---
title: "Wǔyí yánchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/wuyi-yancha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Wǔyí yánchá (武夷岩茶)

*Wǔyí yánchá* (武夷岩茶) is “Wuyishan rock tea”, a geographical indication name for the oolong of Wuyishan county-level city (武夷山市) of Nanping prefecture in the north of Fujian Province. The national standard defines it as an oolong from the protection zone, made from clonally propagated varieties using traditional technology and possessing a “rock rhyme” — 岩韵 (*yányùn*), which the standard explains as “rock bone and floral aroma” (岩骨花香). Five product groups are released under this umbrella name: Da Hong Pao, named bushes, Rougui, Shuixian and Qizhong. The name has been protected since 2002, and the technology is included in the first national list of intangible heritage.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Oolong (乌龙茶, *wūlóngchá*); the class is written directly into the definition of the national standard GB/T 18745—2006. Wuyishan rock tea is the classic branch of northern Fujian oolong (闽北乌龙).
* **Category:** An umbrella name with a legal zone; under it are the five product groups of the standard.
* **Origin:** China, Fujian Province (福建, *Fújiàn*), Nanping prefecture-level city (南平, *Nánpíng*), Wuyishan county-level city (武夷山市, *Wǔyíshān shì*).
* **Protection zone:** According to the standard — the entire administrative territory of Wuyishan county-level city. The CNIPA record lists ten units: the subdistricts of Wuyi (武夷), Chong'an (崇安) and Xinfeng (新丰), the townships of Yangzhuang (洋庄), Langu (岚谷), Wutun (吴屯) and Shangmei (上梅), and the towns of Xingcun (星村), Xingtian (兴田) and Wufu (五夫).
* **Geographic coordinates:** According to the CNIPA record — 117°37′22″–118°19′44″ E and 27°27′31″–28°04′49″ N.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Origins.** The description for the national list of intangible heritage traces the making of Wuyishan tea back to the Han era, and dates the established technology of rock tea, which “was the first to open the way” for the making of oolong, to the beginning of the Qing.
    * **Old bushes.** The Qing author Guo Baicang in *Records of Fujian Curiosities* (《闽产录异》) wrote that the bushes Tie Luohan and Zhuiliutiao date from the Song and grow as single specimens.
    * **The legend of Da Hong Pao.** According to legend, in the Hongwu years of the Ming era a scholar traveling to the examinations was cured of stomach pains by Wuyishan tea, and, having come first in the examinations, named the bush after his red robe — hence the name “Big Red Robe”.
    * **2002.** By announcement No. 23, AQSIQ took *Wǔyí yánchá* under protection as a product of designated origin; the mandatory standard GB 18745—2002 was issued at the same time.
    * **2006.** The production technique of *Wǔyí yánchá* (Da Hong Pao) entered the first national list of intangible heritage under number Ⅷ-63. The recommended standard GB/T 18745—2006 was issued: approved on 18 July, in force from 1 December 2006; it replaced the 2002 standard, removed the division into raw-material districts and the classification of varieties, lifted the limit on shelf life and introduced grades for Da Hong Pao.
    * **2006–2007.** Wuyishan stopped picking from the mother bushes of Da Hong Pao; sources give the year the ban began as either 2006 or 2007.
    * **2018–2019.** Amendment No. 1 to the standard replaced the table of hygiene indicators with references to the general safety norms; it has been in force since 1 April 2019.
    * **2020.** The Ministry of Agriculture registered the agricultural product geographical indication AGI02896; the holder is the Wuyishan Tea Research Institute.
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 640, CNIPA confirmed the recognition of the product with a zone of ten units.
    * **2026.** A new edition was issued — GB/T 18745—2026 “Quality requirements for a geographical indication product. Wuyi Yancha”: approved on 31 March 2026, it comes into force on 1 April 2027. According to press reports, it introduces the category of aged rock tea (陈年岩茶), requires tea polyphenols of no less than 12.0% and leaves the shelf life to the producer's discretion.
    * **European Union.** Under the China–EU Agreement the name is protected as a PGI (Wuyi Yan Cha, file PGI-CN-2720); the applicant is the People's Government of Wuyishan county-level city.
* **Name:**
    * “Wuyi” (武夷) is the name of the Wuyi Mountains.
    * “Yancha” (岩茶, *yánchá*) means “rock tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** According to the local press, about 120,000 people in Wuyishan are employed in tea. Within the name, its own market notions have taken shape: the division by growing place into tea of the true rocks (正岩), half-rock (半岩) and riverside tea (洲茶), and the named bushes with their legends.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** The standard does not list varieties; it requires only clonal propagation. The product groups are named after varieties and origin: Da Hong Pao ([大红袍](https://thetea.app/article/da-hong-pao)), named bushes (名枞), Rougui ([肉桂](https://thetea.app/article/rou-gui)), Shuixian ([水仙](https://thetea.app/article/shui-xian)) and Qizhong (奇种).
* **Propagation:** By cuttings with one leaf and one axillary bud; the mother bushes are true to variety and healthy. Cuttings are taken in spring, summer and autumn; the standard considers autumn planting of summer shoots the best.
* **Planting:** The ratio of early, medium and late varieties in a garden is 1 : 3 : 2.
* **Harvest standard:** Picking by the opening of the top leaf (开面采). Small opening (the top leaf is 30–40% of the area of the second) — four leaves; medium (50–70%) — three leaves; large (80–90%) — two leaves. The standard calls medium opening the best.
* **Raw material by class:** First class — no less than 90% usable leaf, second — no less than 80%, third — no less than 70%. The leaf is delivered to the factory within 4 hours.
* **Picking time:** Spring picking — around the Guyu solar term (谷雨, around 20 April), summer — around Xiaoman (小满, around 21 May), autumn — after Liqiu (立秋, early August).

