---
title: "Qīshè chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/qishe-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Qīshè chá (七舍茶)

*Qīshè chá* (七舍茶) is a mountain tea of Qishe Town (七舍镇) and three other units in the southwest of Xingyi county-level city (兴义市), Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. The name does not state the class, but the requirements for the protected product describe green tea technology — without oxidation or sealed yellowing. According to the document, the gardens lie at an altitude of 1500–2100 m. In Geshang Village (革上村) a group of old tea trees has survived, which the provincial tea institute assigned to a local population of the wild species dachangcha (大厂茶). Since December 2017 *Qīshè chá* has been protected as a geographical indication product.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The protection announcement does not name the class. The conclusion is drawn from the processing scheme in the product requirements: 摊青, 杀青, 摊凉, 揉捻, 做形, 干燥. There is no oxidation, sealed yellowing (闷黄) or tossing in it. A 2024 publication also says that green tea is made from the leaf of the old Qishe trees.
* **Category:** Mountain green tea of southwestern Guizhou; geographical indication product (2017).
* **Origin:** China, Guizhou Province (贵州, *Guìzhōu*), Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔西南, *Qiánxīnán*), Xingyi county-level city (兴义, *Xīngyì*).
* **Protection zone:** According to the announcement — the current administrative boundaries of four units of Xingyi: the towns of Qishe (七舍镇), Pengzha (捧乍镇) and Jingnan (敬南镇) and Zhuchangping Township (猪场坪乡).
* **Geographic coordinates:** Qishe Town — about 25° N and 104° E (according to a reference description).

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Written mentions.** A reference description writes that Qishe tea is mentioned in the *Xingyi Fuzhi* (《兴义府志》) and in the *Dian Qian Ji You* (《滇黔纪游》). I have not seen the texts themselves.
    * **1981.** According to a 2024 publication by Guizhou Radio and Television, in May 1981 a specialist of the provincial tea institute found a group of old tea trees in the Zhichang team (纸厂组) of Geshang Village and photographed them.
    * **2012.** According to the same publication, specialists of the Guizhou Tea Research Institute (贵州省茶科所) surveyed the trees again and assigned them to a local population of the wild species dachangcha, whose pistil style is split into three to five lobes.
    * **Awards.** According to a reference description: 2009 — a gold medal “Famous Tea of China” at the Shanghai International Tea Culture Festival; 2013 — first prize of the provincial “Qiancha Bei” (黔茶杯) competition; 2016 — a special prize (特等奖); the competition is not named in the description.
    * **2017.** The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by announcement No. 108 of 2017, took *Qīshè chá* under protection as a geographical indication product. The announcement was signed on 8 December 2017; among the Guizhou teas it also includes Jiucengshan Cha (九层山茶) and Qinglong Lücha ([晴隆绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/qinglong-lucha)).
* **Name:** “*Qīshè*” (七舍) is the name of the town, the heart of the protection zone. The origin of the toponym itself is not found in the sources consulted.
* **Cultural significance:** A reference description writes that tea has long been grown in Qishe and was well known in the past; apart from the two books above, it gives no other evidence.

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

* **Varieties according to the document:** Local small- and medium-leaf populations (当地中小叶[群体种](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong)), as well as the varieties Meizhan (梅占), Baiye 1 (白叶1号), Qiancha 1 (黔茶1号), Qiancha 8 (黔茶8号), Fuding Dabaicha (福鼎大白茶) and Longjing 43 (龙井43).
* **Local bush:** Reference descriptions assign the local Qishe bush to a relatively primitive type: it contains more simple catechins than esterified ones. It is frost-resistant and, according to the same descriptions, stays green at −7…−8 °C.
* **Old trees:** According to the 2024 publication, almost two hundred old trees grow in the Zhichang team. Among them are four-locule (四球) trees and rare five-locule ones — “五室茶”, or “五球茶”. The publication calls them thousand-year-old, but itself cautions that the age and the area of the old garden have yet to be clarified.
* **Harvest:** Spring — from mid-March to the beginning of May; summer — from the end of May to the beginning of August.
* **Harvest standard:** In spring — a single bud, a bud with one just-unfolding leaf, a bud with two just-unfolding leaves. In summer a bud with three just-unfolding leaves is added to these.
* **Planting requirements:** Propagation by cuttings, density 45,000–50,000 plants per hectare.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Growing altitude:** **1500–2100 m** — according to the product requirements. A reference description gives Qishe Town an average altitude of 1880 m and a highest point of 2207.5 m. The 2024 publication mentions an old garden on Bailong Mountain (白龙山) at an altitude of more than 2200 m.
* **Soils:** Yellow or yellow-brown (黄壤、黄棕壤); pH 4.5–6.5; organic matter no less than 1.0%; soil layer thickness no less than 40 cm — all according to the document.
* **Climate:** According to a reference description, humid and foggy all year round: the average annual temperature is 14.5 °C, precipitation about 1600 mm a year, forest cover more than 48%.
* **Garden area:** According to a reference description, Qishe Town has 24,500 mu of tea gardens, the whole of Xingyi county-level city — 79,000 mu. The year to which the figures refer is not stated.

