Wànzhōu yínzhēn

Wànzhōu yínzhēn (万州银针) is a needle-shaped green tea from Wanzhou District (万州区) in north-eastern Chongqing. The name is registered as geographical indication certification mark No. 12268124 (it appears in the Trademark Office’s report for 2014), and since 2025 the tea has had a Chongqing local standard, DB50/T 1948—2025. The standard explicitly calls it a green tea and sets out the zone, varieties, raw material, a technology that includes fixation, and appearance. Yínzhēn — “silver needle” — here names the shape: the leaf resembles a pine needle.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá), unfermented. The class is established by a document: standard DB50/T 1948—2025 defines Wànzhōu yínzhēn as a green tea, and its technology includes fixation (杀青, shāqīng). The word “needle” does not settle the class — white and yellow teas carry it too.
Category: Needle-shaped green tea (针形绿茶, zhēnxíng lǜchá); geographical indication certification mark and Chongqing local standard.
Origin: China, the directly administered municipality of Chongqing (重庆, Chóngqìng), Wanzhou District (万州, Wànzhōu).
Zone: According to the standard — Wanzhou District, specifically 21 towns and townships at altitudes below 1200 m: the towns of 太安, 新田, 分水, 孙家, 高梁, 长滩, 龙驹, 白土, 新乡, 后山, 弹子, 余家, 长岭, 李河 and the townships of 铁峰, 梨树, 长坪, 燕山, 溪口, 茨竹, 恒合 (a Tujia ethnic township).
Protection status: Mark No. 12268124 for the goods “tea” is confirmed as of the source’s date (2014). The national platform for local standards lists the standard as in force.
Geographic coordinates: According to the standard — from 107°52′22″ to 108°53′52″ E and from 30°23′50″ to 31°0′18″ N.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- 2014. Mark No. 12268124 appears in the Trademark Office’s annual report for 2014, in the list of new geographical marks. The holder according to the report is the Chongqing Wanzhou “Yinzhen” Tea Institute (重庆万州银针茶叶研究所).
- 19 December 2025. The Chongqing Administration for Market Regulation issued standard DB50/T 1948—2025, “Geographical indication product. Wànzhōu yínzhēn”; in force from 19 March 2026. The standard was proposed by the Wanzhou District Economic Crops Development Center (重庆市万州区经济作物发展中心), which is also listed first among the drafters. The second drafter is the Chongqing Wanzhou “Yinhong” Tea Institute (重庆万州银红茶叶研究所): its name differs from the mark holder’s name by one character, 红 instead of 针. It is written this way both in the standard’s foreword and in the standard’s record on the national platform, so it is not a typo on a single page. Whether this is a renaming or a discrepancy, the sources consulted do not say: they contain no information about a change in the mark holder’s name, so the holder named here is the one recorded in the report.
- Earlier history — the year the tea appeared, names, awards — is not found in the sources consulted.
Name: 万州 (Wànzhōu) is the name of the district; 银针 (yínzhēn) means “silver needle”. The standard describes the leaf as “resembling a pine needle” (形似松针) with white down, and in the English translation of the term calls the tea a needle-shaped green tea.
Cultural significance: No data found in the sources consulted.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: According to the standard — improved varieties grown in the district, above all medium- and small-leaf ones: Sichuan medium-small-leaf (四川中小叶种), Fuding Dabaicha (福鼎大白茶) and Bayu Tezao (巴渝特早).
Harvest: The standard does not specify harvest dates.
Harvest standard: Fresh leaf is divided into three grades, and each is processed separately:
- Top grade (特级): more than 90% single buds, the rest a bud with one barely opened leaf.
- First grade (一级): more than 90% a bud with one leaf.
- Second grade (二级): more than 90% a bud with two leaves.
Raw material requirements: Buds and leaves whole, fresh and clean, without scales, “fish leaves” (鱼叶, the first underdeveloped leaf of a shoot) or diseased leaves, without damage or spoilage, without foreign matter.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

All parameters below are requirements of standard DB50/T 1948—2025 for the zone.

Growing altitude: Below 1200 m.
Climate: Mean annual temperature 17.0–18.4°C, absolute minimum not below −2°C, mean January temperature not below 3°C. Sunshine — more than 1400 hours a year, precipitation — more than 1200 mm, frost-free period — more than 335 days.
Soils: Mainly purple soils (紫色土) and yellow soils (黄壤). Organic matter not less than 1.5%, acidic reaction, pH 4.5–6.0, soil layer thickness not less than 0.8 m, groundwater deeper than 1 m.

5. Production Technology

The standard sets out the chain: spreading → fixation → cooling → first rolling → “second green” → repeated rolling → breaking up clumps → shaping → drying → refining → packing.