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Topography:** The northwest is raised, and ridges of peaks hold back the northern cold. Four streams, peaks and hills interweave and create a special microclimate — humid and foggy.
* **Climate:** Subtropical. Mean annual temperature 18–18.5 °C, precipitation about 2000 mm a year, mean air humidity about 80%, a long frost-free period; about 2000 hours of sunshine a year.
* **Soils:** Mountain soils of subtropical evergreen forest. In most gardens — volcanic gravel, red sandstone and shale; the humus layer is thick, there is much organic matter, pH 4–6.
* **Vegetation:** Cunninghamia (杉), castanopsis (苦槠), Masson pine (马尾松), ferns.
* **Care:** Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers — in the ratio 3 : 2 : 1; canopy height in productive gardens — 80–120 cm.
* **Growing sites:** The division into raw-material districts existed in the 2002 standard, but the 2006 edition abolished it. The market division into “true rock”, half-rock and riverside plots has remained a notion of the trade, not of the norm.

**5. Production Technology:**

The standard sets the sequence, but not the parameters.

* **Primary processing (初制):**
    1. **Withering in the sun or indoors ([晒青](https://thetea.app/article/shai-qing) / 萎凋, *shàiqīng / wěidiāo*).**
    2. **Tossing and oxidation (做青, *zuòqīng*)** — the key operation of oolong.
    3. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*).**
    4. **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*).**
    5. **Drying (烘干, *hōnggān*):** first drying, cooling and second drying; the result is raw tea (毛茶, *máochá*).
* **Refining (精制):** Sorting into lots and classes, screening on sieves, picking out stems, winnowing, blending of sieve fractions ([拼配](https://thetea.app/article/chunliaopinpei), *pīnpèi*), drying, cooling, mixing into a uniform lot, inspection and packing.
* **The craft as described for the heritage list:** Ten operations; the key techniques are repeated withering (复式萎凋), “oxidizing while watching the leaf” (看青做青), “moving the moisture and returning freshness” (走水返阳), double pan-firing and double rolling (双炒双揉), and long drying at low temperature (低温久烘).

Combining sieve fractions into a lot (拼配) is part of refining under the 2006 standard itself. In the new 2026 edition, as retold by the press, Da Hong Pao is explicitly defined as a tea from the raw material of several clonal Wuyishan varieties, combined by blending.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The standard requires cleanliness and the absence of colorants, impurities, foreign odors and mold, and gives its own table for each group. Below is the highest grade (特级) of Da Hong Pao; the other groups are in the table.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Tightly rolled, sturdy, slightly curved; with a “precious” sheen or an oily luster (带宝色或油润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Sharp, rich and long, or subtle, clean and far-reaching (锐、浓长或幽、清远).
* **Taste:** A clear rock rhyme, full, with a sweet refreshing aftertaste; the aroma remains at the bottom of the cup (岩韵明显、醇厚、回味甘爽、杯底有余香).
* **Liquor color:** Clear, bright, dark orange-yellow.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Soft, glossy, even, with a red rim or a cinnabar tint (红边或带朱砂色).

