---
title: "Wùyuán lǜchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/wuyuan-lucha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Wùyuán lǜchá (婺源绿茶)

*Wùyuán lǜchá* (婺源绿茶) is a green tea of Wuyuan County (婺源县) in Shangrao prefecture-level city, in the northeast of Jiangxi Province. It is not one tea but a protected name over a whole family: the provincial standard assigns to it both the small-batch “famous” teas — Wuyuan Mingmei and Wuyuan Tegong — and the refined export Zhenmei. The name has been protected as a geographical indication product since 2008; the 2025 CNIPA protection requirements differ from the provincial standard on several points.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*): the class is given in the name, and the technology under the standard is fixation, rolling and drying.
* **Category:** A protected county name: under the standard — “*Wùlǜ* famous teas” (婺绿名茶) and “*Wùlǜ* refined teas” (婺绿精制茶).
* **Origin:** China, Jiangxi Province (江西, *Jiāngxī*), Shangrao prefecture-level city (上饶, *Shàngráo*), Wuyuan County (婺源, *Wùyuán*).
* **Protection zone:** The present administrative territory of Wuyuan County. This is how it is described by announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and by the provincial standard; neither of them gives a list of townships or coordinates, and the standard attaches only a map.
* **Geographic coordinates:** An exact frame was not found in the sources consulted.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Ancient mentions.** In its presentation of the product, the Mission of China to the EU quotes a line from Lu Yu's *The Classic of Tea* (茶经): “歙州茶生于婺源山谷” — “the tea of Shezhou grows in the mountain valleys of Wuyuan”. The same publication writes that the *History of Song* counts Wuyuan's Xieyuan tea (谢源茶) among the six “peerless” (绝品) teas of the country, and that under the Ming and Qing Wuyuan green tea was sent as tribute to the court.
    * **Export.** According to the same publication, Wuyuan green tea reached foreign markets as early as the 18th century: under Qianlong it was exported to England, and under Xianfeng four Wuyuan tea firms, among them “Yu Dechang” (俞德昌), shipped several thousand chests of green tea to Hong Kong.
    * **2008.** By announcement No. 122, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) placed *Wùyuán lǜchá* under protection as a geographical indication product.
    * **Agricultural product register.** The name is also entered in the Ministry of Agriculture's register of agricultural product geographical indications under number AGI00242 — among the first few hundred entries of the register.
    * **2013 and 2024.** The first provincial standard was DB36/T 752-2013; it was replaced by DB36/T 752-2024, published on 26 March 2024 and in force since 1 September 2024. The new edition added quality requirements and refined the physico-chemical indicators.
    * **Agreement with the EU.** *Wùyuán lǜchá* is among the first hundred Chinese names placed under protection under the China–EU agreement on geographical indications. According to the presentation, the tea is sold in more than 60 countries and regions.
    * **2025.** CNIPA announcement No. 640 (row 627) recognized *Wùyuán lǜchá* as a geographical indication product; the applicant is the People's Government of Wuyuan County. The approved protection requirements replaced the section and the annex on quality from the 2008 announcement.
* **Name:** “*Wùyuán*” (婺源) is the name of the county, and “*lǜchá*” (绿茶) means green tea. The historical trade name is *wùlǜ* (婺绿), after the first character of the county's name.
* **Cultural significance:** Wuyuan historically belonged to Huizhou prefecture, and “*Wùlǜ*” stands in the export nomenclature next to Tunlü ([屯绿](https://thetea.app/article/tunlu)) of Anhui.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** The two documents name different ones. Under the standard, the main varieties are the local Wuyuan population (婺源[群体种](https://thetea.app/article/qunti-zhong), *Wùyuán qúntǐzhǒng*) and the clones bred from it — Shangmeizhou (上梅州, *Shàngméizhōu*), Gancha No. 2 (赣茶2号, *Gànchá 2*) and Wulü No. 1 (婺绿1号, *Wùlǜ 1*) — as well as other suitable varieties. The 2025 CNIPA protection requirements list Shangmeizhou (written here as 上梅洲), Zhangke No. 1 (鄣科1号, *Zhāngkē 1*), Wucha Nos. 1, 2, 34 and 43 (婺茶, *Wùchá*) and Shangxizao (上溪早, *Shàngxīzǎo*), “and others”; the local population is not on this list.
* **Harvest standard:** Under the standard, the share of the required shoots in the fresh leaf for the small-batch teas is as follows:

| Kind | Grade | Fresh leaf requirement |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Wuyuan Mingmei | Gongpin (贡品) | Single buds — more than 80 % |
| Wuyuan Mingmei | Zhenpin (珍品) | Buds and buds with one leaf — more than 80 % |
| Wuyuan Tegong | Top grade (特级) | A bud with one or two leaves — more than 60 % |
| Wuyuan Tegong | First grade (一级) | A bud with two or three leaves — more than 60 % |

* **Raw material for Zhenmei:** Tender shoots of spring, summer and autumn.
* **Under the CNIPA requirements:** A bud, or a bud with one, two or three leaves — depending on which tea is being made.
* **Harvest time:** Neither the standard nor the CNIPA requirements name exact dates.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The northeast of Jiangxi. The Mission of China to the EU describes the county as surrounded by the Huaiyushan (怀玉山) and Huangshan (黄山) mountains, with a mild climate, abundant rain and mists.
* **Forest cover:** According to the same publication, 82.64 % of the territory is covered by forest.
* **Soils:** The standard requires soils with an acidity of pH 4.5–6.5, a deep soil layer and organic matter of not less than 1.0 %. The CNIPA requirements give the same pH and organic matter, a layer not thinner than 0.3 m and a slope no steeper than 35°.
* **Growing altitude:** The CNIPA protection requirements say only “above 100 m”; more precise data were not found in the sources consulted.
* **Planting:** Under the CNIPA requirements — cutting-grown seedlings, not more than 2,500 bushes per mu in single rows and 5,000 in double rows.
* **Conventional and organic gardens:** For each kind of production the standard refers to its own provincial regulations.

