Mǎpō chá (马坡茶) is a mountain green tea from Sanli Township (三里乡) of Jianshi County (建始县) in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province. The name comes from Mapo Mountain — “horse slope”: the county gazetteer describes it as a mountain resembling a horse lying down. The name is protected by three regimes: an agricultural product geographical indication (2013), a certification mark (2015) and the status of a geographical indication product under Announcement No. 640 (2025) of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). The documents allow three forms of the tea and describe notes of beans and roasted chestnut in the liquor. A second local name is “Shizhu Cha” (十株茶), “tea of ten bushes”.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is set by the protection requirements: in all three processing schemes fixation (杀青, shāqīng) follows immediately after spreading, there is no oxidation stage, and the liquor is described as green.
- Category: Mountain green tea of Enshi Prefecture; geographical indication product. According to Hubei Ribao, Mapo tea received the title “特色硒产品”, and the newspaper counts the tea of Jianshi County under the umbrella of the prefectural brand “恩施硒茶”.
- Origin: China, Hubei Province (湖北, Húběi), Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (恩施, Ēnshī), Jianshi County (建始, Jiànshǐ), Sanli Township (三里, Sānlǐ).
- Protection zone: 26 villages of Sanli Township, among them Dashahe (大沙河), Panlong (蟠龙), Mapo (马坡) and Shipai (石牌). The area of the territory, forests included, according to the reference description of the zone, is 170.7 km².
- Geographic coordinates: 109°47′–109°56′ E and 30°33′–30°39′ N.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Legend. Hubei Ribao (November 2024) retells a local legend: under the Qing a merchant from Mapo begged twelve seeds at the Longjing monastery in Hangzhou, and at home ten of them sprouted — hence the “ten bushes”. A descendant of the Lü family — Lü Tianchao (吕天朝) — in the Daoguang (道光) years, according to the same legend, passed the metropolitan examination and presented his native tea to the emperor, and the emperor gave the tea the name “马坡茶”. Documentary confirmation is not found in the sources consulted.
- 1983. The gazetteer “建始县地名志”: Mapo Mountain lies 9.25 km south-southwest of Sanliba (三里坝), its altitude is 820 m, its area 0.3 km², and the tea from here is “known throughout the county”.
- 2013. The Ministry of Agriculture registered an agricultural product geographical indication (entry AGI01322); a reference work dates the registration to 30 December. The holder is the Mapo Mingzhu tea cooperative (建始县马坡明珠茶业专业合作社).
- 2015. Certification mark “马坡茶” No. 14577026; the registration announcement is dated 28 October 2015. The applicant is the agricultural technical service center of Sanli Township.
- By 2023. According to the press, the county, having made Mapo its core area, renovated more than 3000 mu of old gardens; continuous gardens in more than ten villages came to cover over 6000 mu.
- 2025. CNIPA Announcement No. 640 of 16 July 2025 recognized Mǎpō chá as a geographical indication product in a general list of 1409 products; the applicant is the Mapo Mingzhu cooperative.
- Name: “Mapo” (马坡) means “horse slope”; “Shizhu” (十株) means “ten bushes”.
- Cultural significance: The mark description speaks of a “more than three-hundred-year” history of tea in Mapo. According to Hubei Ribao, the village has a “茶王” tree — “king of tea” — with a protection plaque from 2019 and an age of 300 years, and the county has compiled the chronicle “马坡茶志”. Among the awards, the newspaper names the first prize of the tenth “中茶杯” competition (2013) for the Mapo green tea “寒杉天露”. According to the geographical indication database, flat tea, needle-shaped tea and hōngqīng and chǎoqīng tea from Mapo have won gold awards at the “中茶杯” and “鄂茶杯” competitions.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: The protection requirements name five varieties, with the proviso “and others”: 鄂茶10号 (Èchá 10), 鄂茶1号 (Èchá 1), 福鼎大白 (Fúdǐng dàbái), 龙井43号 (Lóngjǐng 43) and 安吉白茶 (Ānjí báichá). The last is the name of a pale-leaf variety, not of a class. Which variety is the main one is not stated in the sources consulted.
- Raw material: A bud, “one bud — one leaf” or “one bud — two leaves” at the beginning of opening.
- Harvest: By hand, with the “raised hand” technique (提手采, tíshǒu cǎi), into ventilated bamboo or mesh baskets. Exact harvest dates are not found in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Growing altitude: According to the CNIPA requirements — 600–1200 m; the gardens of Mapo village itself, according to the newspaper, are mostly at 800–1200 m.
- Soils: The CNIPA requirements — acidic purple-red soils with a pH of about 5.5–6.8. The reference description of the mark zone names purple sandy loams and yellow loams, local descriptions — “red sandy soil” (红沙土壤). The newspaper notes a high selenium content in the soil; there are no figures.
- Climate: According to the reference description, Jianshi County has more than 1300 hours of sunshine a year, an average annual temperature of 14.2–15.5 °C, a frost-free period of more than 200 days and 1300–1400 mm of precipitation a year; in Mapo village, according to the newspaper, the average annual temperature is about 15 °C and the humidity 80%.
