parameters: 1. **Spreading (摊放, *tānfàng*):** The fresh leaf is spread out so that it gives up part of its moisture. 2. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation. 3. **Cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*).** 4. **Straightening the leaf (理条, *lǐtiáo*):** The leaf is straightened into straight strips. 5. **Shaping (整形, *zhěngxíng*):** The leaf is made flat and straight. 6. **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*).** The tea is made both by machine and by hand: Jurong runs courses for both methods. Before the mark is affixed, a batch is evaluated by experts; a batch that fails the evaluation does not get the mark. **6. Organoleptic Characteristics:** A brief description from the reference publication: * **Dry leaf appearance:** Flat, straight and slender, emerald in color (外形扁直挺秀、色翠). * **Dry leaf aroma:** No data were found in the sources consulted. * **Liquor aroma:** Fresh and high (香气鲜高). * **Taste:** Fresh and brisk (鲜爽). * **Liquor color:** Tender green (汤色嫩绿). * **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Light, bright (叶底明亮). The 2022 group standard, according to the announcement of its release, reorganized the former three grades into five: special first, special second, first, second and third. In the special first grade the leaf is slightly flat, slender and even, the color fresh, jade-green; the aroma clean and refined, the taste fresh and brisk, the liquor tender green and bright, the spent leaves tender green, bright and even (条索微扁、挺秀、均齐，色泽翡翠鲜润；香气清香幽雅，滋味鲜爽，汤色嫩绿、明亮，叶底嫩绿、鲜亮、匀齐). **7. Chemical Composition:** No physico-chemical data were found in the sources consulted. **8. Health Properties:** There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. **9. Brewing:** The practice of the class 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. The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds. 4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor. 5. Top up with water. 6. Two or three repeat infusions. **10. Storage:** The practice of the class. 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:** * Look for the mark sticker: according to the report, it carries a QR code with information about the product and the producer. * Check that the producer is from Jurong. * The leaf is flat, straight, emerald; the liquor tender green. * Do not confuse it with Maoshan Qingfeng ([茅山青锋](https://thetea.app/article/maoshan-qing-feng)) — another tea of the same mountain. **12. Interesting Facts:** * The protection zone includes the Jurong Economic Development Zone — tea zones are usually described in rural units. * The latitude of the zone is recorded in the announcement with an error: the northern boundary is smaller than the southern one. **13. Comparison with Other Green Teas of Jiangsu:** * **Maoshan Qingfeng (茅山青锋):** A green tea of Jintan District, Changzhou prefecture-level city, from the same Maoshan mountains; a separate name. * **Jintan Queshe ([金坛雀舌](https://thetea.app/article/jintan-que-she)):** A green tea of the same Jintan District. * **Nanjing Yuhua Cha ([南京雨花茶](https://thetea.app/article/nanjing-yuhua-cha)):** A green tea of neighboring Nanjing; also created in the second half of the 20th century. **In Conclusion:** *Máoshān chángqīng* is a young green tea of Jurong, created by the Maoshan Tea Farm in the mid-1980s: a flat, straight emerald leaf, a tender green liquor and a fresh taste. Its mark protects the whole county, from the mountain towns to the economic development zone, and only a batch that has passed expert evaluation gets the sticker.