--- title: "Nàxī tèzǎochá" url: https://thetea.app/article/naxi-tezaocha lang: en updated: 2026-10-01 source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app) --- # Nàxī tèzǎochá (纳溪特早茶) *Nàxī tèzǎochá* (纳溪特早茶), “Naxi extra-early tea”, is a green tea of Naxi District (纳溪区) of Luzhou prefecture-level city in the south of Sichuan Province. All its fame lies in the timing: under the protection requirements the harvest begins at the end of January, and local descriptions call the tea “New Year’s Eve tea” (除夕茶, *chúxī chá*) — the first leaf can be tasted as early as the eve of the lunar New Year. The name is protected as an agricultural product geographical indication (2011), is listed in the China–EU agreement, and since 2025 has been recognized as a geographical indication product by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). **1. Classification and Origin:** * **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The 2025 protection requirements describe two forms — flat (扁形茶) and maofeng ([毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/maofengcha)茶), and both begin with withering and fixation by heat (杀青), without oxidation. * **Category:** Early spring green tea of southern Sichuan; geographical indication product. * **Origin:** China, Sichuan Province (四川, *Sìchuān*), Luzhou prefecture-level city (泸州, *Lúzhōu*), Naxi District (纳溪, *Nàxī*). * **Protection zone:** 176 villages in 12 towns of the district: Dadukou (大渡口), Huguo (护国), Dagu (打古), Shangma (上马), Hemian (合面), Fengle (丰乐), Baijie (白节), Tianxian (天仙), Mianhuapo (棉花坡), Xinle (新乐), Quba (渠坝) and Longche (龙车). The applicant in 2025 was the People’s Government of Naxi District. * **Geographic coordinates:** 105°09′–105°37′ E, 28°02′14″–28°26′53″ N. **2. History and Cultural Significance:** * **History:** * **Ancient mentions.** The description of the indication quotes *Huayang Guozhi* (华阳国志) on tribute of tea and honey from the lands of Ba and Shu under King Wu of Zhou — evidence about the region as a whole, not about Naxi. * ***The Classic of Tea*.** Local materials attribute to Lu Yu’s *The Classic of Tea* a mention of the tea of Naxi and Meiling (梅岭), but render it differently: “纳溪、梅岭产茶” or “纳溪梅岭茶”. It was not possible to check the phrase against the text of the treatise from the sources consulted. * **Huang Tingjian’s inscription.** According to the same description, the Song poet and calligrapher Huang Tingjian (黄庭坚) left on a cliff by the Qingxi River (清溪河) in Naxi District the inscription “二月茶” — “tea of the second month”. A 2013 report (reprinted in 2019) places the inscription on the Qingxi River near Shaiyutan (晒鱼滩) in Dadukou Town and writes that the handwriting resembles Huang Tingjian’s hand, but its authenticity was still to be confirmed by experts; the outcome of the examination is not named in the sources consulted. * **2011.** On 20 December the Ministry of Agriculture approved the registration of the agricultural product geographical indication (one regional newspaper gives 2017, diverging from the other sources). According to the description of the indication, at that time the protected area was 20,000 ha and output 25,000 t a year. * **The agreement with the European Union.** According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, the tea is included in Annex III of the China–EU agreement on geographical indications (PGI “Naxi Te Zao Cha”, file PGI-CN-2754; basis — the Chinese agricultural indication, applicant — the agricultural bureau of Naxi District). Reference works date the inclusion to 20 July 2020; the year 2014, given by a geographical indications website, is not confirmed by the documents of the agreement. * **2018–2021 — group standard.** According to a report by *Sichuan Online* (2025), from 2018 the district agricultural bureau and the tea association spent three years preparing the group standard “纳溪特早茶”, which fixed three lines of mid- and high-grade green tea — *yùsǔn* (玉笋), *yùyá* (玉芽) and *yùzhēn* (玉针). * **2025.** By CNIPA announcement No. 625 (signed on 1 April, published on 14 April), the tea was recognized as a geographical indication product. * **Name:** 纳溪 — Naxi District; 特早 — “especially early”, “extra-early”; 茶 — tea. * **Cultural significance:** The district bears the title “hometown of Chinese extra-early tea” (中国特早茶之乡), and local materials call it “the earliest at this latitude in the world” — this is the advertising formula of the sources. **3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:** * **Varieties / Cultivars:** According to the 2025 requirements — extra-early varieties: [乌牛早](https://thetea.app/article/wuniu-zao) (*Wūniú zǎo*), 福选9号 (*Fúxuǎn 9*), 福鼎大白 (*Fúdǐng dàbái*), 中黄2号 (*Zhōnghuáng 2*), 黄金芽 (*Huángjīn yá*) and others. The reference description and a note from the district agricultural bureau add 平阳特早 and 巴渝特早; according to 2023 reports, the gardens are based on 乌牛早, 福选9号 and 峨眉问春 (*Éméi wènchūn*). * **Harvest:** From the end of January to the beginning of April. * **Harvest standard:** From a single bud to a bud with two leaves; picking by “lifting” (提采), the bud and leaf must remain whole, fresh and even. **4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:** * **Region:** The south of the Sichuan Basin, hills and low mountains by the Yangtze and its tributary the Yongning River (永宁河). * **Growing altitude:** According to the 2025 requirements — 230–960 m. The 2011 description specifies that the gardens lie mainly in low mountains at 400–700 m. * **Soils:** According to the 2025 requirements — yellow earths and yellow-brown earths (黄壤、黄棕壤), a layer of more than 60 cm, organic matter not less than 1.5%, pH 4.5–6.5. The 2011 