**5. Production Technology:**

The sequence is set by the standard — this is a description of *Wùyuán lǜchá* specifically, not a general scheme for the class. Mingmei and Tegong:

1.  **Spreading of the fresh leaf (摊青, *tānqīng*).**
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*)** and cooling.
3.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*).**
4.  **Second pan-firing (炒二青, *chǎo èrqīng*):** Pan-firing of the semi-finished leaf and straightening of the strands (炒坯、理条), then cooling.
5.  **Third pan-firing (炒三青, *chǎo sānqīng*):** Shaping, then cooling.
6.  **Final drying (足干, *zúgān*)** in a dryer or in a pan.

The same sequence, with sorting and packing at the end, is written into the 2025 CNIPA protection requirements.

Zhenmei is made in two stages: the same primary processing yields pan-fired raw tea (炒青毛茶), and then comes refining — sieving into grades, removal of stalks, winnowing, color sorting, drying with color finishing, and blending of lots (匀堆, *yúnduī*).

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The standard sets the appearance for each kind and grade. Below is the top grade of Wuyuan Mingmei.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Slightly curved, “like an eyebrow”, fine and tight, with clearly visible white down, tender green with a sheen, even and clean (微弯似眉，细紧，白毫显露，嫩绿润，匀净).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** The standard does not describe it; data were not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Tender or floral, long-lasting (嫩香或花香持久).
* **Taste:** Fresh and brisk (鲜爽).
* **Liquor color:** Tender green, clear and bright (嫩绿清亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Tender, even, lively, with visible buds (嫩匀鲜活，显芽).

First-grade Wuyuan Tegong has a clean or chestnut aroma (清香或栗香), and its liquor is yellow-green. Top-grade Zhenmei is a fine, tight leaf with sharp tips, green with a grey-blue bloom (细紧显锋苗，绿润起霜), with a tender, long-lasting aroma and a fresh, rich taste.

The 2025 CNIPA requirements divide the tea differently — Mingmei, top grade, first grade and Zhenmei — and describe Mingmei in their own words: a fine, tight twist with plump buds, a tender green color with an oily sheen, a high, long-lasting aroma, a fresh taste with a sweet aftertaste, and a clear, tender green liquor.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The 2024 standard sets the following limits. These are norms, not measurements of a particular batch.

| Indicator | Mingmei and Tegong | Zhenmei |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Moisture | not more than 7.0 % | not more than 7.0 % |
| Fines and dust | not more than 1.0 % | not more than 1.0 % |
| Total ash | not more than 6.5 % | not more than 7.0 % |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 38 % | not less than 36 % |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 13 % | not less than 13 % |

The 2025 CNIPA requirements are milder: for Mingmei, top grade and first grade — ash up to 7.0 %, extractives from 36.0 %, for Zhenmei — from 34.0 %, fines up to 1.5 %; moisture — 6.5 % on leaving the factory and 7.0–7.5 % on sale. Polyphenols are not included there. Open sources do not say which document takes precedence on the market.

Measurements of amino acids and caffeine were not found in the sources consulted.

**8. Health Properties:**

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

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice for green tea.

* **Wuyuan Mingmei and Tegong:** 80–85 °C, 3 g per 150 ml, a glass tumbler or a white gaiwan; the first infusion after 40–60 seconds, two or three further infusions, leaving part of the liquor.
* **Zhenmei:** 85 °C, the first infusion about one minute.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice: in airtight packaging, away from light, moisture and odors; best drunk within a year. The standard requires a clean, dry, cool warehouse free of odors and prescribes low-temperature storage under the industry regulation NY/T 3913.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data were not found in the sources consulted. There is one name, but the raw material differs: from single buds for Mingmei gongpin to summer and autumn leaf for Zhenmei.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark: a producer from the county obtains the right to it after review at county and provincial level and approval by CNIPA.
    * Check that the producer is from Wuyuan County.
    * Compare the kind and grade on the package with the appearance of the leaf.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* One protected name covers both tea made of single buds and the refined Zhenmei, which the standard calls “Chunmee tea” in English.
* Under the standard, the top grade of Mingmei is called “gongpin” (贡品) — the same word as for tribute presented to the court.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Wuyuan Xian Zhi ([婺源仙枝](https://thetea.app/article/wuyuan-xian-zhi)):** A tea of the same county, described in the corpus; the 2024 standard does not name it, but the standard's list of kinds is open (等, “and others”).
* **Tunlü (屯绿):** An Anhui export green tea of the former Huizhou prefecture.
* **Yaoli Nenrui ([瑶里嫩蕊](https://thetea.app/article/yaoli-nenrui)):** A green tea of the neighboring Jingdezhen prefecture-level city in the northeast of the same province.

**In Conclusion:**

*Wùyuán lǜchá* is the protected name of a whole county family of green teas: Wuyuan Mingmei made of buds, slightly curved like an eyebrow, the tight Wuyuan Tegong and the refined export Zhenmei. The 2024 standard describes each kind by grade, the 2025 CNIPA requirements do so in their own way, and their varieties and limits do not coincide; the name “*Wùlǜ*” recalls the long history of Wuyuan tea exports.