---
title: "Téngchōng báichá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/tengchong-baicha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Téngchōng báichá (腾冲白茶)

*Téngchōng báichá* (腾冲白茶) is a white tea of Tengchong county-level city (腾冲市) in Baoshan prefecture-level city in the west of Yunnan Province, on the border with Myanmar. The name is one of five geographical indication certification marks that Tengchong, according to the local authorities, registered in 2016 for five tea classes at once: green, red, oolong, dark and white. The white class is inferred from this series: I have not seen the document of the mark itself with a description of the product, and the sources consulted do not describe the tea's profile. The article is therefore shorter than usual — it is about the mark, the place and what cannot yet be said about it.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** White tea (白茶, *báichá*) — by the logic of the series. The word “白茶” by itself does not prove the class: green tea from pale-leaf varieties is called that too. The argument here is different: Tengchong's five marks are named after five classes — 绿茶, 红茶, 乌龙茶, 黑茶 and 白茶 — and in such a list “白茶” stands as the name of a class. According to a 2023 publication about one of the large tea enterprises of Tengchong, it produces, among other things, white tea. I have not seen the technical requirements of the mark.
* **Category:** Yunnan white tea; geographical indication certification mark from the “腾冲茶” series.
* **Origin:** China, Yunnan Province (云南, *Yúnnán*), Baoshan prefecture-level city (保山, *Bǎoshān*), Tengchong county-level city (腾冲, *Téngchōng*).
* **Mark zone:** The provincial list gives Tengchong as the administrative affiliation of the holder. This is not a legal boundary of the zone; I have not found the mark number, the holder, or the rules describing the zone.
* **Geographic coordinates:** About 25.0° N and 98.5° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **2016 — five marks at once.** According to a report of the Tengchong government, in 2016 the county registered five geographical indication certification marks: [腾冲绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/tengchong-lucha), [腾冲红茶](https://thetea.app/article/tengchong-hongcha), [腾冲乌龙茶](https://thetea.app/article/tengchong-wulongcha), [腾冲黑茶](https://thetea.app/article/tengchong-heicha) and 腾冲白茶. A 2023 publication repeats that Tengchong has five such marks. The government page with the first report no longer opens.
    * **2019.** The mark was entered in the provincial list of geographical marks of Yunnan as of 28 December 2019 (line 67).
    * **Old gardens.** According to a 2025 report, in Cuanlong village (窜龙村) of Mangbang Town (芒棒镇), at the foot of the Gaoligong Mountains (高黎贡山), there are more than 2,200 mu of old gardens (1 mu is about 667 m²) and more than 12,000 old tea trees. This is information about Tengchong tea in general, not about white tea.
* **Name:** 腾冲 (*Téngchōng*) is the name of the county-level city; 白茶 (*báichá*) means white tea.
* **Cultural significance:** The county develops “腾冲茶” as one of its six industry clusters. Five marks by class tie the name of Tengchong to its whole tea range, not to a single product.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** Not named in the sources consulted. The description of Cuanlong village mentions the large-leaf variety 勐库大[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu) (*Měngkù dàyèzhǒng*); the source does not say whether it is used for white tea.
* **Raw material:** Leaf from Tengchong gardens; I have not seen the mark's requirements for raw material.
* **Harvest standard:** Data not found in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest time:** Data not found in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The west of Yunnan, the southwestern end of the Hengduan Mountains; the terrain of the county is horseshoe-shaped. To the northwest Tengchong borders Myanmar, according to the city government — for 150 km. The area of the county is 5,845 km².
* **Volcanoes and waters:** According to the city government, the county has 99 volcanoes and 88 hot springs; the authorities call the Gaoligong Mountains a “world gene pool of species”.
* **Climate:** High-altitude subtropical monsoon, with a wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April; winter without severe cold, summer without severe heat. According to the city government, the mean annual temperature is 15.1 °C, and precipitation is 1,531 mm a year.
* **Growing altitude:** No data for the mark zone. A 2023 publication about a large tea enterprise of Tengchong gives altitudes of 1,800–3,200 m for its tea area; a 2025 report on Cuanlong village gives altitudes of about 1,500 and 2,000 m.
* **Soils:** The same 2023 publication speaks of volcanic ash soils, winds from the Bay of Bengal, warm humid air from the Indian Ocean and a large daily temperature range. This is a description of the tea area from a publication about the enterprise, not the requirements of the mark.

**5. Production Technology:**

The technology of this tea and its parameters are not found in the sources consulted. White tea is usually made as follows:

1.  **Withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*):** Long, outdoors or indoors; the leaf loses moisture and oxidizes slightly on its own.
2.  **Drying (干燥, *gānzào*):** Stabilizes the leaf and the aroma.

There is no rolling or fixation in the classic white tea scheme. This is the general scheme of the class, not a description of the technology of *Téngchōng báichá*.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The sources consulted do not describe the profile of this tea.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.
* **Taste:** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor color:** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Descriptions not found in the sources consulted.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physico-chemical data 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 white tea.

* **Water temperature:** 85–90 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3–5 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** Gaiwan, glass tumbler or teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea and pour in water.
    3. First infusion — 1–2 minutes in a gaiwan.
    4. Pour out completely.
    5. Add time with each infusion.
    6. Four to six infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. Airtight, in a dry, cool, dark place, away from foreign odors. White tea is also customarily aged, but there are no data on aging this particular tea.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication certification mark “腾冲白茶”.
    * Check that the producer is from Tengchong.
    * Do not confuse the mark with the four neighboring marks of the series: each class has its own mark.
    * Remember that “白茶” in the name of a tea from another area may mean green tea from a pale-leaf variety.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* Tengchong registered five tea marks at once — one per class.
* According to the city government, the county has 99 volcanoes and 88 hot springs.
* Tengchong's border with Myanmar, according to the city government, runs for 150 km.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Yueguang Bai ([月光白](https://thetea.app/article/yueguang-bai)):** A Yunnan tea from large-leaf raw material, which is usually classed as white by its technology.
* **Yunnan Baicha ([云南白茶](https://thetea.app/article/yun-nan-bai-cha)):** An overview of Yunnan white tea as a whole.
* **Anji Baicha ([安吉白茶](https://thetea.app/article/anji-baicha)):** A green tea from a white-leaf variety — an example of how “白茶” in a name does not mean the white class.
* **Changning Hongcha ([昌宁红茶](https://thetea.app/article/changning-hongcha)):** A red tea with a geographical mark of Changning County of the same Baoshan prefecture.

**In Conclusion:**

*Téngchōng báichá* is a mark on which the sources consulted say least of all about the tea itself: it is known that it was registered in 2016 together with green, red, oolong and dark tea, and that white tea is made in the county. Its setting is striking — a volcanic land near the Gaoligong Mountains, on the border with Myanmar. The sources consulted do not name its profile, variety or technology; until the mark's document appears, the white class rests on the logic of the series.