Wànyuán fùxīchá (万源富硒茶) is the “selenium-rich tea of Wanyuan”, the protected name of the green tea of Wanyuan county-level city (万源市), Dazhou prefecture, in the northeast of Sichuan, on the southern slopes of the Dabashan range, where Sichuan, Shaanxi and Chongqing meet. The word “富硒” speaks of the soil, not of the class: the authorities call Wanyuan the only naturally selenium-rich area of Sichuan. The 2025 protection requirements describe a flat, straight green tea with down, a tender rich aroma, a fresh taste with a sweet aftertaste and an apricot-green liquor. The main product under this name, according to the prefecture, is Bashan Queshe (巴山雀舌).
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The protection requirements set a technology without oxidation and describe one kind — flat. According to a retelling of the earlier agricultural product geographical indication specification, the name allowed all six classes, but its text is not available in the sources checked.
- Name: 万源 (Wànyuán) — the name of the city, 富硒 (fùxī) — “selenium-rich”, 茶 (chá) — tea.
- Category: A flat green tea; a geographical indication product (2025), formerly an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI).
- Origin: China, Sichuan Province (四川, Sìchuān), Dazhou prefecture-level city (达州, Dázhōu), Wanyuan county-level city (万源, Wànyuán).
- Protection zone: 48 townships and towns, including 草坝镇, 白羊乡, 固军乡, 青花镇 and 井溪乡. The Dazhou portal adds: 112 villages, 10,000 ha, 7500 t a year.
- Geographic coordinates: 107°29′–108°31′ E and 31°39′–32°20′ N — the zone boundaries according to the protection requirements.
- Applicant: The Wanyuan City Tea Bureau (万源市茶叶局).
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Land of Ba. A reference work cites the Huayang Guo Zhi (《华阳国志》), where tea is named among the garden plants in the chapter on Ba. This is said of the whole land of Ba, not of Wanyuan specifically.
- Ziyunping inscription. In Gushepin village of Shiwo Township (石窝乡古社坪村) a rock inscription has survived, the “Record of the Wondrous Garden at Ziyunping” (《紫云坪植茗灵园记》). The Dazhou portal calls it the earliest rock inscription about tea planting found in the country. Local texts date it to the third year of the Daguan era of the Song (1109); the full text of the inscription and an epigraphic publication are not found in the sources checked, so its content is not retold here.
- 2001–2008. According to the Dazhou portal: in 2001 the city received the title “home of famous selenium tea of Sichuan”, in 2006 its tea bases received a certificate for safe (无公害) products, in 2006 and 2007 Bashan Queshe was named one of the ten famous teas of Sichuan, and in December 2007 the China Food Industry Association named Wanyuan “中国富硒茶之都” — “capital of Chinese selenium tea”.
- 2009–2010. The Dazhou portal writes that in 2009 the tea passed certification by the Ministry of Agriculture as an agricultural product geographical indication; the reference work dates the ministry’s registration decision to 8 March 2010. These may be different stages of one procedure.
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration, by Announcement No. 646 (signed 23 September, published 9 October), recognized 870 geographical indication products; Wànyuán fùxīchá is item 516.
- Cultural significance: The prefecture authorities call the Ziyunping inscription evidence of the antiquity of local tea growing. In Sanqingmiao village, according to the Sichuan channel of the Renmin Wang site (2023), a museum of the history of Wanyuan selenium tea (万源富硒茶史馆) has been established.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: The protection requirements prescribe “improved varieties suited to local conditions” and name 福鼎大白 (Fúdǐng dàbái), 福选九号 (Fúxuǎn jiǔ hào), 名选131 (Míngxuǎn 131) and 平阳特早 (Píngyáng tèzǎo). The list is open; there is no local variety in it.
- Harvest: By hand, on a clear morning; the leaf is collected in bamboo containers and taken straight to the factory.
- Harvest standard: Not set in the protection requirements.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The northeastern edge of the Sichuan Basin, the southern slopes of the Dabashan; in the north the city borders Shaanxi, in the east — Chongqing. Local texts call these places the boundary between the northern and southern climates of China and the watershed of the Jialingjiang and Hanshui rivers.
