Wèng'ān huángjīnyá

Wèng’ān huángjīnyá (瓮安黄金芽) is a green tea from the yellow-leaf variety 黄金芽, from Weng’an County (瓮安县) of Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in the center of Guizhou Province. The variety is not local here: it was brought from Zhejiang in 2012, and the main plantation is in Jianzhong Town (建中镇), which the press calls the largest base of this variety in the country. The name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark since 2018; the holder is a county association named after the variety itself.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá) from a yellow-leaf variety. Guizhou Ribao (2023, as reprinted by Xinhua) calls it “贵州绿茶新品种” — “a new variety of Guizhou green tea”, and the county tax administration (2024), in the list of products of Jianzhong’s main company, places 黄金芽 in the green tea section — next to the white-leaf “白茶” and Duyun Maojian. I have not seen a mark document with a description of the technology. “Huangjin” (黄金, “gold”) in the name is the color of the leaf, not the class: the smothering that makes a tea yellow by class is not found in the descriptions consulted.
Caveat: The county plan for 2021 names among the products both “黄金芽” and the pressed “黄金饼” (“golden cake”), and the range of the same company (2024) also has “收藏黄金芽” — “黄金芽 for collecting”. What the cake is made from and by what technology, and how the collector’s version differs, the sources do not say.
Category: Tea from a yellow-leaf variety sensitive to light (光照敏感型); geographical indication certification mark (证明商标, zhèngmíng shāngbiāo), 2018.
Origin: China, Guizhou Province (贵州, Guìzhōu), Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔南, Qiánnán), Weng’an County (瓮安, Wèng’ān); the main base is Jianzhong Town (建中, Jiànzhōng).
Mark zone: Weng’an County is given as the affiliation of the mark holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone.
Geographic coordinates: Weng’an County — about 27.1° N and 107.5° E.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- 2012. According to a representative of the company that owns the main plantation (the journal Nongchanpin Shichang, 农产品市场, 2023), 黄金芽 did not grow in Weng’an before: the variety was brought from Zhejiang in 2012. Guizhou Ribao (2023) writes that the company “selected and spread” (选育、推广) the variety; according to the company’s own account, this is an introduction, not breeding. On the Zhejiang variety — see the article on Anji Huangjinya.
- 2018. According to the summary of all geographical marks of Guizhou attached to the notice of the provincial intellectual property administration of 22 August 2022, the mark “瓮安黄金芽” is dated 28 October 2018; the holder is the Huangjinya tea industry association of Weng’an County (瓮安县黄金芽茶业协会). The summary does not give the mark number. The summary and Guizhou Ribao speak of a certification mark; I have not found a document on protection as a geographical indication product.
- 2021. The county tea industry development plan sets the task “to use the marks 瓮安白茶 and 瓮安黄金芽” and lists seven types of the county’s products, among them “黄金芽” and “黄金饼”.
- 2023. According to Guizhou Ribao, Jianzhong has 35,600 mu of gardens (1 mu is about 667 m²) and the largest 黄金芽 base in the country; the town makes tea of five colors — red, dark, green, white and yellow.
- 2024. The county tax administration writes that Jianzhong’s main company has more than 1,800 mu of 黄金芽, 6,000 mu of white-leaf tea and 4,800 mu of green tea.
- 2025. A piece by the county organization department and the town government reports that 黄金芽, together with Weng’an aged white tea and red tea, has passed certification as a famous, special, high-quality and new agricultural product of the country (全国名特优新农产品).
Name: “Weng’an” (瓮安) is the name of the county; “huangjinya” (黄金芽) means “golden sprout”, the name of the variety. A report by the portal Zhongguo Wang (中国网, 2019) explains it this way: the plant is yellow all year round, the dry tea is bright yellow, the liquor is clear yellow, the taste is fresh, and the variety is valued like gold.
Cultural significance: Publications of 2019 cite the variety’s nickname in the industry — “茶中大熊猫”, “the giant panda among teas”: for its rarity, the difficulty of growing it and its costly care. The county’s main brand, however, is not this tea: the 2021 plan builds the industry around “瓮安欧标茶”, European-standard tea under the name Duyun Maojian.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety: 黄金芽 (Huángjīnyá), yellow-leaf. According to a 2019 publication, it is a light-sensitive variety from yellow mutant forms (光照敏感型、黄色系变异). According to Zhongguo Wang (2019), the plant is yellow all year round, and in the sun, according to descriptions of 2019 and 2023, it shimmers with gold. The variety was introduced to Weng’an, not bred there (section 2).
Harvest: Timing is not found in the sources consulted.
Harvest standard: Data are not found in the sources consulted.
Raw material requirements: Data are not found in the sources consulted.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The center of Guizhou Province. According to Zhongguo Wang (2019), the county’s climate is subtropical humid monsoon, with four distinct seasons: mean annual temperature 13.6 °C, frost-free period 260–280 days, 1,226 hours of sunshine and 1,148.2 mm of precipitation a year. For Jianzhong, Guizhou Ribao (2023) adds high forest cover, abundant water, mountains and hills, and a deep fertile soil layer.
Growing altitude: In a 2019 report the head of the base gives the average altitude of the site — 1350 m; a 2025 county piece mentions a viewing platform among the Jianzhong gardens at an altitude of 1200 m. Measurements of the altitude of the 黄金芽 gardens specifically are not found in the sources consulted.
Soils: The soil type is not found in the sources consulted; the press writes only of fertile soils.
Care: According to a company representative (2023), because of its high amino acid content the variety suffers badly from pests, and tending the garden takes more effort.
Feature of the variety: The color of the leaf is set by the variety, not by the conditions of the place: the same 黄金芽 grows both in Zhejiang and in other provinces.

