---
title: "Mǐcāngshān chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/micangshan-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Mǐcāngshān chá (米仓山茶)

*Mǐcāngshān chá* (米仓山茶) is a flat green tea of Wangcang County (旺苍县) of Guangyuan prefecture-level city in the north of Sichuan Province, in the Micangshan mountains near the border with Shaanxi. Since 4 May 2009 it has been protected as a geographical indication product, and the protection announcement describes it in detail: a flat, straight, emerald leaf, a rich, lasting aroma with a pronounced chestnut note and a hint of orchid, a fresh, dense taste. Among the requirements are norms not only for extractive substances but also for zinc and selenium. Under the same name the county is building a common tea brand.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The protection announcement sets a green tea technology — fixation, shaping, firing and drying without oxidation and without smothering; a reference retelling of the requirements calls the product “富硒富锌绿茶” — a green tea rich in selenium and zinc. The 2023 provincial heritage list also assigns the technology to green tea (section 2).
* **Category:** Flat mountain green tea of northern Sichuan; geographical indication product (2009).
* **Origin:** China, Sichuan Province (四川, *Sìchuān*), Guangyuan prefecture-level city (广元, *Guǎngyuán*), Wangcang County (旺苍, *Wàngcāng*).
* **Protection zone:** The entire current administrative territory of Wangcang County — as stated in the 2009 announcement.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Wangcang — about 32.2° N and 106.3° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **2009.** On 4 May the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by announcement No. 32, placed *Mǐcāngshān chá* under protection as a geographical indication product — in the same announcement as the white tea Fuding Baicha.
    * **2018.** According to a publication by the Pingshan County government, on 12 March a video of the provincial brand “[天府龙芽](https://thetea.app/article/tianfu-long-ya)” was shown in Times Square in New York together with the brands of Sichuan's main tea districts, “三山一早” — *Mǐcāngshān chá* among them.
    * **2019.** According to the Guangyuan bureau of economy and informatization, in May the name entered the top hundred regional geographical indication brands in the valuation by the China Association for the Promotion of Brand Building — 63rd place, valued at 4.511 billion yuan; in July it received a gold award at a brand and trademark exhibition.
    * **2020.** Guangyuan approved two local standards: DB5108/T20—2020 on cultivation and DB5108/T21—2020 on the processing of *Mǐcāngshān chá*. The second was published on 20 December 2020 and took effect on 1 February 2021; according to the national standards platform, it was repealed on 16 June 2025, while one of the standards catalogs still lists it as in force.
    * **2023.** By a decision of the provincial government (川府函〔2023〕66号), the “*Mǐcāngshān chá* making technique” (米仓山茶制作技艺) was entered in the expanded provincial list of intangible heritage as a branch of the “Sichuan green tea technique”.
* **Name:** Micangshan (米仓山) — “Rice Granary Mountain”, a range at the junction of Sichuan and Shaanxi; 茶 means tea.
* **Cultural significance:** The 2019 Guangyuan report came out under the motto “嘉陵源头水，米仓山中茶” — “water from the headwaters of the Jialingjiang, tea from the Micangshan mountains”. The county's plans at that time included a “Han tribute tea town” (汉代贡茶小镇) and a “yellow tea town”; the sources consulted do not say what historical data the first name rests on. According to the Wangcang government, in 2024 the tea was presented in Jinan together with the county's “red tourism”.

**3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:**

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** According to the protection announcement — local medium-leaf and small-leaf populations (中小叶[群体种](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong)) and new varieties selected from them. The names of the selected varieties are not found in the sources consulted.
* **Propagation and planting:** By short cuttings; planting from mid-October to early November or in February, no more than 90,000 bushes per hectare.
* **Fertilization:** Mainly organic; four top dressings a year.
* **Harvest:** In spring and autumn, in batches, leaving leaves on the bush.
* **Raw material standard by grade:**
    * **Premium grade:** buds — no less than 90%, opening “bud and leaf” — less than 10%.
    * **First grade:** opening “bud and leaf” — more than 80%, opened — less than 20%.
    * **Second grade:** opening “bud and two leaves” — more than 70%, opened — less than 30%.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The Micangshan range lies on the border of Sichuan and Shaanxi, between Motianling (摩天岭) in the west and Dabashan (大巴山) in the east, and serves as the watershed between the Hanjiang and Jialingjiang rivers. The main peak is Guangwushan (光雾山) in neighboring Nanjiang County, 2507 m. In the mountains there is a national nature reserve (since 2006).
* **Growing altitude:** 600–1300 m — a requirement of the protection announcement.
* **Soils:** pH 4.5–6.5; slopes steeper than 25° are not allowed.
* **Climate:** No data in the sources consulted.
* **Scale:** According to prefecture data for 2019, the county has 226,000 mu of tea gardens, with an expected output of 6800 t.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection announcement sets the following chain:

1.  **Fresh leaf (鲜叶, *xiānyè*).**
2.  **Spreading (摊青, *tānqīng*).**
3.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heat stops oxidation.
4.  **Cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*).**
5.  **Sieve sorting (分筛, *fēnshāi*).**
6.  **Shaping (做形, *zuòxíng*):** The leaf acquires a flat, straight shape.
7.  **First drying (初烘, *chūhōng*)** and cooling.
8.  **Drum firing (滚炒, *gǔnchǎo*)** and cooling.
9.  **Aroma raising (提香, *tíxiāng*).**
10. **Hand sorting (精拣, *jīngjiǎn*), grading (分级, *fēnjí*) and inspection (检验, *jiǎnyàn*).**
11. **Cold storage at constant temperature (恒温冷藏, *héngwēn lěngcáng*)** and packaging.

The announcement gives no temperatures or times; I have not seen the 2020 processing standard.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below is a requirement of the protection announcement.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Flat and straight (扁直), emerald green (翠绿).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** Rich, high and long-lasting, with a pronounced chestnut note and a hint of orchid (香气浓郁高长持久、栗香突出、带兰花香).
* **Taste:** Fresh, brisk, mellow and dense (鲜爽醇厚).
* **Liquor color:** Tender green, bright (嫩绿明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender, even, fleshy, the leaves open into a “flower” (嫩匀肥厚成朵).

The announcement also notes resistance to repeated infusions (耐冲泡).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Requirements of the protection announcement:

| Indicator | Norm |
| :--- | :--- |
| Extractive substances | no less than 42% |
| Zinc | no less than 50 mg/kg |
| Selenium | no less than 0.28 mg/kg |

These are lower limits, not measurement results; I draw no conclusions about health from them.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for green tea.

* **Water temperature:** 80–85 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler — in it you can see the flat leaf unfold.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
    5. Top up with water.
    6. Two or three further infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; best drunk within a year. The production chain itself, according to the protection announcement, ends with cold storage at constant temperature before packaging.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Data on the retail price of the protected tea itself are not found in the sources consulted. The 2019 prefecture report gives prices for the county's products: the organic “Queshe” of one of the companies — 1880 yuan per jin (500 g), the county's “yellow tea” — 8800 yuan per jin. These are claims, not a market survey.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special mark of a geographical indication product.
    * Check that the producer is from Wangcang County.
    * The leaf is flat, straight and emerald; in the aroma — chestnut with a hint of orchid; the liquor is tender green.
    * Remember that alongside the brand the county also promotes “yellow tea” (section 13); the 2009 requirements describe a flat green tea.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* *Mǐcāngshān chá* is one of the “three mountains” of the “三山一早” formula, alongside Mengdingshan and Emeishan.
* The processing standard, according to the national standards platform, lasted less than five years: introduced in February 2021, repealed in June 2025.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Guangyuan Huangcha ([广元黄茶](https://thetea.app/article/guangyuan-huangcha)):** A green tea from yellow-leaf varieties of the same prefecture; in the 2019 prefecture report, the success of Wangcang's “yellow tea” is credited to the *Mǐcāngshān chá* brand.
* **Qifo Gongcha ([七佛贡茶](https://thetea.app/article/qifo-gongcha)):** A protected tea of Qingchuan County of the same Guangyuan prefecture-level city.
* **Zhenba Maojian ([镇巴毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/zhenba-maojian)):** A green tea of Zhenba County in Shaanxi on the other side of the mountains, at the junction of Dabashan and Micangshan.
* **Ba Shan Que She ([巴山雀舌](https://thetea.app/article/ba-shan-que-she)):** A flat green tea of the Dabashan mountains in northeastern Sichuan.
* **Emei Zhuyeqing ([峨眉竹叶青](https://thetea.app/article/emei-zhuyeqing)):** A flat green tea of Mount Emeishan; this mountain's brand “峨眉山茶” is another of the “three mountains” of the “三山一早” formula.

**In Conclusion:**

*Mǐcāngshān chá* is a flat green tea of northern Sichuan for which the protection document has said almost everything: gardens at an altitude of 600–1300 m, local bush populations, a processing chain with drum firing and cold storage, an emerald straight leaf, a chestnut aroma with orchid, and even lower limits for zinc and selenium. What the documents do not give is a history before 2009.