--- title: "Wànníng zhègū chá" url: https://thetea.app/article/wanning-zhegu-cha lang: en updated: 2026-10-01 source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app) --- # Wànníng zhègū chá (万宁鹧鸪茶) *Wànníng zhègū chá* (万宁鹧鸪茶) is the “partridge tea” of Wanning county-level city on the east coast of Hainan. It is not the leaf of the tea bush *Camellia sinensis*: the raw material comes from the old leaves of a shrub of the genus *Mallotus* (野桐属) of the spurge family, which are rolled into balls and strung on a thread like prayer beads. Such a drink is called a tea substitute (代用茶, *dàiyòng chá*); since 2025 it has been a geographical indication product. **1. Classification and Origin:** * **Type:** Not tea in the botanical sense and none of the six classes of Chinese tea; an infusion from the leaves of another plant. * **Category:** Geographical indication product (地理标志产品): Announcement No. 632 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, dated 9 June 2025 (published 27 June), item 222 of 224. The applicant is the Wanning Partridge Tea Industry Association (万宁市鹧鸪茶产业协会). * **Origin:** China, Hainan Province (海南, *Hǎinán*), Wanning county-level city (万宁, *Wànníng*). * **Protection zone:** All of Wanning — the towns of Longgun, Shangen, Hele, Hou'an, Beida, Damao, Wancheng, Dong'ao, Liji, Changfeng, Nanqiao, Sangengluo and the Xinglong farm (兴隆华侨农场): 13 units and 217 administrative villages. * **Geographic coordinates:** According to the document — 110°00′18″–110°34′36″ E and 18°35′13″–19°06′00″ N. * **Other names:** “Dongshanling partridge tea” (东山岭鹧鸪茶); the Chinese botanical name of the plant is 山苦茶 (*shān kǔchá*). **2. History and Cultural Significance:** * **History:** * **Qing era.** The “Dengta” foundation cites a record by the physician Zhao Qiguang (赵其光) from the treatise *Bencao Qiuyuan* (《本草求原》), where the plant is called sweet-pungent and warm in nature. The quotation has not been checked against the primary source. * **2019–2022.** According to a report on the Ministry of Commerce portal (June 2022), Wanning submitted applications for geographical indication certification marks, among them “万宁鹧鸪茶”; at that time the county had two protected geographical indication products — Xinglong coffee and Hele crab. The Sinogi directory lists mark No. 37200895 under the name. * **2021.** According to the “Dengta” foundation, on 4 June 2021 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs entered “万宁鹧鸪茶” in the register of agricultural product geographical indications. The text of the decision could not be found in this check. * **2023.** In a Zhejiang University report on the reputation of agricultural product brands with geographical indications, *Wànníng zhègū chá* has the highest brand attractiveness score in Hainan — 910.12. * **2025.** The China National Intellectual Property Administration recognized it as a geographical indication product and approved the requirements for it. * **Name:** 鹧鸪 (*zhègū*) — partridge. A legend says that a Wanning resident's tame partridge fell ill, the owner gave it a decoction of wild leaves from Mount Dongshanling, and the bird recovered and lived a long life. A second legend links the drink with the monk Jianzhen, who was supposedly carried to Hainan by a typhoon. * **Cultural significance:** The playwright Tian Han (田汉), according to “Dengta”, left on Dongshanling the line “羊肥爱芝草，茶好伴名泉” — “goats grow fat loving the wondrous herb, good tea is matched by a famous spring”. According to local belief, the meat of Dongshan goats (东山羊) has no odor because the goats eat the young leaves of this plant. **3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:** * **Plant:** According to the product requirements — 鹧鸪茶树 of the genus *Mallotus* of the spurge family; in the document the species is written as *Mallotus obolongifolius* (Miq.) Muell.-Arg. The usual spelling is *Mallotus oblongifolius* (Miq.) Müll.Arg.; some modern compilations treat it as a synonym of *Mallotus peltatus*. * **Leaf:** According to “Dengta” — round-ovate, 5–15 cm long, with a pointed tip and a wavy-toothed margin; the pinnate veins are clearly visible on the underside. * **Height:** The sources diverge: “Dengta” writes “up to 10 m”, another reference — 1–3 m. In gardens, according to the product requirements, bushes older than three years and taller than 180 cm are cut back to 20–30 cm above the ground, leaving the main stem. * **Propagation:** By cuttings. * **Raw material:** According to the requirements — hand-picked whole, fresh green, even old leaves (老叶). The buds and young shoots usual for tea are not needed here. **4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:** * **Wild plant:** Drought-resistant, it grows on wasteland and in rock crevices — above all on Mount Dongshanling (东山岭) in Wanning and Tongguling (铜鼓岭) in neighboring Wenchang. “Dengta” also mentions it in Qiongzhong, Ledong and Baoting, but considers the raw material of Dongshanling and Tongguling the best. * **Plot according to the requirements:** Level ground or a gentle slope, the shady side, mountain loam or sandy loam soil at least 30 cm deep, slightly acidic. * **Care:** Sprinkler irrigation two or three times a week, one feeding in September — October, mainly organic; against pests, agrotechnical, chemical, biological and physical measures are allowed. * **Altitude and climate:** No data. **5. Production Technology:** The 2025 requirements describe machine processing in six steps: 1. **Washing:** Water at 38–45 °C, removal of foreign matter. 