| Group | Grades | Aroma of the highest grade | Taste of the highest grade |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Da Hong Pao | 特级, 一级, 二级 | 锐、浓长或幽、清远 | 岩韵明显、醇厚、回味甘爽 |
| Named bushes | no grades | 较锐、浓长或幽、清远 | 岩韵明显、醇厚、回甘快 |
| Rougui | 特级, 一级, 二级 | 浓郁持久，似有乳香或蜜桃香、或桂皮香 | 醇厚鲜爽、岩韵明显 |
| Shuixian | 特级 — 三级 | 浓郁鲜锐、特征明显 | 浓爽鲜锐、品种特征显露、岩韵明显 |
| Qizhong | 特级 — 三级 | 清高 | 清醇甘爽、岩韵显 |

For Rougui the standard names a milky, peach or cinnamon tone of the aroma; for Shuixian — a distinct varietal character.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical limits under GB/T 18745—2006:

| Indicator | No more than |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | 6.5% |
| Total ash | 6.5% |
| Broken tea | 15.0% |
| Dust | 1.3% |

The 2006 standard does not regulate water extract. The new 2026 edition, according to press reports, requires tea polyphenols of no less than 12.0%; I have not seen the full text.

**8. Health Properties:**

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

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for rock oolong.

* **Water temperature:** Water at a full boil, 95–100 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 7–8 g per 110 ml gaiwan.
* **Teaware:** A gaiwan or a Yixing teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Briefly rinse the leaf with boiling water.
    3. First infusions — 10–20 seconds, pour off at once.
    4. Add a few seconds with each infusion.
    5. A good tea withstands six to eight infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. Airtight, in a dry, cool place, away from light and foreign odors. The 2006 standard required a ventilated, dry, clean, cool warehouse without direct sun. The 2006 edition lifted the limit on shelf life; the new edition, as retold by the press, explicitly leaves it to the producer's discretion and introduces the category of aged rock tea.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * The producer must be from Wuyishan county-level city; those admitted to the mark attach a special protective geographical indication label.
    * According to the standard, the label carries the producer and address, the product and variety name, weight, grade, production date, shelf life and the standard number.
    * The name “Da Hong Pao” does not mean tea from the mother bushes: picking from them has been stopped.
    * The “rock” character is hard to fake, but the place cannot be seen in the cup: the origin is confirmed by documents, not by the seller's story.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The 2006 standard is stricter than the general oolong standard GB/T 30357.1 on moisture and broken tea, but sets no requirement for extractives: it rests quality on organoleptics and the rock rhyme.
* Xingcun Town in the protection zone was historically a trading post for Wuyishan tea, and the core area of the red tea Zhengshan Xiaozhong lies there too: one territory carries the names of two different classes.
* Besides the name *Wǔyí yánchá*, Wuyishan has a separate certification mark “武夷山大红袍” No. 1687896.
* According to press reports, the new 2026 edition of the standard legalized aged rock tea for the first time.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Yan Cha (岩茶):** The corpus's generic article on rock tea as a type; *Wǔyí yánchá* is a name with a legal zone and a standard.
* **Da Hong Pao (大红袍):** The best known of the five groups; in the 2026 edition of the standard, as retold by the press, it is explicitly described as a blend of several clonal varieties.
* **Rougui (肉桂):** A group with a cinnamon, milky or peach aroma according to the standard.
* **Shuixian (水仙):** A variety that came to Wuyishan from neighboring Jianyang; a group with four grades.
* **Wuyishan Qizhong ([武夷山奇种](https://thetea.app/article/wuyishan-qizhong)):** The fifth group of the standard, under its own mark.
* **Zhengshan Xiaozhong ([正山小种](https://thetea.app/article/zheng-shan-xiao-zhong)):** A red tea of the same locality near Xingcun — a different class and a different name.

**In Conclusion:**

*Wǔyí yánchá* is the umbrella name of Wuyishan rock oolong with a national standard that sets everything: the zone within the boundaries of the county-level city, the clonal varieties, picking by the opening of the leaf, the order of primary processing and refining, five product groups and their grades. The standard names the essence of the taste in one word — 岩韵, “rock bone and floral aroma”. From 2027 the tea will be governed by the new edition, in which aged rock tea will also appear.