---
title: "Táoyuán yěcháwáng"
url: https://thetea.app/article/taoyuan-yechawang
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Táoyuán yěcháwáng (桃源野茶王)

*Táoyuán yěcháwáng* (桃源野茶王), “the Taoyuan king of wild tea”, is a bud green tea of Taoyuan County (桃源县) in Changde prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan Province. It is made only from the buds of the local large-leaf variety 桃源大叶, which originates from wild large-leaf tea from the mountains of Taipingpu Township — hence the word “wild” in the name; this tea is not harvested from wild trees. Since 31 December 2005 *Táoyuán yěcháwáng* has been a geographical indication product.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*), bud tea. The protection announcement does not name the class in words, but its processing scheme — fixation, straightening of the buds, drying, without oxidation — and the tender-green liquor point to green tea. The variety itself is wider than one class: the variety directory names it as raw material for both red and dark tea.
* **Category:** Bud green tea; geographical indication product (2005). In the county's range of teas from the 桃源大叶 variety it is the bud line; the other two are maojian and ordinary green tea.
* **Origin:** China, Hunan Province (湖南, *Húnán*), Changde prefecture-level city (常德, *Chángdé*), Taoyuan County (桃源县, *Táoyuán xiàn*).
* **Protection zone:** According to the protection announcement — ten townships and towns of the county: Taohuayuan ([桃花](https://thetea.app/article/taohua)源镇), Shaping (沙坪镇), Luhuatan (芦花潭乡), Guniushan (牯牛山乡), Xiangxiqiao (乡溪桥乡), Cha'anpu (茶庵铺乡), Taipingpu (太平铺乡), Xi'anpu (西安铺乡), Fengping (封坪乡) and Lingjintan (凌津滩乡). The basis is a letter of the county government on the boundaries of the zone (桃政函〔2004〕62号). The spelling 乡溪桥乡 follows a reprint of the announcement; in the zone of the county's red tea the place is recorded as 杨溪桥, and this may be a typo.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Taoyuan County — about 28.9° N and 111.5° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **1969.** According to a 2018 publication of *New Hunan*, the variety originates from wild large-leaf tea from the mountains near Lujiachong village (陆家冲) of Taipingpu Township; in 1969 the county's agronomists began its selection, propagation and trial planting.
    * **1989 and 1992.** The variety passed a provincial scientific and technical appraisal and was then approved by the provincial variety commission under the name 桃源大叶.
    * **1997–1998.** According to reference descriptions — a silver award at the Beijing International Tea Expo (1997) and gold at the Hunan “金牌杯” competition (1998).
    * **2005.** On 31 December the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced the protection of *Táoyuán yěcháwáng* as a geographical indication product. The county government had defined the boundaries of the zone by a letter of 2004.
    * **2006.** On 4 April a press conference on the protection was held in the town of Cha'anpu. According to a report of the county government, *Yěcháwáng* became the fourth protected geographical indication product in Hunan and the first in Changde prefecture; 3,780 ha were then under the 桃源大叶 variety, and more than 600 t of *Yěcháwáng* were produced a year.
    * **2024–2026.** China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announcement No. 593 of 18 July 2024 authorized two producers of *Yěcháwáng* to use the special mark; one more enterprise each received the right to the mark by announcements No. 615 (signed in January 2025) and No. 660 (January 2026).
* **Name:** “Taoyuan” (桃源) means “peach source”, the name of the county; “Yecha” (野茶, *yěchá*) means “wild tea”, after the origin of the variety; “Wang” (王, *wáng*) means “king”, the laudatory part of the name.
* **Cultural significance:** A 2015 publication of the Hunan Provincial Bureau of Statistics was titled “develop the Taoyuan Daye industry, build the *Táoyuán yěcháwáng* brand”. In 2025 the town of Cha'anpu named three geographical indications of the county as its own: Daye Cha, *Yěcháwáng* and Hongcha.

