Qīngtián yùchá (青田御茶), “the imperial tea of Qingtian”, is a flat green tea from Qingtian County (青田县) of Lishui prefecture-level city in Zhejiang Province. The word “yù” (御) in the name means “imperial”: according to legend, the tea was named by the founder of the Ming dynasty. The present-day tea, according to reference descriptions, was developed anew in 1998. Since 2020 the name has been an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), since 2025 a geographical indication product, and the protection requirements describe the leaf as “shaped like a boat”.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá), unfermented, flat, pan-fired. The class is set by the technology in the protection requirements: fixation in a pan (青锅), no oxidation; smothering (闷黄), which makes tea yellow, is expressly prohibited by the document.
- Category: County famous tea, according to reference descriptions developed anew in 1998; geographical indication (2020, 2025).
- Origin: China, Zhejiang Province (浙江, Zhèjiāng), Lishui prefecture-level city (丽水, Lìshuǐ), Qingtian County (青田, Qīngtián).
- Protection zone: The whole county — 32 townships, towns and subdistricts, 414 administrative villages.
- Geographic coordinates: According to the document — 119°48′09″–120°26′20″ E and 27°56′09″–28°28′54″; the text omits the latitude mark for the second pair.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Legend of the name. A reference site on local products retells a legend: in 1368, on the eve of the Qingming festival, Liu Bowen (刘伯温), one of the founders of the Ming dynasty, came to Qingtian to visit his ancestors’ graves, tasted the local tea and presented it to Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋), and the emperor supposedly designated the tea “imperial”. A document from the Ming era is not found in the sources consulted.
- 1998. According to reference descriptions, the tea was developed anew by the county agriculture bureau.
- 1998–2001, awards. According to the reference site, the tea received the title of first-class famous tea (一类名茶) in 1998, 1999 and 2001 — at the 18th competition of Lishui prefecture and at the 13th and 14th provincial competitions of Zhejiang. The newspaper Lishui Ribao (2024) names the 3rd and 14th provincial competitions and a gold award at the 中国精品名茶博览会 exhibition. The competition numbers in the two sources do not match.
- November 1999. According to the same site, the county agriculture and technical supervision bureaus jointly developed a unified standard for seedlings, planting, harvesting and processing, packaging and the trademark, and filed an application to register the mark “太鹤”; other confirmation is not found in the sources consulted.
- 2020. Registration as an agricultural product geographical indication by ministry announcement No. 290 of April 30, 2020 — in the first batch of the year, 312 products nationwide, six of them from Lishui prefecture; certificate AGI02862. The holder at registration was the county industrial crops station (青田县经济作物管理站); according to a list of changes that the ministry put up for public comment in December 2021, after the reorganization of agencies the holder became the county field crops station (青田县农作物站).
- March 2023. A Tea Culture Research Society (茶文化研究会) was founded in the county — according to Lishui Ribao (2024).
- March 2025. The right to use the mark “青田御茶” was granted to the Bowen tea garden (伯温茶园) — the fifth enterprise in the county with this right (Lishui Ribao, 2025).
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration, by announcement No. 640 (signed on July 16, published on August 13), recognized the name as a geographical indication product — line 480 in a list of 1409 products — and approved the protection requirements. The applicant was the same field crops station.
- Name: “Qīngtián” (青田) is the name of the county; “yùchá” (御茶) means “imperial tea”, after the legend of the offering to the court.
- Cultural significance: Qingtian is known as a homeland of emigrants (华侨之乡) and for stone carving. The county also promotes its tea abroad: according to Lishui Ribao (2025), it has 15 ambassadors of Qingtian tea in China and abroad and points of sale in Spain and Slovakia. Liu Bowen, the hero of the legend, is connected with these places: according to Wikipedia, he was born in Nantian (南田) of Qingtian County (now Wencheng County), and when the tax grain of Chuzhou prefecture was fixed under the Ming, by decree no increase was imposed on Qingtian alone.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties: According to the protection requirements — 鸠坑种 (Jiūkēng zhǒng) and 龙井43 (Lóngjǐng 43), as well as other medium- and small-leaf varieties suitable for high-mountain gardens and sufficiently frost-resistant (适种高山茶园抗寒性较好的中小叶品种).
- Harvest: Usually from mid- to late February, as soon as the bushes have shoots that meet the standard.
- Harvest standard: A single bud or a bud with one leaf (单芽或一芽一叶). The leaf is processed immediately, batch by batch.
- Planting: In spring, in early March, and in autumn, in mid-October; with single-row planting — 2000–3000 seedlings per mu.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: Southeastern Zhejiang, the middle and lower reaches of the Oujiang River (瓯江). The county’s area is 2477.13 km²; the terrain is described by the saying “nine parts mountains, half water, half fields” (九山半水半分田).
- Climate: The reference site on local products gives for the county a subtropical monsoon climate: average annual temperature 18.6 °C, extremes of −4.1 and 41.9 °C, 1697.7 mm of precipitation, 1663.4 hours of sunshine, 279 frost-free days.
- Growing altitude: The same site writes that the gardens lie mainly in mountains above 500 m; the protection requirements select varieties specifically for high-mountain gardens. An exact range is not found in the sources consulted.
- Soils: According to the document — mainly red or yellow, pH 4.5–6.5, organic matter 10–30 g/kg.