description named them differently: acidic purple soils (酸性紫色土) on weathered purple sandstones predominate in the district. The discrepancy is not explained. * **Climate** (according to the description of the indication): humid subtropical monsoon; average annual temperature 18.3 °C, frost-free period about 350 days, precipitation 1184.9 mm, relative humidity 83%. * **Why early:** According to a 2025 report, in the main tea valleys the mean daily temperature of 10 °C, at which the buds start to grow, arrives even before the Spring Festival — 7–10 days earlier than in western Sichuan, and more than a month earlier than in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. * **Scale:** According to a report by *Sichuan Online* (2025), at the end of 2024 — 315,000 mu of gardens and 24,000 t of crude tea a year. **5. Production Technology:** The 2025 protection requirements set two schemes. **Flat tea (扁形茶):** 1. **Withering (摊放, *tānfàng*):** A layer of 2–3 cm, 4–8 hours, until the grassy smell goes; moisture about 70%. 2. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** 120–130 °C, until the leaf is soft and without gloss; moisture about 65%. 3. **First drying (初烘, *chūhōng*):** 90–110 °C, about 20 minutes; moisture 50–58%. 4. **Straightening and shaping (理条、做形, *lǐtiáo, zuòxíng*):** 110–120 °C, 5–8 minutes; moisture about 45%. 5. **Removing the down (脱毫, *tuōháo*):** 110–130 °C, 50–70 minutes — until the leaf is straight and without white down. 6. **Second drying (二烘, *èrhōng*):** About 90 °C. 7. **Finishing in the pan (辉锅, *huīguō*):** 80–100 °C, until a yellow-green sheen and a moisture of not more than 6%. **Maofeng (毛峰茶):** withering 4–10 hours to a moisture of 65–70%; fixation at about 120 °C, 1–1.5 minutes; light rolling 5–7 minutes; first drying at 90–110 °C; repeated rolling 25–30 minutes; straightening with the down brought out at 70–80 °C, 10–15 minutes; final drying at 90–100 °C to a moisture of 5–6%. The text of the group standard was not accessible in the sources consulted. **6. Organoleptic Characteristics:** According to the 2025 protection requirements: * **Dry leaf appearance:** Flat and straight (扁平挺直), yellow-green with hidden down (黄绿隐毫), even and clean. * **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description found in the sources consulted. * **Liquor aroma:** Chestnut, rich and lasting (栗香浓郁持久). * **Taste:** Fresh, mellow and brisk (鲜醇爽口). * **Liquor color:** Yellow-green, bright. * **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Yellow-green, even, glossy. The description of the appearance refers to the flat form, although the same protection also describes the technology of maofeng; there is no separate description for it in the document. Reference descriptions call the color of the flat tea emerald (色泽翠绿). **7. Chemical Composition:** | Indicator | Norm | | :--- | :--- | | Water-soluble extractives | not less than 42% | | Tea polyphenols | not less than 16% | On amino acids the requirements only say that there are “many” of them; there is no numerical threshold. **8. Health Properties:** There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. **9. Brewing:** Class practice for green tea. Water 80–85 °C, 3 g per 150 ml, a glass tumbler or a white gaiwan. Pour the water down the side of the vessel, the first infusion — after 40–60 seconds; drink, leaving part of the infusion, and top up — two or three refills. **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. **11. Price and Counterfeits:** * **Prices:** There are no systematic data. According to a producer in a 2025 report, the earliest batches from the 中黄2号 variety sell for more than 3000 yuan per jin (500 g), and when the tea comes onto the market in bulk, the price falls by a factor of two to three. * **How to avoid counterfeits:** * Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is granted to a producer from the zone by CNIPA on the recommendation of the district and the province. * According to a 2025 report, users of the indication must observe the “four unities” — unified authorization, packaging, specification and brand. * The leaf is flat, straight, yellow-green with hidden down; the aroma is chestnut. **12. Interesting Facts:** * Under the protection requirements, the harvest opens at the end of January; according to a report, the provincial week opening the 2025 season was assigned to the district under the motto “the first cup of China’s spring”. * Among the permitted varieties are the yellow-leaf 中黄2号 and 黄金芽. * According to a 2025 report, only about 60% of the picked leaf is processed in the district itself: the rest goes to Yibin, Leshan and Ya’an, and the crude tea is bought up by visiting traders. **13. Comparison with Other Teas:** * **Wu Niu Zao (乌牛早):** An early tea of Yongjia County in Zhejiang; the variety of the same name is on the list of Naxi varieties. * **Xi Hu Long Jing ([西湖龙井](https://thetea.app/article/xihu-longjing)):** The benchmark of flat green tea; the main protected form of *Nàxī tèzǎochá* is also flat. * **Jinyun Huangcha ([缙云黄茶](https://thetea.app/article/jinyun-huangcha)):** A green tea from the 中黄2号 variety, which is also permitted in Naxi. * **Gulin Niupi Cha ([古蔺牛皮茶](https://thetea.app/article/gulin-niupi-cha)):** A tea of Gulin County of the same Luzhou prefecture-level city. **In Conclusion:** *Nàxī tèzǎochá* is a tea that sells time: harvest from the end of January, flat yellow-green leaf with hidden down and a lasting chestnut aroma. Behind the early date stand the warm winters of the Yongning River valley and extra-early varieties, and behind the name — three levels of protection and detailed requirements for two forms of the leaf.