Wǔyíshān qízhǒng

Wǔyíshān qízhǒng (武夷山奇种) is a geographical mark of Wuyishan county-level city (武夷山市) of Nanping prefecture, Fujian Province, for one of the five product groups of Wuyishan rock oolong. The national standard for Wuyi Yancha divides the products into Da Hong Pao, named bushes, Rougui, Shuixian and qízhǒng; the last group is the one that received its own mark. The name means “curious variety”. In the trade literature this is the name for rock tea from the local seed population — “vegetable tea” (菜茶, càichá), from which the famous named bushes were also once selected. The standard itself gives no such definition, and this caveat matters for the whole article.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Oolong (乌龙茶, wūlóngchá). Qízhǒng is a group within Wuyi Yancha, and the national standard GB/T 18745—2006 defines Wuyi Yancha as an oolong.
Category: A product group of rock tea under its own geographical mark. It is neither a bush variety nor a separate class.
Origin: China, Fujian Province (福建, Fújiàn), Nanping prefecture-level city (南平, Nánpíng), Wuyishan county-level city (武夷山市, Wǔyíshān shì).
Zone: The provincial list of marks names Wuyishan county-level city as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder; I have not checked the legal boundary of the zone. Wuyi Yancha itself is protected within the whole county-level city.
Protection regime: Geographical indication certification mark or collective mark, CNIPA No. 15669135; the goods are tea. In the list as of 30 June 2026 the registration is valid.
Geographic coordinates: Not given for the mark. The Wuyi Yancha zone — 117°37′22″–118°19′44″ E and 27°27′31″–28°04′49″ N.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History:
- Old classes of rock tea. According to retellings in the tea literature, in 1921 Jiang Shunan in his travel notes divided rock tea into four classes: superior qízhǒng, qízhǒng, mingzhong and xiaozhong (上奇种、奇种、茗种、小种). Later, other authors gave finer scales in which the word “qízhǒng” stood in the names of several top grades, for example 名丛奇种, 单丛奇种, 顶上奇种. That is, for a long time “qízhǒng” was the name of a quality class, and not only of an origin.
- From qízhǒng to named bushes. According to a description in the business press, qízhǒng is tea from the local seed population 菜茶 from the plots of the true rocks (正岩); the best individual bushes (单丛) were selected from it, and the best of these, having received names, became the named bushes (名丛).
- 2002–2006. Wuyi Yancha was taken under protection as a product of designated origin (2002); the standard GB/T 18745—2006 fixed qízhǒng as one of the five product groups, with four grades — from the highest to the third.
- The mark. The certification or collective mark “武夷山奇种” No. 15669135 was registered separately from the name Wuyi Yancha. The holder and the year of registration are not found in the sources consulted.
- 2026. The new edition of the standard, GB/T 18745—2026 (in force from 1 April 2027), keeps qízhǒng among the main groups; as retold by the press, three grades are provided for it — the highest, the first and the second — instead of the former four. I have not seen the full text.
Name:
- “Wuyishan” (武夷山) is the name of the mountains and of the county-level city.
- “Qizhong” (奇种, qízhǒng) means “curious variety”. As retold by the press, this is what the masters of old called the motley, mutually dissimilar bushes of the seed population that grew among the rocks.
Cultural significance: Qízhǒng is the root of Wuyishan selection: the named bushes for which Wuyishan is famous were, according to the descriptions, selected from the same seed population.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: In trade descriptions — the local seed population 菜茶: bushes propagated by seed, so that each differs slightly from its neighbor.
Divergence from the standard: The 2006 standard defines all Wuyi Yancha as tea from clonally propagated varieties and requires clonal propagation of planting stock. How this fits with the seed nature of classic qízhǒng is not explained in the sources consulted; I do not draw the boundary of the group here.
Harvest standard: The one common to Wuyi Yancha: picking by the opening of the top leaf — from two to four leaves depending on the degree of opening; medium opening is considered the best. There are no separate requirements for the raw material of qízhǒng.
Picking time: As for Wuyi Yancha — in spring around the Guyu solar term (谷雨), in summer around Xiaoman (小满), in autumn after Liqiu (立秋).

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Region: The Wuyi Mountains in the north of Fujian; according to the standard — a foggy, humid microclimate between peaks, hills and four streams.
Climate: Mean annual temperature 18–18.5 °C, precipitation about 2000 mm, humidity about 80%.
Soils: Volcanic gravel, red sandstone and shale; a thick humus layer, pH 4–6.
Growing sites: According to a description in the business press, in the classic understanding qízhǒng is tea from the plots of the true rocks; tea from beyond them was called something else in the old trade — mingzhong (名种). This division is not fixed in the norms of the standard.

