---
title: "Wǔhé cháyè"
url: https://thetea.app/article/wuhe-chaye
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Wǔhé cháyè (五合茶叶)

*Wǔhé cháyè* (五合茶叶) is a green tea of Yangtan Town (杨滩镇) of Guangde county-level city (广德市), Xuancheng prefecture-level city, in the southeast of Anhui Province. The name is taken from Wuhe village (五合村), and “*cháyè*” (茶叶) simply means “tea leaf”: the class is set not by the name but by the technology in the protection document — fixation, rolling and drying with hot air, without oxidation. The document describes the tea as “shaped like a sparrow's tongue” (形似雀舌), with fine white down and an emerald liquor. The name received protection twice: in 2020 as an agricultural product geographical indication (AGI), in 2025 as a geographical indication product.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The 2025 protection document records a technology without oxidation and marks the shaping stage with the word “烘青” (*hōngqīng*) — the name for green tea dried with hot air. The class cannot be derived from the name: 五合 is a place name, 茶叶 is “tea leaf”.
* **Category:** Geographical indication product (地理标志产品, *dìlǐ biāozhì chǎnpǐn*), 2025; since 2020 — agricultural product geographical indication (农产品地理标志).
* **Origin:** China, Anhui Province (安徽, *Ānhuī*), Xuancheng prefecture-level city (宣城, *Xuānchéng*), Guangde county-level city (广德, *Guǎngdé*), Yangtan Town (杨滩, *Yángtān*).
* **Protection zone:** Four administrative villages of Yangtan Town — Wuhe (五合村), Baima (白马村), Liaolin (燎琳村) and Jiufang (九房村). Coordinates according to the 2025 announcement: 119°03′01″–119°13′58″ E, 30°35′02″–30°52′29″ N.
* **Coordinate discrepancy:** In the 2020 application details the list of villages is the same, but the coordinates differ: 119°03′55″–119°13′30″ E, 30°38′30″–30°52′28″ N. Which outline is more accurate is not clear from the documents.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **Protection documents:**
    * **14 April 2020.** The Anhui provincial agricultural product quality control station announced on the website of the provincial agriculture department the acceptance of the application for an agricultural product geographical indication; the designated applicant was the Guangde agricultural product quality control administration.
    * **25 December 2020.** By Ministry of Agriculture announcement No. 378, 178 products received protection. According to a reprint by a tea association, among the seventeen teas on this list is 五合茶叶, alongside [洞庭碧螺春](https://thetea.app/article/dongting-biluochun), [信阳毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/xinyang-mao-jian) and [福鼎白茶](https://thetea.app/article/fuding-baicha).
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 632 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) of 9 June (published 27 June), 224 products were recognized as geographical indication products; 五合茶叶 is item 103. The applicant is the Guangde comprehensive administrative law enforcement brigade for agriculture.
* **Legend and local history.** The information below comes from a 2023 local-history essay published by researchers of the history and culture of Xuancheng. The archival documents on which it relies are not found in the sources consulted.
    * **Western Jin (西晋).** Citing the *Gazetteer of Guangde Prefecture* (《广德州志》), the essay writes that already then tea bushes were planted at temples and tea was made.
    * **Ming and Qing.** According to the essay, the tea went as tribute under both dynasties, and in the Jiajing (嘉靖) years it received the title “御茶” — “imperial tea”. Especially famous was the village of Shengzikou (升子口), where there was a tribute garden of about a hundred mu. The essay explains its former name Shengzhikou (圣旨口, “mouth of the decree”) by the fact that officials proclaimed the imperial decree here, and the village received its present name, according to the essay, in the mid-20th century. This is a local interpretation of the place name, not a document.
    * **1915.** Under the name “广德云雾茶” (“cloud and mist tea of Guangde”), according to the essay, the tea received a gold award at the Panama International Exposition.
    * **1967–1976.** The output of the brigade in 1967 was less than 400 dan (担), in 1970 about 400. Then, with the help of factories, 4.5 km of high-voltage line were laid, three workshops were built and machines for fixation, rolling and drying were installed; by 1976 output had grown to almost a thousand dan.
    * **1988.** The title of Anhui provincial famous tea.
    * **Heritage.** According to the essay, the production technique has been entered in the intangible cultural heritage list of Guangde County, and a tea museum has been opened in the village.
* **Name:** “*Wǔhé*” (五合) is the name of the village, “*cháyè*” (茶叶) means “tea leaf”.

