---
title: "Qúzhōu yùlù chá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/quzhou-yulu-cha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Qúzhōu yùlù chá (衢州玉露茶)

*Qúzhōu yùlù chá* (衢州玉露茶), “the jade dew of Quzhou”, is a green tea of Qujiang District (衢江区) of Quzhou prefecture-level city in the west of Zhejiang Province. The main production area is the mountain township of Lingyang (岭洋乡) by the reservoir on the Wuxi River (乌溪江) in the upper reaches of the Qiantang, inside a national wetland protection zone. The tea's signature trait is described by the formula “栗香高长、回味甘纯” — a high, long chestnut aroma and a clean sweet aftertaste. In 2020 the name became an agricultural product geographical indication — the first in the district — and today it is the shared tea brand of Qujiang.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). A document naming the class directly is not found in the sources consulted; all quality descriptions — the emerald dry leaf, the tender green liquor, the green glossy spent leaves — describe a green tea.
* **Category:** District public tea brand; agricultural product geographical indication (2020), since 2025 — a geographical indication product.
* **Origin:** China, Zhejiang Province (浙江, *Zhèjiāng*), Quzhou prefecture-level city (衢州, *Qúzhōu*), Qujiang District (衢江, *Qújiāng*).
* **Protection zone:** The catalog of geographical indications defines it as the entire present territory of Qujiang District (衢江区现辖行政区域). The reference description of the agricultural indication specifies: 19 townships, towns and subdistricts with 244 administrative villages, among them Lingyang, the town of Hunan (湖南镇), and the townships of Jucun (举村乡) and Huangtankou (黄坛口乡). In total, according to Chinese Wikipedia, the district has 20 such units.
* **Geographic coordinates:** According to the reference description of the zone — 118°41′51″–119°06′39″ E, 28°31′0″–29°20′07″ N.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Song-era names.** According to the 2020 registration report, local records of the Song period mention the teas “信安白[毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/mao-jian)” and “仙霞茶”. The sources do not show any link between these names and the present tea.
    * **1993.** The company 衢县大山茶叶有限公司 was founded — in the former Qu County (衢县), on whose site Qujiang District was later created.
    * **1995.** The provincial Science and Technology Commission awarded the tea “*Qúzhōu yùlù*” of the “Dashan” brand (大山牌) the title of a new product at provincial level.
    * **First-class tea.** The tea has received the title of “first-class famous tea of Zhejiang” (浙江省一类名茶) every year — according to one publication since 1995, according to another since 1997. Which date is correct could not be established.
    * **1999.** The title of brand product of the China International Agricultural Exhibition. In the same year the company compiled the “Series of Standards for *Qúzhōu yùlù*” (《衢州玉露茶系列标准》); its number and content are not found in the sources consulted.
    * **Discrepancy.** The district press writes that the tea was “created in 1998” (始创于1998年), although the 1995 award already names it. The sources do not explain this.
    * **2018.** Gold medal for a new product at the provincial agricultural exhibition — a tea from Lingyang, according to a 2022 newspaper publication.
    * **2020.** On 9 October 2020 the Quzhou press reported that the expert panel of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs had approved protection of the name as an agricultural product geographical indication. According to the district press, it is the first such indication for Qujiang.
    * **2022.** The tea was included in the geographical indication agricultural product protection program (地理标志农产品保护工程).
    * **2025.** The catalog of indications assigns the name to announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on the recognition of geographical indication products. The text of the announcement could not be opened.
* **Name:** 衢州 is the name of the prefecture, 玉露 (*yùlù*) means “jade dew”, 茶 means tea. The district press describes the local environment with the formula “云雾缭绕、雨露为玉” — “clouds and mist swirl, rain and dew become jade”.
* **Cultural significance:** The district's shared tea brand (茶叶公用品牌). The provincial Department of Agriculture counts 36 awards of the tea at national, provincial and city level — among them the “Green Peacock” award (绿孔雀奖) of the first China Green Industry Expo, the titles “famous tea of Zhejiang” and “well-known trademark of the province” — and names the markets of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. The year of the “Green Peacock” award is not given in the sources consulted.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** No specific variety is named in the sources. The Dashan company writes only of young shoots of “selected tea bush varieties” (良种茶树新梢).
* **What grows in the gardens:** In the Wenquan garden (文泉茶园) of Quanwang town, according to the district press, there are longjing, anji baicha and huangjin cha; in Lingyang, according to a 2022 newspaper publication, the old Jiukeng variety (鸠坑老种), “white tea” and huangjinya (黄金芽). Which variety this particular tea is made from is not stated.
* **Raw material:** According to the district press, the high-mountain leaf stays tender for a long time (持嫩性好) and is rich in chlorophyll; there are no figures.
* **Harvest time:** Spring tea — from March to May. In Lingyang autumn tea is also picked at the end of September; whether it counts as *Qúzhōu yùlù* is not stated.
* **Harvest standard:** No data in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Lingyang Township — deep within the reservoir area on the Wuxi River, inside a national wetland protection zone. According to a 2022 newspaper publication, tea has been grown here since the Tang and Song.
* **Growing altitude:** The average altitude of the township is about 1,000 m; individual gardens lie above 1,100 m.
* **Topography:** According to the reference description, the district is mainly hilly and mountainous; exact altitude marks could not be confirmed.
* **Climate:** A 2022 newspaper publication speaks of Lingyang's humid, misty climate (湿润多雾气候), the Dashan company's description of year-round mists (常年云雾). The reference description links altitude and mist to the long tenderness of the shoot, abundant chlorophyll and the accumulation of amino acids under diffused light.
* **Soils:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The technology of *Qúzhōu yùlù* is not found in the sources consulted: neither the order of operations, nor the fixation method, nor the temperatures. The provincial department writes of four systems — standardized production, testing of the environment and the product, quality traceability, supervision of the agricultural inputs market; the number of the standard could not be found.