Spreading (摊放 — tānfàng): The leaf is spread by grade and batch in a layer 3–8 cm thick, carefully turned roughly every 2 hours, to a moisture content of 68–72%; usually 4–8 hours.
Fixation (杀青 — shāqīng): Immediately after spreading — in a drum, hot-air or steam machine. Readiness: the leaf has darkened and become soft, the grassy smell has gone, the leaf, squeezed into a ball, falls apart, the stem bends without breaking.
Cooling (冷却 — lěngquè): Quickly, to room temperature.
First rolling (初揉 — chūróu): In a disc machine, following the rule “light — heavy — light”.
“Second green” (二青 — èrqīng): Partial drying in a belt dryer — 100–120°C, from 1 to 4 minutes depending on the machine — or in a dynamic dryer at 90–130°C for 2–3 minutes, to a moisture content of about 40–45%, with rapid cooling.
Repeated rolling (复揉 — fùróu) and breaking up clumps (解块 — jiěkuài).
Shaping (做形 — zuòxíng): On a vibrating leaf-straightening machine: trough at 80–110°C, 8–12 minutes. This is where the leaf is drawn out into needles.
Drying (干燥 — gānzào): In a belt dryer in two stages, to a moisture content below 6%; for the first drying the standard gives 80–120°C.
Refining (精制 — jīngzhì): The tea is separated on sieves, winnowers and color sorters by length, thickness, weight and color, impurities are removed, and it is blended by grade.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The standard divides the finished tea into three grades — top, first and second.

Dry leaf appearance: Top grade — “like a pine needle” (形似松针), tight and fine, with clearly visible white down (白毫显露) and a sharp tip (有锋苗); color fresh emerald, glossy (青翠油润); leaf even, a few tender stalks allowed. In the first and second grades the down is only slightly visible; in the second, stems and flakes are allowed.
Dry leaf aroma: The standard does not describe it separately: aroma is assessed from the infusion.
Liquor aroma: Top grade — high and long-lasting chestnut (栗香高长); first — chestnut (栗香); second — clean (清香).
Taste: Top and first grades — fresh and brisk, with a sweet aftertaste (鲜爽回甘); second — fresh and brisk (鲜爽).
Liquor color: Top grade — tender green, bright (嫩绿明亮); first — green, bright (绿明亮); second — yellowish green, bright (黄绿明亮).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Top grade — soft, tender, green and bright (柔嫩、绿明亮); first — tender green, bright; second — green, bright.

7. Chemical Composition

The standard sets physicochemical limits for all grades:

Moisture: not more than 6.0%.
Total ash: not more than 7.5%.
Water-soluble extractives: not less than 34%.
Crude fiber: not more than 16.0%.
Broken tea and dust: not more than 6.0%.

The standard sets no limits for polyphenols, amino acids or caffeine; other data on the composition are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

General practice for green tea as a class.

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.
5. Top up with water.
6. Two or three further infusions.

9. Storage

General practice for the class. The standard refers to the national standard for tea storage (GB/T 30375). At home — in airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5°C, away from light, moisture and odors; best drunk within a year.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for geographical indication certification mark No. 12268124.
- Check the labeling: under the standard, the box states the grade, the place of production and the standard number.
- Appearance according to the standard: straight needles with down, a chestnut aroma in the liquor.
- Do not confuse it with Baihao Yinzhen from Fujian: the shared word “needle” does not make the teas related.

11. Interesting Facts

The local standard appeared eleven years after the mark was registered: the mark — 2014, the standard — 2025.
The standard permits three fixation methods — steam, hot air and drum.
Wanzhou’s is not the only “silver needle” of Chongqing: there is also the green Banan Yinzhen. Whether its name is protected by a geographical indication is not stated in the sources consulted: the Chongqing government page about it lists titles and awards, but not a mark.

12. Comparison with Other “Needles”

Banan Yinzhen (巴南银针): A needle-shaped green tea from Banan District, also in Chongqing, with gardens on Mount Baixiang.
Kaixian Longzhu Cha (开县龙珠茶): A mountain green tea from Kaizhou District, also in north-eastern Chongqing, with a fine straight leaf in white down.
Baihao Yinzhen (白毫银针): A Fujian white tea made from buds alone — only withering and drying, no fixation.
Junshan Yinzhen (君山银针): A yellow tea made from buds, with smothering, from Junshan Island in Hunan.

In Conclusion:

Wànzhōu yínzhēn is a needle-shaped green tea of north-eastern Chongqing: a mark since 2014, its own standard since 2025. According to the standard, that means gardens below 1200 m, raw material from a single bud to a bud with two leaves, fixation and straightening into needles, and in the cup — a chestnut aroma and a fresh taste with a sweet aftertaste. The sources do not yet give history or prices, but the appearance and the technology can now be checked against a document.