**5. Production Technology:**

The product requirements set the technology with parameters — this is a description of *Qīshè chá* specifically, not a general scheme of the class.

1.  **Spreading the fresh leaf (摊青, *tānqīng*):** A layer of 1–5 cm, 5–10 hours.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** 180–200 °C, 2–6 minutes. Fixation is considered sufficient when the color of the leaf turns from fresh green to dark green, the leaf becomes soft and a clean aroma appears.
3.  **Cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*):** A layer of 2–3 cm, 10–20 minutes.
4.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** 12–25 minutes.
5.  **Shaping (做形, *zuòxíng*):** According to the required form — flat tea, straight “maofeng” ([毛峰](https://thetea.app/article/maofengcha), *máofēng*) or curled.
6.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*):** In two or three stages, to a moisture content of no more than 7.0%.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below is from the requirements for the protected product.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tight, even “threads” with noticeable down (条索紧实、匀整，显毫); the color is brownish-green (褐绿), unusual for a green tea.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description; the document calls the aroma persistent (香气持久) without specifying whether it refers to the dry leaf or the liquor.
* **Liquor aroma:** Persistent (香气持久); in the mouth — a clean aroma (口感清香).
* **Taste:** Sweetish, pleasant, fresh and brisk (滋味甘怡鲜爽).
* **Liquor color:** Clean, clear and bright (汤色清澈明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Yellow-green and even (叶底黄绿匀整).

Reference descriptions of tea from the local bush paint a different picture: the liquor is rich and bright, the taste clean and harmonious, with a slight bitterness; they also mention a caramel note in the aroma.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physico-chemical requirements for *Qīshè chá*:

| Indicator | Norm |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | no more than 7.0% |
| Water extract | no less than 38.0% |
| Total ash | no more than 6.5% |
| Crude fiber | no more than 14.0% |

The document has no norm for polyphenols, although the two other Guizhou teas from the same announcement have one (no less than 13.0%).

**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.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
    5. Top up with water.
    6. Two or three repeat infusions.

**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:**

No price data found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special mark of the geographical indication product. According to the 2017 announcement, the producer applies to the market supervision administration of Xingyi county-level city for the right to use it.
    * Check that the tea was made in the towns of Qishe, Pengzha or Jingnan or in Zhuchangping Township.
    * The leaf is tight, downy and brownish-green; the liquor is clear and bright.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* Under one protected name the document allows three leaf forms.
* In one group of old trees in Geshang, both four-locule and rare five-locule trees grow.

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

* **Qinglong Lücha (晴隆绿茶):** A green tea of the same autonomous prefecture, protected by the same announcement. Its gardens are lower — 1100–1700 m; its technology has a separate heating step for aroma (提香, *tíxiāng*), and its norms include polyphenols no less than 13.0%.
* **Jiuceng Shan Lü Cha ([九层山绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/jiuceng-shan-lucha)):** A green tea of Liuzhi Special District of Liupanshui prefecture-level city; the same announcement took the name 九层山茶 under protection. Altitude according to the document — 1000–1500 m.
* **Pu'an Siqiu Cha ([普安四球茶](https://thetea.app/article/pu-an-siqiu-cha)):** A green tea of Pu'an County in the same autonomous prefecture, made from the leaf of four-locule tea; four-locule trees are also found among the old trees of Qishe.

**In Conclusion:**

*Qīshè chá* is a high-mountain green tea of southwestern Guizhou with gardens at 1500–2100 m, where old trees of the wild dachangcha population stand next to plantings of cultivated varieties. The 2017 document describes it in detail: picking from a single bud, fixation at 180–200 °C, three forms, a brownish-green downy leaf, a clear liquor and a sweetish fresh taste. The age of the trees and the chronicle mentions are known only from secondary descriptions.