---
title: "Pǔ'ān sìqiú chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/pu-an-siqiu-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Pǔ'ān sìqiú chá (普安四球茶)

*Pǔ'ān sìqiú chá* (普安四球茶) is a green tea of Pu'an County (普安县) in Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in the southwest of Guizhou Province, made from the leaf of a special species of the tea plant — the four-locular tea 四球茶 (*Camellia tetracocca* Zhang). The name is protected twice: since 2016 as a geographical indication product and since 2017 by a geographical indication certification mark. The provincial standard describes the tea as follows: heavy, even “strands” without down, glossy green, a light green bright liquor, a rich high aroma, a fresh mellow taste with a long aftertaste. According to the provincial authorities, more than 20,000 四球茶 trees grow in Pu'an.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*), unfermented. The class is set by the standard DB52/T 1163-2016: “普安四球茶” is a green tea made from fresh 四球茶 leaf in the protection zone. The species appears in the name; the class is set by the standard.
* **Category:** Guizhou green tea; geographical indication product (2016) and geographical indication certification mark (2017).
* **Origin:** China, Guizhou Province (贵州, *Guìzhōu*), Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔西南, *Qiánxīnán*), Pu'an County (普安, *Pǔ'ān*).
* **Protection zone:** According to the standard — twelve units of Pu'an County within the current administrative boundaries: the towns of Louxia (楼下镇), Qingshan (青山镇), Xindian (新店镇), Luohan (罗汉镇), Digua (地瓜镇), Jiangxipo (江西坡镇), Longyin (龙吟镇) and Xingzhong (兴中镇), the townships of Gaomian (高棉乡) and Baisha (白沙乡), and the subdistricts of Nanhu (南湖街道) and Panshui (盘水街道).
* **Geographic coordinates:** The county seat — about 25.8° N and 105.0° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Fossil seed.** According to the county government (2024), in 1980 a fossilized tea seed was found on the border of Pu'an and Qinglong counties, in the Yuntoushan Mountains (云头山); the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified it as a seed of 四球古茶. Sources give the age of the find in different ways: the provincial portal (2019) writes of “several million years”, the prefecture’s culture and tourism bureau (2021) assigns it to the late Tertiary and Quaternary periods, and the series article on Qinglong Lücha gives an estimate of about 1.64 million years. I have not resolved the discrepancy.
    * **Name of the species.** According to a publication of the prefecture’s culture and tourism bureau (2021), the name 四球茶 was given by Professor Zhang Hongda of Sun Yat-sen University on the basis of the features of Pu'an’s large tea trees; the publication does not name the year.
    * **2016 — geographical indication.** The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by announcement No. 63 of 2016, placed *Pǔ'ān sìqiú chá* under protection as a geographical indication product. The provincial standard DB52/T 1163-2016 was approved on 22 December 2016 and has been in force since 21 June 2017.
    * **2017 — mark.** According to a report that gives no year, the county received notices of acceptance of the applications for its first geographical indication marks — [普安红茶](https://thetea.app/article/puan-hongcha) and 普安四球茶. According to the summary table of the Guizhou Intellectual Property Administration (2022), the mark “普安四球茶” was approved on 28 December 2017; the holder is the Pu'an County Tea Association (普安县茶叶协会).
* **Name:** 普安 (*Pǔ'ān*) is the name of the county; 四球 (*sìqiú*) — “four balls”, after the four-locular fruit of the species; 茶 (*chá*) — tea.
* **Cultural significance:** According to the county government (2024), in July 2017 the China International Tea Culture Research Association gave Pu'an the title of “Home of Chinese Tea Culture”. The provincial portal (2024) calls Pu'an’s 四球古茶 “a living fossil that can be drunk”.

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

* **Species:** 四球茶 — *Camellia tetracocca* Zhang, an endemic species with a small-tree growth form and a four-locular fruit. The standard requires precisely this species: the raw material is fresh leaf of this species.
* **Population:** According to a report by provincial radio and television (2023), old 四球茶 trees grow in all fourteen towns and subdistricts of the county, more than 20,000 of them in total, and several thousand of them are over a thousand years old; another 2023 publication gives more than 3000 trees over a thousand years old. The publications do not name the method of estimation.
* **Propagation:** According to the standard — vegetative, except for old trees. Planting — from September to February, no denser than 60,000 bushes per hectare.
* **Harvest time:** From the end of March to the beginning of May.
* **Harvest standard:** A bud with two leaves (一芽二叶) and a bud with three leaves (一芽三叶). The leaf must be tender, even, fresh and clean.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Southwest Guizhou, Pu'an County.
* **Growing altitude:** **1000–2000 m** according to the standard.
* **Climate:** According to the standard — a humid subtropical monsoon climate: mean annual temperature 13.7 °C, precipitation 1395.3 mm, sunshine 1528.3 hours a year, frost-free period — 290 days.
* **Soils:** Yellow or yellow-brown, pH 5.0–7.0, organic matter no less than 1.0 %, layer thickness no less than 40 cm.