- Scale: According to Lishui Ribao (2025), the county has 21,300 mu of tea gardens, and in 2024 the county processed 536 t of tea worth 52.3 million yuan — this is all the county’s tea, not only Qīngtián yùchá. According to the same newspaper, the industry is run on the “five unifications” (五统一) model: unified planning, unified varieties, a unified planting standard, unified processing and a unified brand image.
5. Production Technology
The protection requirements describe two schemes with parameters — this is the technology of this particular tea.
Traditional manual:
- Spreading (鲜叶摊放, xiānyè tānfàng): On bamboo trays in a layer of 2 cm, for at least 6 hours, until the grassy smell gives way to a clean aroma.
- First pan (青锅, qīngguō): Electric pan at 100–120 °C, 100–150 g of leaf, 2–3 minutes of shaking stir-frying until soft and dark green, then by hand — to a flat strand at a moisture content of 30%.
- Resting (回潮, huícháo): The leaf is winnowed, sorted and covered with a damp cloth for 30–60 minutes — “so that it does not turn yellow and becomes emerald” (防闷黄，促色翠).
- Polishing pan (辉锅, huīguō): 60–80 °C, 250–300 g of leaf, until soft and the down shows; then 90 °C — to polish off the down and tighten the strand; then 50 °C until completely dry (moisture 6%). Cool immediately — again, so that it does not turn yellow.
- Sieving (干茶分筛, gānchá fēnshāi): Into 2–3 fractions, with sorting by grade.
Modern machine:
- Spreading: In a layer of 2 cm, 8–16 hours, to a moisture content of 70 ± 2%.
- First pass (一青, yīqīng): Flat-tea machine, 190–210 °C, 20–40 g of leaf, pressure from light to strong — “flatten without pressing into a cake”; cool immediately.
- Second pass (二青, èrqīng): 180–160 °C, 50–100 g, until the leaf is flat and evenly green at a moisture content of 15–20%.
- Resting (摊凉回潮, tānliáng huícháo): About 60 minutes.
- Down removal (脱毫, tuōháo): In a polishing machine without heating, 30–60 minutes.
- Polishing (辉锅, huīguō): 3–4 kg at 100–80 °C; at a moisture content of 7–8% — a rise to 120–130 °C for 2–3 minutes for aroma. The whole cycle takes about an hour, and the moisture at the output is below 6.5%.
- Sieving: Into 2–3 fractions, with removal of yellow flakes (黄片).
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description follows the protection requirements.
- Dry leaf appearance: Flat, “shaped like a boat” (扁平形如舟), of a fresh green color (色绿鲜活).
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Tender chestnut, lasting (嫩栗香持久).
- Taste: Fresh and mellow (滋味鲜醇).
- Liquor color: Tender green, bright (嫩绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender, even, opening into a “flower” (嫩匀成朵).
The document sums up the distinctive feature in the formula “形如舟、色显翠、味醇柔” — “shaped like a boat, emerald in color, mellow in taste”.
7. Chemical Composition
Physicochemical protection requirements:
| Indicator | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Moisture | no more than 6.5% |
| Amino acids | no less than 3.5% |
| Tea polyphenols | no less than 12% |
| Extractive substances | no less than 42% |
Other data on the composition are not found in the sources consulted. According to a report in Lishui Ribao (2024), tea samples were tested by the quality control center of the Tea Research Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture, and all indicators met European Union standards.
8. Brewing
Class practice for flat green tea; recommendations for this particular tea are not found in the sources consulted.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving a third of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three further infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication product mark. According to the document, a producer from the county applies to the county intellectual property authority, the provincial authority reviews the application, and the national authority approves it. As of March 2025, five enterprises of the county could use the geographical mark “青田御茶”.
- Check the appearance: a flat “boat-shaped” leaf, a fresh green color, no yellow flakes; the liquor tender green, the aroma chestnut.
- Do not confuse it with the county’s red tea: in Zhenbu Town (祯埠镇), according to Lishui Ribao (2024), “Zhejiang-style” red tea (浙派红茶) is being revived — this is a different product.
11. Interesting Facts
- The protection requirements three times expressly instruct not to let the leaf turn yellow — twice in the manual scheme and once in the machine scheme — whereas in yellow tea it is precisely smothering that is the essence of the technology.
- The threshold for extractive substances is no less than 42%; for neighboring Suichang Longgu Cha from the same announcement it is no less than 36%.
- The reference site on local products describes the brewed tea as follows: the buds stand upright in the cup, “like a dancing girl in green” (犹如翩翩起舞的绿衣少女).
12. Comparison with Other Flat and Lishui Teas
- Xihu Longjing (西湖龙井): The model flat tea; the variety 龙井43 from the requirements for Qīngtián yùchá also grows in Longjing gardens.
- Suichang Longgu Cha (遂昌龙谷茶): A flat green tea of Suichang County in the same prefecture, recognized by the same announcement; its aroma is also chestnut.
- Huimingcha (惠明茶): A historical green tea of Jingning County in the same Lishui prefecture, also in flat and spiral forms.
- Wencheng Gongcha (文成贡茶): The county brand of Wencheng, Qingtian’s neighbor, which also draws on the name of Liu Ji — Liu Bowen.
In Conclusion:
Qīngtián yùchá is a flat green tea from a county of emigrants and stone carvers, with a legend about Liu Bowen and a modern history since 1998. Its appearance is specified in detail: a bud with a leaf from high-mountain varieties, a “boat-shaped” leaf, a tender chestnut aroma, a mellow taste and direct measures against yellowing of the leaf.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page