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

* **Variety / Cultivar:** The protection document names “本地传统云雾茶品种” — the local traditional variety of “cloud and mist” tea (云雾茶, *yúnwù chá*). It gives no names of clones.
* **Raw material:** From a single bud to a bud with two leaves; a plump bud and a thick leaf that stays tender for a long time (芽壮，叶厚，持嫩性好).
* **Harvest time:** From mid-March to late April. It is forbidden to pick leaf affected by pests and diseases, purple leaf, “fish” leaf (鱼叶) and reddened leaf.
* **Plantings:** Not more than 60,000 bushes per hectare, not less than 15 t of well-rotted organic matter per hectare a year.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Southeast Anhui. According to the essay, the Wuhe mountain area lies at the junction of the spurs of Tianmushan (天目山) and Huangshan (黄山).
* **Growing altitude:** **300–800 m** — according to the protection document.
* **Soils:** The document names “青砂土” and “麻骨土” soils with pH 4.0–5.5 as preferable. The essay writes of red-yellow soils with pH 5.0–5.5 and organic matter of about 2.5%.
* **Climate:** According to the essay, mean annual temperature 15.4 °C, precipitation 1300 mm, forest cover more than 90%. It also says that in spring wild orchids, cherry and peach bloom next to the gardens.
* **Area:** According to the 2020 information, the protection zone is 6860 ha, permanent plantings 3000 ha, the annual harvest 225 t.

**5. Production Technology:**

Regimes according to the 2025 protection document:

1.  **Spreading (摊放, *tānfàng*):** A layer up to 5 cm, 5–8 hours, turning every 2–3 hours, to a moisture content of 70–75%.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** 120–170 °C, moisture after fixation 58–60%, then immediate cooling.
3.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** 15–35 minutes, until the leaves are tightly rolled; the share of rolled leaves — more than 90%.
4.  **Pre-drying (初干, *chūgān*):** With hot air or in a pan at 110–130 °C to a moisture content of 45–55%, then a rest to even out the moisture.
5.  **Shaping and bringing out the down (整形提毫, *zhěngxíng tíháo*):** 80–90 °C, alternating straightening and rolling of the leaf to a moisture content of 15–20%.
6.  **Final drying (足干, *zúgān*):** 60–80 °C, 30–45 minutes, to a moisture content of 6–7%.
7.  **Raising the aroma (提香, *tíxiāng*):** 90–100 °C, 3–5 minutes, to a moisture content below 6%.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description follows the protection document; where the essay differs from it, the essay is given as well.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Like a sparrow's tongue (形似雀舌), with fine white down, emerald green (翠绿). The essay describes the leaf differently — straight, “shaped like embroidery scissors” (绣剪形), large and even.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description is found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Rich and full (香气醇厚). According to the essay — clean, with a floral note.
* **Taste:** With a sweet aftertaste, refreshing; the tea stands up to many infusions (回味甘甜，爽口耐冲泡).
* **Liquor color:** Emerald green (汤色翠绿). According to the essay — tender green and bright.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** The document does not describe them. According to the essay — tender, even, green and bright (嫩匀绿亮).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Requirements of the 2025 protection document:

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | not more than 6.0% |
| Water-soluble extractives | 42.5–53.5% |
| Total ash | 4.5–5.9% |
| Crude fiber | 7.5–12.8% |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 18% |

These are norms for the product under the protected name, not measurements of particular batches.

**8. Health Properties:**

There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea.

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for green tea.

* **Water temperature:** 80–85 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 3 g per 150 ml.
* **Teaware:** A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
* **Process:** Warm the teaware, pour the water down the side, first infusion — after 40–60 seconds, leave part of the liquor and top up; two or three more infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. It is better to drink it within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

No price data found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: the right to it is granted to producers from the protection zone on application through the Guangde intellectual property authority, with CNIPA approval.
    * Check that the producer is from one of the four villages of Yangtan Town.
    * According to the document: the leaf is like a sparrow's tongue, with white down, emerald; the liquor is emerald.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The protection zone is only four villages of one town.
* The name is protected by two registers, and the applicants in them are different.
* According to the essay, at the entrance to the Shengzikou valley stands a stone inscribed “贡茶升子口” — “tribute tea of Shengzikou”.
* According to the essay, after the switch to machine processing, the brigade's output grew from 400 dan in 1970 to almost a thousand in 1976.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas of Xuancheng:**

* **Guangde Huangjin Ya ([广德黄金芽](https://thetea.app/article/guangde-huangjinya)):** A green tea of the same Guangde County, but from yellow-leaf varieties.
* **Jingting Lüxue ([敬亭绿雪](https://thetea.app/article/jingting-lu-xue)):** A historical green tea of Xuancheng prefecture, also connected with tribute in the Ming and Qing eras.
* **Yashan Ruicaokui ([鸦山瑞草魁](https://thetea.app/article/yashan-ruicaokui)):** A green tea of Langxi County in the same prefecture, also protected in 2025.
* **Huangshan Yunwu ([黄山云雾茶](https://thetea.app/article/huangshan-yun-wu-cha)):** A “cloud and mist” green tea of Huangshan, to whose spurs local historians also assign the Wuhe mountains.

**In Conclusion:**

*Wǔhé cháyè* is a green tea of four villages of Yangtan Town whose name speaks of a place, not of a class. The protection document describes it in detail: a local variety of “cloud and mist” tea, gardens at 300–800 m, fixation at 120–170 °C, hot-air drying, a leaf like a sparrow's tongue and an emerald liquor. The tribute fame of the Ming era and the gold of 1915 are a story told by local historians, not an archival document.