5. Production Technology

A document with the technology of Wèng’ān huángjīnyá is not found in the sources consulted. The county tax administration (2024) classes the 黄金芽 of Jianzhong’s main company as green tea but does not describe the processing stages.

Below is a general green tea scheme, not a description of this particular tea:

Spreading the fresh leaf (摊青 — tānqīng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that it gives off part of its moisture.
Fixation (杀青 — shāqīng): Heating stops oxidation and preserves the color of the leaf.
Rolling (揉捻 — róuniǎn).
Drying (干燥 — gānzào).

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The press reduces the appearance of the variety to the “three yellows” — 干茶亮黄、汤色明黄、叶底纯黄: bright yellow dry tea, clear yellow liquor, pure yellow spent leaves. This is what the journal Nongchanpin Shichang (2023) writes about the tea of Jianzhong’s main company; the first two features also appear in the Zhongguo Wang report (2019).

Dry leaf appearance: Bright yellow (干茶亮黄).
Dry leaf aroma: A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: There is no separate description; the 2019 and 2023 publications speak in general of a clean fresh aroma (清香), without specifying whether of the dry leaf or of the liquor.
Taste: Fresh (味道鲜美 — Zhongguo Wang, 2019); fresh and pleasant (鲜爽怡人 — the journal, 2023).
Liquor color: Clear yellow (汤色明黄).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Pure yellow (叶底纯黄).

7. Chemical Composition

Physico-chemical norms for this name are not found in the sources consulted. A representative of the company that owns the main plantation told the journal Nongchanpin Shichang (2023): ordinary tea has 3–4% amino acids, 黄金芽 about 10%, the company’s tea up to 11.7%. These are the producer’s words without method or sample, not a measurement.

8. Brewing

Class practice for a delicate green tea.

Water temperature: 75–80 °C.
Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
Teaware: Glass tumbler — the yellow buds are visible in it.
Process:
1. Warm the tumbler.
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.
5. Top up with water.
6. Two or three repeat infusions.

9. Storage

Class practice. 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. The press calls the variety expensive — “贵如黄金”, “as dear as gold” — and a company representative (2023) says that the tea sells out despite the high price; nobody gives figures.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the certification mark “瓮安黄金芽”; the holder is the Huangjinya tea industry association of Weng’an County.
- Check that the producer is from Weng’an County: the 黄金芽 variety grows in many provinces, and the variety name by itself does not name a place.
- Do not confuse it with the county’s second mark — “瓮安白茶”: this is a different name.
- The dry leaf is bright yellow, the liquor clear yellow, the spent leaves yellow.

11. Interesting Facts

In 2018 the county received two marks with “colored” names: “white” (瓮安白茶) on 7 June and “golden” (瓮安黄金芽) on 28 October.
The mark holder is a county association named after the bush variety: “the Huangjinya tea industry association”.
Jianzhong Town, where the main 黄金芽 plantation grows, is also called by Guizhou Ribao (2023) “the first town of premium white tea in Guizhou” (贵州省精品白茶第一镇).
According to the tax administration (2024), Jianzhong’s main company has more than three times as much white-leaf tea as 黄金芽, and more than two and a half times as much green; in its list both 黄金芽 and “白茶” count as green tea.

12. Comparison with Other Teas

Anji Huangjinya (安吉黄金芽): The same variety in Anji County in the north of Zhejiang.
Jinyun Huangcha (缙云黄茶): A yellow-leaf green tea of Zhejiang, but from a different variety — 中黄2号.
Weng’an Baicha (瓮安白茶): The second mark of the same county; documents do not establish its class.
Duyun Maojian (都匀毛尖): The main green tea of Qiannan Prefecture; under its name Weng’an promotes its main products.

In Conclusion:

Wèng’ān huángjīnyá is a green tea from the yellow-leaf variety 黄金芽, which took root in the mountains of Jianzhong after 2012. The press describes it by the “three yellows”: bright yellow dry tea, clear yellow liquor and yellow spent leaves, with a fresh aroma and taste. The name is protected by a 2018 mark, and the variety links this tea to Anji — what sets it apart is its place.