**5. Production Technology:**

The standard sets a short scheme of four stages; the parameters below are from its appendix.

1.  **Spreading (摊放, *tānfàng*):** A layer of 3–6 cm, 4–6 hours, tender leaf — longer. Readiness — moisture 65–70 %, the leaf is soft, slightly darkened, with a light clean aroma.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** 200–240 °C, 4–6 minutes — until the leaf turns from fresh green to dark green and soft, gathers into a lump when squeezed in the hand and shows a clean aroma; there must be no scorching.
3.  **Shaping (做形, *zuòxíng*):** The standard gives no parameters; judging by the description of the appearance, the leaf takes the shape of “strands”.
4.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*):** To a moisture of no more than 7.0 % — until the leaf rubs to powder between the fingers.

The finished tea is divided into three grades: premium, first and second. For each grade a physical reference sample is kept, which is replaced once every two years.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the standard DB52/T 1163-2016, for the premium grade.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** “Strands” heavy and firm, even, glossy green, without down (条索重实，匀整绿润，无毫); in the second grade — fairly even and simply green.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** Not described separately by the standard.
* **Liquor aroma:** Rich, intense, high and lasting (浓香馥郁高长); in the second grade — rich and persistent.
* **Taste:** Fresh and mellow, refreshing, with a long aftertaste (鲜醇、爽口，回味悠长); in the second grade — mellow and still fresh.
* **Liquor color:** Light green and bright, the tea withstands many infusions (淡绿明亮，耐泡).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Buds and leaves tender and even, green, glossy and “lively” (芽叶嫩匀，绿亮、鲜活).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physico-chemical requirements of the standard:

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Water extract | ≥ 39.0 % (premium), ≥ 38.5 % (first), ≥ 38.0 % (second) |
| Catechins | ≥ 6.5 % |
| Crude fiber | ≤ 14.0 % |
| Dust | ≤ 1.0 % |
| Moisture | ≤ 7.0 % |
| Total ash | ≤ 6.0 % |

These are the thresholds of the standard, not measurements of specific batches. For the other indicators the standard refers to the general green tea standard GB/T 14456.1. Data on caffeine, amino acids and minerals for this particular tea were not found in the sources consulted.

**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 or a white gaiwan — the light green liquor is visible in them.
* **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 further infusions; the standard notes that the premium grade withstands many infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice for green tea. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. For the producer the standard requires storing the tea in a dedicated cold store and sets a shelf life of 24 months.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

There are no price data in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the official geographical indication marking and the mark “普安四球茶”.
    * Check that the producer is from Pu'an County and that the leaf comes from one of the twelve units of the zone.
    * The dry leaf — heavy green “strands” without down, the liquor — light green and bright.
    * Do not confuse it with Pu'an Hongcha: that is a red tea with a separate mark, although it too is made, among other things, from 四球茶.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* In the name of the protected tea, a botanical species stands next to the place — 四球茶.
* The standard checks the readiness of the tea by hand: the leaf must rub to powder.

**13. Comparison with Other Guizhou Teas:**

* **Pu'an Hongcha (普安红茶):** A red tea of the same county with a separate mark; it is made, among other things, from 四球茶 leaf.
* **Pu'an Gushu Lü ([普安古树绿](https://thetea.app/article/puan-gushu-lu)):** A green tea of the county from old trees, not tied to the mark; its raw material also includes 四球古茶.
* **Qinglong Lücha ([晴隆绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/qinglong-lucha)):** A green tea of the neighboring county, also with a geographical indication and the same story of the fossil seed.

**In Conclusion:**

*Pǔ'ān sìqiú chá* is a green tea whose protection covers not only the place but also the species: it is made from the leaf of the four-locular tea *Camellia tetracocca*, which grows in Pu'an in large old populations. The 2016 standard describes it in detail — a zone of twelve towns and subdistricts, an altitude of 1000–2000 m, fixation at 200–240 °C, heavy green “strands” without down, a light green liquor, a rich aroma and a fresh mellow taste. The appearance and the technology can be retold here from the document, not from advertising.