- Growing altitude: The gardens are mainly at 800–1200 m — according to the Dazhou and Wanyuan websites; the city’s elevations range from 335 to 2412 m. The protection requirements give no altitude.
- Climate: Subtropical humid monsoon, foggy, with altitudinal zonation. Mean annual temperature 14.7 °C, precipitation 1169.3 mm, frost-free period more than 230 days. Forest cover is given by the Dazhou portal as 61.3%, by the Wanyuan website (2020) as 66.8%.
- Soils: Protection requirements: pH 5.0–6.5, working layer more than 50 cm, organic matter in the 0–45 cm layer not less than 15 g/kg, available potassium not less than 100 mg/kg, available phosphorus not less than 20 mg/kg. The Wanyuan website calls the garden soils slightly acidic and rich in organic matter and compares them to the “stony soil” (烂石地) that Lu Yu considered the best for tea.
- Selenium: According to the Wanyuan website, Southwest Agricultural University and Chengdu University of Technology surveyed the soils and products in 1992, 2006 and 2007 and recognized Wanyuan as the only naturally selenium-rich area of Sichuan; the selenium lies in bands, its water-soluble form is 3.93–12.35 ng/g; there is also much zinc and copper.
- Planting: According to the protection requirements — double-row planting, about 6000 bushes per mu.
5. Production Technology
The sequence according to the protection requirements, without parameters:
- Spreading the fresh leaf (摊青, tānqīng).
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng).
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
- Pre-drying (烘青, hōngqīng).
- Shaping (整形, zhěngxíng).
- Bringing out the down (提毫, tíháo).
- Drying (烘干, hōnggān).
Before processing, impurities are picked out by hand.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
According to the protection requirements:
- Dry leaf appearance: Flat, even and straight (扁平匀直), green and lustrous with down (绿润带毫).
- Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Tender, rich (嫩香馥郁). The Wanyuan website describes the city’s tea in general differently — a rich chestnut aroma (栗香浓郁).
- Taste: Fresh, brisk, with a sweet aftertaste (鲜爽回甘).
- Liquor color: Apricot-green, bright (杏绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Yellow-green, fairly bright (黄绿尚亮).
7. Chemical Composition
Physico-chemical limits according to the protection requirements:
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Water-soluble extractives | 38–48% |
| Tea polyphenols | 20–35% |
| Selenium | 0.242–0.67 µg/g |
| Crude fiber | not more than 16 g |
| Ash | not more than 6.0 g |
In the text of the requirements, fiber and ash are given in grams without stating the mass to which they refer. Selenium is a laboratory indicator: it cannot be detected by taste.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The selenium in the name is a feature of the soil and a content norm, not a promise of benefit.
9. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: Glass tumbler or white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- 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
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is granted on application through the Wanyuan intellectual property office, with review by the Sichuan administration and approval by the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
- Check that the tea was made in one of the 48 townships and towns of the zone.
- The word “selenium” on the packaging proves nothing: only a test report shows the selenium content.
12. Interesting Facts
- The protection requirements even set the density of traps: one vibration lamp against pest moths for every 50 mu of garden.
- In Announcement No. 646 the Wanyuan tea stands right after Nanjiang Daye Cha — items 516 and 515.
13. Comparison with Other Teas
- Bashan Queshe (巴山雀舌): A flat green tea of Wanyuan, according to the prefecture the main product under this name; a separate brand with its own history.
- Nanjiang Daye Cha (南江大叶茶): A green tea of the same northeastern Sichuan, made from a local variety; Nanjiang County also bears the title “home of selenium tea”.
- Enshi Fuxicha (恩施富硒茶): The selenium name of Enshi in Hubei; the class under it is not determined from the sources.
- Kaiyang Fuxicha (开阳富硒茶): A selenium green tea of Guizhou.
In Conclusion:
Wànyuán fùxīchá is a flat green tea of the southern slopes of the Dabashan, whose name rests on two pillars: the selenium soils described by the surveys of 1992–2007, and the rock inscription about tea planting that the prefecture authorities call the earliest in the country. In the cup — an apricot-green liquor, a tender rich aroma and a sweet aftertaste; for the selenium, look to the test report.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page