---
title: "Qīfó gòngchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/qifo-gongcha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Qīfó gòngchá (七佛贡茶)

*Qīfó gòngchá* (七佛贡茶) is a tea of Qifo township, Qingchuan County (青川县), Guangyuan prefecture-level city, in the north of Sichuan Province, near the border with Gansu. The name is made of two parts: “Qifo” — “seven Buddhas”, the name of the township; “gongcha” — tea for the court. The gardens lie at altitudes from 580 to 2,100 m. Since 2008 the tea has been protected as a geographical indication product, and the technique of making its tea cakes has been entered in the provincial list of intangible heritage.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Not established: the protection documents found do not name the class. The appearance according to reference descriptions — a yellow-green liquor, an orchid or chestnut aroma — is typical of green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*), but the class is not asserted here. Besides the loose-leaf tea, a tradition of pressed cakes is known under this name.
* **Category:** A mountain tea of northern Sichuan; a geographical indication product (2008), a well-known trademark of China (中国驰名商标).
* **Origin:** China, Sichuan Province (四川, *Sìchuān*), Guangyuan prefecture-level city (广元, *Guǎngyuán*), Qingchuan County (青川县, *Qīngchuān Xiàn*), Qifo township (七佛乡). According to the old announcement, the protected zone included thirty-two towns and townships of the county; I have not seen the full list in the primary source.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Qingchuan County — about 32.6° N and 105.2° E; local materials place the gardens here in the “golden tea belt at 32° north latitude”.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The name.** The word “gongcha” in the name speaks of tribute to the court, but documents on tribute specifically from Qifo are not found in the sources consulted; local legends about it are not carried over into the article.
    * **2008.** By announcement No. 52, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) placed *Qīfó gòngchá* under protection as a geographical indication product.
    * **By the end of 2022**, according to the county market supervision administration, 26 tea enterprises were registered in the county, 14 of which had obtained the right to use the special geographical indication mark; the total value of their output was 1.6 billion yuan. A local standard has also been developed, “Geographical indication product. *Qīfó gòngchá*. Technical rules of production” (《地理标志产品 七佛贡茶生产技术规程》).
    * **2023.** The name was included in the second list of marks that Sichuan and Chongqing protect jointly; it is the only one from Guangyuan prefecture.
    * **2024.** According to the valuation cited by the Guangyuan market supervision administration, the brand value was 2.297 billion yuan — seventh place in Sichuan.
    * **2025.** On 9 May, at the Sichuan events of China Brand Day in Chengdu, the tea was included in the first group of the Sichuan program “一县一品” — “one county, one product”.
* **Name:**
    * “Qifo” (七佛) — “seven Buddhas”, the name of the township. The origin of the name is not explained in the sources I opened.
    * “Gongcha” (贡茶, *gòngchá*) — “tea for the court”.
* **Cultural significance:** The technique of making *Qīfó gòngchá* tea cakes has been entered in Sichuan’s provincial list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage. The tea also holds the title “中华文化名茶” — “famous tea of Chinese culture”.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** Not named in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest:** From early March to the end of September.
* **Harvest standard:** Not given in the sources consulted.
* **Raw material requirements:** Origin from the protected zone.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Qingchuan is a mountain county on the border of Sichuan and Gansu.
* **Growing altitude:** From **580 to 2,100 m**, on average about **800 m**.
* **Soils:** Not found in the sources consulted.
* **Climate:** Measured data not found in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The technology of the loose-leaf tea is not described in the sources consulted. A local production standard exists, but I have not seen its text, so I do not carry the class scheme over here.

A separate tradition is **pressed tea cakes** (茶饼): the technique of making them has been entered in Sichuan’s provincial list of intangible heritage. How exactly they are made is not stated in the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Not found in the sources checked.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** According to reference descriptions — an orchid or chestnut note.
* **Taste:** Not found in the sources checked.
* **Liquor color:** According to reference descriptions — yellow-green.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Not found in the sources checked.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical data 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, which the described appearance matches.

* **Water temperature:** 80–85 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea.
    3. Pour in a little water and let the leaf open for 30–60 seconds.
    4. Top up with water; the first infusion — 1–2 minutes.
    5. Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
    6. Two or three further infusions.

These parameters do not suit the pressed cakes: the brewing method depends on how the cake is made.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice for green tea. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. The loose-leaf tea is best drunk within the season.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Prices not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark.
    * Check that the producer is from Qingchuan County and is authorized to use the mark: according to county data as of the end of 2022, there were 14 such enterprises.
    * Remember that the word “贡茶” occurs in the names of many teas; it is the full name “七佛贡茶” that is protected.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The harvest season lasts from March to September.
* The technique of making *Qīfó gòngchá* tea cakes is provincial intangible heritage of Sichuan.
* In the 2023 joint protection list of Sichuan and Chongqing, *Qīfó gòngchá* is the only mark from Guangyuan prefecture.
* According to the 2024 valuation, the brand value is 2.297 billion yuan, seventh place in the province.

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

* **Emei Zhuyeqing ([峨眉竹叶青](https://thetea.app/article/emei-zhuyeqing)):** A famous Sichuan green tea of Mount Emei.
* **Mengding Ganlu ([蒙顶甘露](https://thetea.app/article/mengding-gan-lu)):** A curled green tea of Mount Mengding, one of the oldest named teas of China.
* **Guangyuan Huangcha ([广元黄茶](https://thetea.app/article/guangyuan-huangcha)):** A green tea from yellow-leaf varieties of the same Guangyuan prefecture; the “yellow” in the name is the color of the leaf, not the class.

**In Conclusion:**

*Qīfó gòngchá* is a mountain tea of northern Sichuan whose name promises a court history, while the documents confirm something else: protection as a geographical indication product since 2008, garden altitudes from 580 to 2,100 m, a long harvest season from March to September and provincial heritage — the technique of making tea cakes. The sources consulted say little about the class, technology and appearance of the loose-leaf tea; reference descriptions note a yellow-green liquor and an orchid or chestnut aroma.