- Area: The figures diverge: more than 15,000 mu in the zone (the card in the geographical indication database), more than 10,000 mu in the township (mark description, 2022). According to the newspaper, in 2023 the county produced 1200 t of raw tea.
5. Production Technology
The CNIPA requirements set three schemes. Temperatures and times are given in a reprint of the regulations of the agricultural mark:
- Flat tea (扁形茶, biǎnxíng chá): spreading (摊放, tānfàng) in a layer of up to 5 cm for 5–8 hours → fixation (杀青) in a drum for 35–55 seconds → shaping (做形, zuòxíng) at 120–150 °C for about 20 minutes → drying at 90–100 °C in a dryer or 80–90 °C on the shaping table → aroma raising (增香, zēngxiāng) at 100–110 °C on the table or 100–120 °C in an aroma machine.
- Needle-shaped tea (针形茶, zhēnxíng chá): spreading → fixation at 120–140 °C for 35–55 seconds → rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn) for 15–35 minutes → shaping at 120–150 °C → drying and aroma raising, as for flat tea.
- Chaoqing and hongqing (炒青、烘青, chǎoqīng, hōngqīng): spreading → fixation at 140–160 °C for 90–150 seconds → rolling for about 45 minutes → preliminary drying at 120 °C (烘二青) → pan-firing at 150–160 °C (炒三青) → finishing in the pan (辉锅, huīguō) at 80–180 °C for 90–120 minutes.
According to the newspaper, the making of Mapo tea involves more than ten operations, among them straightening the strands (理条, lǐtiáo) and heating over fire (焙火, bèihuǒ).
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
- Dry leaf appearance: Needle-shaped tea of the premium grade — tight, thin, round and straight, emerald, with noticeable down; of the first grade — almost round and straight, green with a luster. Chǎoqīng and hōngqīng — tightly rolled; flat tea — thin and emerald.
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and long-lasting, with notes of beans and roasted chestnut (似豆香、熟板栗香); in the premium-grade needle-shaped tea — high.
- Taste: Sweetish; in the premium-grade needle-shaped tea fresh and soft, in chǎoqīng rich and fresh (浓醇、鲜).
- Liquor color: Pure green and bright. The documents describe three infusions: in the first the liquor is green and the sweetness is only emerging; in the second the green shifts to pale yellow, and the bean and chestnut notes grow denser; in the third the liquor is emerald with a bluish tinge (汤碧泛青).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): In the premium-grade needle-shaped tea and in flat tea — tender green and bright (嫩绿明亮); in chǎoqīng and hōngqīng — green and bright (绿且明亮). For the first-grade needle-shaped tea there is no description.
7. Chemical Composition
The thresholds in the documents do not match:
| Indicator | CNIPA requirements | Mark description | Reference card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free amino acids | ≥ 3.5% | ≥ 3.5% | not given |
| Polyphenols | ≥ 16.0% | ≥ 16.0% | ≥ 13.0% |
| Caffeine | ≥ 2.5% | ≥ 2.5% | not given |
| Selenium | ≥ 0.03 mg/kg | ≥ 0.07 mg/kg | not given |
| Moisture | not given | ≤ 6.5% | ≤ 5.0% |
The mark description adds water extract ≥ 36.0%, ash ≤ 6.5% and crude fiber ≤ 14.0%.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea. Water at 80–85 °C, 3 g per 150 ml, a glass tumbler or a white gaiwan. The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds, then two or three more infusions, leaving part of the liquor in the vessel.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; drink within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Retail prices are not found in the sources consulted. According to the press, in March 2023 a kilogram of fresh leaf in Mapo cost more than 70 yuan.
- The 2024 case: The Jianshi County procuratorate found that some companies put the “马坡茶” mark on their products without permission, while some authorized users print the old mark, although CNIPA introduced a new one in 2019. Following its recommendation, the market regulation administration inspected 18 enterprises of the township and withdrew products with the unauthorized mark from sale.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special mark of the new design and check the producer against the list of authorized users: the provincial list of August 2025 names the Mapo Mingzhu cooperative.
- Check the origin — Sanli Township, Jianshi County.
- Remember the authorization procedure: according to the CNIPA requirements, the producer’s application is accepted by the county intellectual property authority, checked by the province and approved by CNIPA.
11. Interesting Facts
- The “ten bushes” in the name 十株茶 and the “twelve” in the legend do not contradict each other: there were twelve seeds, and ten sprouted.
- The variety 安吉白茶 is “white” in name only — in Mapo green tea is made from it.
- In 2024 the Mapo tea mark was defended by the procuratorate.
12. Comparison with Other Teas
- Enshi Yulu (恩施玉露): A green tea of Enshi Prefecture with steam fixation.
- Enshi Fuxicha (恩施富硒茶): The prefecture’s selenium name, with its own mark.
- Xihu Longjing (西湖龙井): A flat tea from Hangzhou; according to legend, the first Mapo bushes grew from Longjing seeds.
In Conclusion:
Mǎpō chá is a green tea of a single township in the mountains of Enshi with detailed documents: gardens at 600–1200 m, five varieties, three forms, and a liquor that from infusion to infusion passes from green to pale yellow and emerald, with beans and roasted chestnut in the aroma. The legend of the Longjing seeds remains a legend.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page