5. Production Technology

No separate technology for qízhǒng is found in the sources consulted. The standard sets a sequence common to all Wuyi Yancha:

Withering in the sun or indoors (晒青 / 萎凋, shàiqīng / wěidiāo).
Tossing and oxidation (做青, zuòqīng).
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng).
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
Drying (烘干, hōnggān): first drying, cooling, second drying — the result is raw tea (毛茶, máochá).
Refining: sorting, screening on sieves, picking out stems, winnowing, blending of sieve fractions, drying, mixing into a uniform lot, packing.

This is the standard’s scheme for all groups of Wuyi Yancha, not a description verified separately for qízhǒng.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

The standard GB/T 18745—2006 gives a separate table for qízhǒng. Below are the highest grade (特级) and, in parentheses, the first (一级).

Dry leaf appearance: Tight and heavy (紧结重实), the color fresh, emerald-glossy (翠润); even, clean. In the first grade — simply tight (结实), oily-glossy (油润).
Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
Liquor aroma: High and clean (清高); in the first grade — clean (清纯).
Taste: Clean, mellow, sweet and fresh, with a rock rhyme (清醇甘爽、岩韵显); in the first grade — fairly full, the rock rhyme clear (尚醇厚、岩韵明).
Liquor color: Golden yellow, clear (金黄清澈).
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Soft, glossy, even, with a bright red rim (软亮匀齐、红边鲜艳).

Grade	Aroma	Taste	Liquor	Spent leaves
特级	清高	清醇甘爽、岩韵显	金黄清澈	软亮匀齐、红边鲜艳
一级	清纯	尚醇厚、岩韵明	较金黄清澈	软亮较匀齐、红边明显
二级	尚浓	尚醇正	金黄稍深	尚软亮匀整
三级	平正	欠醇	橙黄稍深	欠匀稍亮

Set beside the other groups, the difference shows: for Da Hong Pao the aroma of the highest grade is “sharp, rich and long, or subtle, clean and far-reaching”, for qízhǒng it is “high and clean”. The terms of the standard describe a lighter and cleaner profile for qízhǒng.

7. Chemical Composition

There are no separate indicators for qízhǒng; the general limits of Wuyi Yancha apply: moisture no more than 6.5%, total ash no more than 6.5%, broken tea no more than 15.0%, dust no more than 1.3%. Data on polyphenols, amino acids and caffeine specifically of qízhǒng are not found in the sources consulted.

8. Brewing

Class practice for rock oolong.

Water temperature: 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.
4. Add a few seconds with each infusion.
5. Five to seven infusions.

9. Storage

Class practice. Airtight, in a dry, cool place, away from light and foreign odors.

10. Price and Counterfeits

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for mark No. 15669135 or the Wuyi Yancha geographical indication mark, and a producer from Wuyishan county-level city.
- According to the standard, the label states the name of the group (品种) and the grade — “奇种” and one of the grades from 特级 to 三级.
- According to the standard, the liquor is golden yellow and clear, and the leaf has a red rim.

11. Interesting Facts

The word “qízhǒng” was the name of a quality class long before it became the name of a product group of the standard.
According to the descriptions, the named bushes of Wuyishan were selected from the same seed population that gave qízhǒng.
In the 2006 standard qízhǒng has four grades — as many as Shuixian, and more than Da Hong Pao and Rougui.
The seed nature of classic qízhǒng and the standard’s requirement of clonal propagation diverge — this is an open question.

12. Comparison with Other Wuyishan Teas

Wuyi Yancha (武夷岩茶): The umbrella name within which qízhǒng is one of five groups.
Da Hong Pao (大红袍): The best-known group; in the highest grade — a “sharp, rich and long, or subtle, clean and far-reaching” aroma against the “high and clean” one of qízhǒng.
Tie Luohan (铁罗汉): One of the named bushes of Wuyishan; according to trade descriptions, the named bushes were selected from the same local seed population.
Shuixian (水仙): An introduced variety with the same four grades, but with a distinct varietal character.

In Conclusion:

Wǔyíshān qízhǒng is a group of Wuyishan rock tea whose name is older than the standard itself. Once the word “qízhǒng” stood in the names of the top quality classes and denoted the motley bushes of the seed population among the rocks; today it is one of the five groups of the standard, with its own table — a high, clean aroma, a clean, sweet taste, a golden liquor and a leaf with a bright red rim — and its own mark. Where its boundary with the clonal varieties runs, the documents do not yet say.