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

* **Variety:** **桃源大叶** (*Táoyuán dàyè*, “Taoyuan large-leaf”). According to the variety directory — a shrub, large-leaf, early-sprouting, diploid; the spring buds break in mid-March. The selection, according to the same directory, was carried out in 1976–1992 by the county tea variety station and the tea institute of Hunan Agricultural University.
* **Appearance of the variety:** According to the variety directory — a large fleshy leaf (叶片肥大) of elliptical shape; the weight of one hundred “bud and three leaves” shoots is 103.0 g.
* **Propagation and planting:** The protection announcement requires propagation by short cuttings (短穗扦插) and a density of 2,500–3,000 bushes per *mu* (666.7 m²); fertilizers mainly organic.
* **Raw material:** Buds only (芽头, *yátóu*).
* **Harvest time and standard:** According to the announcement, harvesting begins in mid-March, when the bud reaches about 2 cm, and continues until the end of October.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The mountains of Taoyuan County. The main tea center is the town of Cha'anpu (茶庵铺镇): according to an April 2025 publication, 88,000 *mu* of gardens and 28,000 tonnes of tea a year, 45% of the county.
* **Growing altitude:** According to the protection announcement — **150–600 m**. An encyclopedic reference gives 300–1064 m in the south of the county, in the valley of the Yuan River (沅水); the sources diverge, and the announcement's figure is taken as the basis.
* **Soils:** According to the announcement — Quaternary red earths and weathering products of clay shales and granites; the soil is loose and drains water well, pH 4.5–6.0, organic matter not less than 2.0%.
* **Climate:** According to an encyclopedic reference — subtropical monsoon, about 16 °C on average over the year.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection announcement sets the following sequence of primary processing (初制工艺, *chūzhì gōngyì*):

1. **Spreading the buds (芽头摊青, *yátóu tānqīng*).**
2. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heat stops oxidation.
3. **Cooling in a breeze (清风摊凉, *qīngfēng tānliáng*).**
4. **Straightening the buds (理条, *lǐtiáo*):** The buds are given a straight shape.
5. **Cooling (摊凉, *tānliáng*).**
6. **Developing the aroma (提香, *tíxiāng*).**
7. **Cooling.**
8. **Final drying and removal from the pan (足干、起锅, *zúgān, qǐguō*).**

There is no rolling: the bud stays whole and straight. Temperatures and times are not found in the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The protection announcement sums up the tea's profile in one phrase: “外形全芽挺直，汤色嫩绿清澈，香气持久带栗香味，回味甘甜爽口”.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Whole straight buds (全芽挺直); county descriptions add — sturdy and slender, covered in abundant silvery down, tender green (银毫披露，色泽嫩绿).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Lasting, with a chestnut note (香气持久带栗香味); according to the county description — long and tender (嫩香悠长).
* **Taste:** Fresh and mellow (滋味鲜醇) — according to the county description; the announcement speaks of a sweet, refreshing aftertaste (回味甘甜爽口).
* **Liquor color:** Tender green, clear (汤色嫩绿清澈).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Not described in the announcement; the county description calls the leaf tender green and bright.

An encyclopedic reference writes that when brewed the buds “rise and sink three times” (三起三落).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The protection announcement sets minimums for the dry tea:

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Total free amino acids | not less than 2.0% |
| Total catechins | not less than 80 mg/g |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 20% |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 30% |

Other measurements of this particular tea are 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, for buds — closer to 80 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler, in which the buds can be seen standing up in the water, 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, and top up with water.
    5. Two or three repeat infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice for green tea. 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:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: only enterprises named in CNIPA announcements put it on.
    * Check that the producer works within the protection zone.
    * Look at the leaf: only whole straight buds in silvery down.
    * Do not confuse it with Taoyuan Daye Cha ([桃源大叶茶](https://thetea.app/article/taoyuan-daye-cha)) and Taoyuan Hongcha ([桃源红茶](https://thetea.app/article/taoyuan-hongcha)) — they have their own protection.

The sources do not give laboratory signs of counterfeiting.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The variety from which *Yěcháwáng* is made was selected from wild large-leaf tea: selection began in 1969, and it became a provincial variety in 1992.
* The harvest season under the protection announcement is long — from mid-March to the end of October.
* According to county data, *Yěcháwáng* was the first geographical indication product in the whole of Changde prefecture.

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

* **Taoyuan Daye Cha (桃源大叶茶):** A mark for tea of the same variety as a whole — bud, maojian and leaf green tea; *Yěcháwáng* is buds only.
* **Taoyuan Hongcha (桃源红茶):** Red tea of the same county with its own protection.
* **Shimen Yin Feng ([石门银峰](https://thetea.app/article/shimen-yin-feng)):** Green tea of Shimen County of the same Changde prefecture.
* **Junshan Yin Zhen ([君山银针](https://thetea.app/article/junshan-yin-zhen)):** The best-known bud tea of Hunan, but a yellow one — with sweltering of the buds, which *Yěcháwáng* does not have.

**In Conclusion:**

*Táoyuán yěcháwáng* is a green tea of buds alone from a variety selected from the county's wild large-leaf tea. The document on its protection is unusually specific: ten townships and towns, altitudes of 150–600 m, propagation by cuttings, a bud of about 2 cm, eight processing stages and minimums for amino acids, catechins and polyphenols. Straight silvery buds, a tender-green liquor and a chestnut note are what the document itself promises.