Below is the general scheme for green tea, not a description of this particular tea:

1.  **Spreading of the fresh leaf (摊放, *tānfàng*):** The leaf gives up part of its moisture.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation.
3.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** Gives the strip its shape.
4.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*).**

The word “*yùlù*” does not in itself indicate steam fixation.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below is the quality formula from the 2020 registration report; the catalog of geographical indications quotes it verbatim.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** A tightly rolled, curled strip, emerald green (外形条索卷曲紧结、色泽翠绿).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** High and long, chestnut (香气栗香高长).
* **Taste:** Full, sweet and refreshing (滋味醇厚甘爽), with a clean sweet aftertaste (回味甘纯).
* **Liquor color:** Tender green, bright (汤色嫩绿明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender and even, opening into “flowers”, green and glossy (叶底嫩匀成朵绿亮).

The early description by the Dashan company is similar, but in it the taste is mellow (滋味醇和).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

No physicochemical indicators in the sources consulted. A sales listing of the Dashan-brand tea names amino acids, polyphenols, catechins, iron, zinc and selenium without figures; such a list says nothing about the content.

**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. Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up with water.
    5. Two or three further 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 retail price data in the sources consulted. A 2022 newspaper publication gives only the price of the raw material: according to the head of a local factory, fresh leaf of the old Jiukeng variety was bought in 2006 at 5 yuan per jin, and now at 30–60 yuan. He also says that Lingyang mountain tea is sold in Quzhou, Beijing and Shanghai and that annual revenue exceeds 10 million yuan. This figure refers to the township's tea in general, not only to *Qúzhōu yùlù*.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication mark and a producer from Qujiang District.
    * Check the tea against the quality formula: a curled emerald strip, a tender green liquor, a chestnut aroma.
    * Do not confuse it with Enshi Yu Lu ([恩施玉露](https://thetea.app/article/enshi-yulu)) from Hubei: the name is similar, but the place of origin and the indication are different.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* At first “*Qúzhōu yùlù*” was the product of a single company — the Dashan brand; the name became a district brand later.
* The 2020 report names, together with the tea, three more new indications of Quzhou prefecture — for a chicken, a fish and an eggplant.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Enshi Yu Lu (恩施玉露):** A Hubei green tea with steam fixation and the same word “*yùlù*” in its name.
* **Kaihua Long Ding ([开化龙顶](https://thetea.app/article/kaihua-long-ding)):** A green tea of the neighboring Kaihua County in the same prefecture.
* **Jiangshan Lü Mu Dan ([江山绿牡丹](https://thetea.app/article/jiangshan-lu-mu-dan)):** A green tea of the county-level city of Jiangshan, also in Quzhou prefecture.
* **Changshan Yinhao ([常山银毫](https://thetea.app/article/changshan-yinhao)):** A green tea of Changshan County in the same prefecture, with its own geographical indication.

**In Conclusion:**

*Qúzhōu yùlù chá* is the district green tea of Qujiang, with the mountain gardens of Lingyang. Reliably known are the zone, the quality formula — a curled emerald strip, a tender green liquor, a chestnut aroma — and the path from a single company's product in the 1990s to the 2020 indication. The variety, technology and chemistry are not described in open sources.