Pínglì Nǚwā chá

Pínglì Nǚwā chá (平利女娲茶), “Nüwa’s tea from Pingli”, is a green tea of Pingli County (平利县), Ankang prefecture-level city, in the southeast of Shaanxi Province, at the junction with Hubei and Chongqing. The county calls itself the homeland of Nüwa (女娲故里) — the ancestral goddess of Chinese legends — and has named all its tea after her. Within the line there are three tiers: Nǚwā yínfēng, Nǚwā yúnwù and Nǚwā máojiān. Since 25 December 2010 the name has been an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), and in 2025, according to the county, it was recognized as a national geographical indication product.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The county website states it plainly: “平利女娲茶属绿茶”. In 2011 red tea and oolong (女娲红茶, 女娲乌龙) were also produced under the common brand, but they do not appear in the descriptions of the indication that were found, and there are no grounds to regard them as the protected product.
Origin: China, Shaanxi Province (陕西, Shǎnxī), Ankang prefecture-level city (安康, Ānkāng), Pingli County (平利, Pínglì).
Protection zone: According to the description of the zone — 109°00′–109°33′ E and 31°37′–32°39′ N, altitudes from 300 to 2717.2 m, 50 villages in 11 towns. The extreme points lie in the towns of Chang’an, Baxian, Dagui and Xinglong. The description has not been checked against the text of the registration.
Geographic coordinates: About 32° N and 109.3° E.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Tang and Qing. According to the county website, under the Tang, Pingli was one of the eight main tea districts of the country, and under Qianlong the local tea became tribute tea (贡茶). A 2011 article on the same website specifies: the fame came from the tea of Sanliya (三里垭), which “was presented to the emperor, but very little of it was made”. The primary sources are not named.
- 1949. 200 mu of gardens and 2.5 t of tea — according to an article on the county website.
- 2002–2003. Nǚwā yínfēng, a product of one of the local companies, won a gold medal at the Western China famous tea exhibition (2002) and first prize in the “Zhongcha Bei” competition (中茶杯, 2003).
- 2010. On 25 December the Ministry of Agriculture of the PRC registered Pínglì Nǚwā chá as an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI); the applicant, according to an article on the county website, was the county tea trade association.
- 2015. According to a 2021 newspaper publication, the name received a national geographical indication certification mark; the county website also mentions such a mark, without a number or date.
- 2024. The province issued the local standard DB61/T 1943-2024 “Geographical indication certification mark: Pínglì Nǚwā chá”, in force since 26 January 2025; it was drafted by county institutions. The text could not be found.
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration, by announcement No. 646, recognized 870 geographical indication products. According to a report by the county agriculture bureau (December 2025), Pínglì Nǚwā chá is among them. The list of the announcement itself could not be checked.
Name: 平利 is the name of the county; 女娲 (Nǚwā) is the name of the goddess who, according to legend, mended the sky and molded people.
Cultural significance: Local descriptions derive the county’s link with Nüwa from old texts — Huayang Guozhi (华阳国志) of the Jin era and Lu Shi (路史), which say that Nüwa ruled near Mount Zhonghuang; in Pingli this mountain is identified with Mount Nüwa (女娲山). This is a local interpretation. A reference website also retells a legend: under Qianlong, the mother of an official from Sanliya near Mount Nüwa, in gratitude for the emperor’s favor, presented him with máojiān of her own making, and from then on Pingli sent tea as tribute every year.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Varieties / Cultivars: Names of varieties are not found in the sources consulted. A reference description reports only 10,000 mu of gardens with clonal (无性系, wúxìngxì) elite varieties, without a year.
Raw material by tier (the 2021 newspaper description; the publication does not say from which standard the requirements are taken, but the same three tiers were separate parts of the 2014 provincial series of standards — see section 5):
- Nüwa Yinfeng (女娲银峰, Nǚwā yínfēng), the top tier: single buds 1.5–2.0 cm long — no less than 90 %.
- Nüwa Yunwu (女娲云雾, Nǚwā yúnwù), the first tier: buds with one unfolding leaf, the bud longer than the leaf — no less than 90 %.
- Nüwa Maojian (女娲毛尖, Nǚwā máojiān), the second tier: buds with one unfolding leaf — no less than 80 %, buds with an unfolded leaf — 15 %.
Harvest time: Exact dates are not found in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The mountains of southeastern Shaanxi near the junction with Hubei and Chongqing; reference descriptions name the mist-shrouded Mount Nüwa (女娲山) as the main area.
Altitude: The altitudes of the gardens themselves are not given in the sources consulted; the protection zone lies at 300–2717.2 m.
Climate: Descriptions speak of mountains in clouds and mist; there are no numerical data.
Selenium and zinc: The main feature of the terroir in all sources. For selenium in the tea, 0.52–3.52 ppm is given. An industry portal writes that this is above the norm for “selenium-rich tea”, which it calls national (0.25–4.0 ppm), but does not name the document. The same portal says that selenium-bearing lands are also found in the neighboring counties of Ankang — Ziyang, Zhenping, Langao, Hanbin.
Garden area: The figures diverge even for a single year: for 2010 an article on the county website gives 130,000 mu and 3100 t, while a reference description gives 150,000 mu and 2700 t; the same 150,000 mu and 2700 t, without a year, appear in the description of the zone. In 2016 the county website gave 180,000 mu and 8000 t a year.