2. **Spreading (摊晾, *tānliàng*):** A layer of 5–10 cm, 6–8 hours, light turning every two hours. 3. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** 250–300 °C, 2–4 minutes. 4. **Shaping (造形, *zàoxíng*):** Machine rolling and pressing into granules. 5. **Drying (烘干, *hōnggān*):** 100 °C, 2 hours. 6. **Aroma raising (提香, *tíxiāng*):** 120 °C, 10 hours. The popular description (“Dengta”) paints a domestic picture: the leaves are rolled into lumps and dried in the sun, without roasting; the balls are strung in bunches of about 20, about 40 g, and tied with a coconut palm leaf. The same article also retells the requirements with fixation; the source does not explain the discrepancy. **6. Organoleptic Characteristics:** According to the 2025 product requirements: * **Dry leaf appearance:** Gray-green granules, even in size, tightly rolled, clean, without impurities. * **Dry leaf aroma:** Not described separately in the requirements. The Sinogi directory writes that the dried leaf smells rich and fragrant, with the special scent of “linglingxiang” (零陵香, *línglíngxiāng*); “Dengta” also writes of the same scent in the liquor. * **Liquor aroma:** A distinct, pleasant “medicinal” aroma (药香). * **Taste:** Rich, sweet-pungent and “warm”, with a light note of roasted tobacco. * **Liquor color:** Dark amber, transparent and even. Sinogi describes it differently: the first infusion is pale green, the second pale orange, with a thin film of vegetable oil on the surface. * **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** The leaves unfold by themselves and remain whole. **7. Chemical Composition:** Physico-chemical requirements of 2025: | Indicator | Requirement | | :--- | :--- | | Moisture | 5.5–7.5% | | Total ash | “9.5–1.8%” — as in the document; the lower limit is greater than the upper, an obvious typo | | Water-soluble extractives | 29–33% | | Crude fiber | 21–23% | A study in the journal Foods (2021) compared 24 samples of fresh partridge tea leaf, six each from Wenchang, Wanning, Baoting and Sanya. The markers of origin turned out to be the isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and four polyphenols — luteolin, protocatechuic acid, astragalin and naringenin; on this small sample the models distinguished the areas without errors in cross-validation. **8. Health Properties:** There are no verified data on the effects of this particular product. The Qing treatise and modern advertising texts attribute healing properties to it; they are not reproduced here. **9. Brewing:** Class practice for herbal infusions; the requirements give no brewing parameters. * **Water temperature:** 95–100 °C. * **Amount:** One or two balls (about 2 g each) per 200–300 ml. * **Process:** A glass teapot or gaiwan; the first infusion 3–5 minutes, while the leaf unfolds, then several infusions of increasing length. One reference advises brewing with water from the Liuding spring (流鼎泉) on Dongshanling. **10. Storage:** Class practice. In tight packaging, in a dry dark place, away from odors. **11. Price and Counterfeits:** Price data are not found in the sources consulted. * **How to avoid counterfeits:** * Look for the special geographical indication mark and a producer from Wanning: the right to the mark is granted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration after checks in Wanning and Hainan. * Guidelines from the requirements: gray-green tight granules, a dark amber liquor, a “medicinal” aroma, whole spent leaves. * Do not confuse it with Hainan tea from *Camellia sinensis* — partridge tea comes from a different plant. **12. Interesting Facts:** * The raw material is old leaves, not buds, and the balls are sold in bunches resembling Buddhist prayer beads. * By brand attractiveness score in the 2023 report, *Wànníng zhègū chá* stands alongside Taiping Houkui and Jingshan Cha — above 900 points. **13. Comparison with Other Infusions and Teas:** * **Laifeng Tengcha ([来凤藤茶](https://thetea.app/article/laifeng-tengcha)):** Also a geographical indication product not from the tea bush — from a vine. * **Kugua Cha ([苦瓜茶](https://thetea.app/article/kugua-cha)):** A tea substitute from bitter melon. * **Wuzhishan Hongcha ([五指山红茶](https://thetea.app/article/wuzhishan-hongcha)):** A true red tea of Hainan from the tea bush. * **Baisha Hongcha ([白沙红茶](https://thetea.app/article/baisha-hongcha)):** A red tea of Baisha County, where the Li people also brew partridge tea among other herbal “teas”. **In Conclusion:** *Wànníng zhègū chá* is not tea but a Hainan tradition of brewing *Mallotus* leaves: gray-green balls, a dark amber liquor with a “medicinal” aroma and an echo of roasted tobacco. The 2025 requirements describe a machine technology, while the legends of the partridge keep the memory of the wild bush of Mount Dongshanling.