5. Production Technology

A processing specification for the indication is not found in the sources consulted. The product card of one product of the line — Nǚwā yínfēng — on a tourism portal (2013) gives the sequence: picking (采摘, cǎizhāi) → spreading of the fresh leaf (摊青, tānqīng) → fixation (杀青, shāqīng) → shaping (做形, zuòxíng) → drying (烘干, hōnggān) → sorting (精选, jīngxuǎn) → placing in storage. This is the scheme of one company, without parameters, not the requirements of the indication.

The sources also name the provincial “Complex of standards for Nüwa organic tea” (《女娲有机茶标准综合体》, DB61/369-2005); according to an article on the county website, it is the only such complex in the province. Its parts are visible in the national standards database: from 2005, for example, DB61/T 369.6-2005 “Nüwa chaoqing”, and from October 2014 the series DB61/T 369.1–369.8-2014: cultivation, processing, three tiers of green tea, chaoqing, “Nüwa hongcha”, renovation of old gardens. Of this series, only the part on cultivation is in force. The texts could not be found.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The general description is from the materials on the indication.

Dry leaf appearance: Even, emerald green (外形匀齐，色泽翠绿).
Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: High and long-lasting (香气高长).
Taste: Rich and mellow (滋味醇厚); the tea withstands many infusions.
Liquor color: Clear and bright (汤色清亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Even, tender green and bright (叶底匀整嫩绿明亮).

By tier, according to the 2021 newspaper description:

Yinfeng: Round straight needles (圆直似针) with noticeable down; the liquor is tender green, the taste fresh, the aroma clean and lasting; the infused buds open into “flowers”.
Yunwu: A flat leaf resembling a swallow’s tail (扁平似燕尾); a delicate lasting aroma, a mellow taste with a sweet aftertaste (回甘).
Maojian: Tight, thin, slightly curved strands (紧细微曲); the liquor is yellow-green, a mellow taste with a sweet aftertaste.

7. Chemical Composition

Norms for physicochemical indicators are not found in the sources consulted. Selenium — 0.52–3.52 ppm according to the descriptions of the indication, without method or sample. For one product, Nǚwā yínfēng, the 2013 product card gives:

Indicator	Value
Selenium	2.26 ppm
Amino acids	3.86 %
Tea polyphenols	22.1 %
Water-soluble extractives	44.8 %

These are the producer’s data, not requirements for the protected tea.

8. Health Properties

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The selenium content is a characteristic of the composition, not a proven effect.

9. Brewing

Class practice for green tea. The 2021 newspaper description also gives its own advice: cooler water, about 80 °C; do not use boiling water.

Water temperature: About 80 °C; after two infusions, according to the same description, it can be slightly hotter.
Tea amount: 1 g per 50 ml, that is 3 g per 150 ml — as the same publication advises.
Teaware: A glass tumbler; for Maojian a gaiwan also works.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware with boiling water.
2. The middle method (中投法) that the newspaper description advises: fill the tumbler a third full with water, add the tea, swirl it, let the leaf unfold and top up to the brim.
3. Drink within 3–6 minutes — if left longer, according to the same description, the liquor loses its freshness; top up and repeat.

10. Storage

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors; before opening, let the pack warm up. Best drunk within a year.

11. Price and Counterfeits

Systematic price data are not found in the sources consulted. The only reference point is the 2013 product card: a 180 g box of Nǚwā yínfēng is listed at 400 yuan.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark and a producer from Pingli County.
- Remember that the protected product is described as green tea; red tea and oolong under the “Nüwa” brand do not belong to it unless a document says otherwise.
- Match the shape to the tier: downy needles are Yinfeng, the “swallow’s tail” is Yunwu, thin strands are Maojian.

12. Interesting Facts

The author of the 2011 article on the county website, an expert of the provincial tea association, advised adopting from Anji Baicha the model of “mother and daughter marks”: the indication as the common mark, company brands under it.
According to the same article, Pingli jiaogulan (绞股蓝) — a vine whose leaves are used to make a drink — has also received geographical indication protection.

13. Comparison with Other Shaanxi Teas

Nüwa Yinfeng (女娲银峰): The highest tier of this same umbrella — needle-shaped downy buds; the corpus has a separate article on it.
Ziyang Maojian (紫阳毛尖): A green tea of Ziyang County in the same Ankang prefecture, also from selenium-bearing lands.
Hanzhong Xianhao (汉中仙毫): The umbrella green tea brand of neighboring Hanzhong prefecture.
Xiangyuan Wuya (象园雾芽): A green tea of Zhen’an County of Shangluo prefecture on the southern slope of the Qinling.

In Conclusion:

Pínglì Nǚwā chá is neither a variety nor a village tea, but the name a mountain county gave to all its green tea, borrowing it from a goddess of its own legends. Behind the sign are three tiers, from the needle-shaped Yinfeng to the twisted Maojian, an emerald leaf, a high, long-lasting aroma and selenium soils that Pingli shares with its neighbors.