---
title: "Xiǎohú shuǐxiān"
url: https://thetea.app/article/xiaohu-shuixian
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Xiǎohú shuǐxiān (小湖水仙)

*Xiǎohú shuǐxiān* (小湖[水仙](https://thetea.app/article/shui-xian)) is the geographical indication mark of Xiaohu town (小湖镇) in Jianyang District of Nanping city, Fujian Province, for tea from the *shuǐxiān* variety. The town is the place where, according to the chronicle of Jian'ou County, the variety itself was found: in Dahu village, by a cave on Mount Yancha. During the Guangxu reign, tea was shipped from here under the name “岩叉水仙”, and in Dahu, according to the local newspaper, merchants from Guangdong and Hong Kong opened shops. The 2017 mark secures for the town its own name within Jianyang *shuǐxiān*; it is two and a half years older than the district mark “[建阳水仙](https://thetea.app/article/jianyang-shuixian)”. The goods of the mark are recorded simply as “tea”, and in Jianyang the variety goes into both oolong and white tea, which is why the article is placed among the overview articles.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** The class is not established by the mark: the goods are recorded as “茶”. The district newspaper (2017) describes Dahu *shuǐxiān* as an oolong (乌龙茶, *wūlóngchá*) — “the taste of an oolong after brewing”; from the same variety, Jianyang also makes the white Shuixian Bai ([水仙白](https://thetea.app/article/shuixian-bai)).
* **Category:** A town-level mark on a variety in the place of its origin; a name spanning several possible classes.
* **Origin:** China, Fujian Province (福建, *Fújiàn*), Nanping city (南平, *Nánpíng*), Jianyang District (建阳区, *Jiànyáng qū*), Xiaohu town (小湖, *Xiǎohú*); the historical place of the find is Dahu village (大湖村).
* **Zone of the mark:** The provincial list names Jianyang as the administrative affiliation of the holder — the rural development center of Xiaohu town (南平市建阳区小湖镇乡村振兴发展中心). The boundary of the town as the zone of the mark is not confirmed; I have not seen the legal boundary.
* **Protection regime:** Geographical indication certification mark of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) No. 17925384, class 30, goods — tea; registered on 28 March 2017. In the list as of 30 June 2026, the registration is in force.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Jianyang District — about 27.3° N and 118.1° E; I have not found the coordinates of the town itself.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **The find according to the chronicle.** The Jianyang district newspaper (2017) quotes the *Jian'ou County Chronicle* (《建瓯县志》), compiled in 1929: *shuǐxiān* “comes from Mount Yancha (岩叉山) of Dahu village, Xiaohu township” in Heyili (禾义里); on the mountain there is the Zhutaoxian cave (祝桃仙洞); a resident of Xiqianchang who was cutting firewood in the mountains found by the cave a fragrant plant resembling tea and transplanted it to his garden, and the tea from its leaf turned out to be “the first in aroma among all teas”.
    * **Time.** Some date the find to the beginning of the Daoguang years, others simply to the Daoguang years. The *Xiaohu Town Chronicle* (《小湖镇志》), according to the same newspaper, considers the beginning of Daoguang closer to the truth, that is, the 1820s.
    * **Why Jian'ou.** According to the newspaper, Dahu historically belonged to lands that are today subordinate to Jian'ou, and the Jian'ou dialect was spoken there; *Fujian Ribao* (2025) also writes that Xiaohu was for a time part of Jian'ou. This explains why the find is described by the Jian'ou chronicle and not the Jianyang one.
    * **Heyday in the Guangxu reign.** According to the same newspaper, “岩叉水仙” was shipped out most of all at that time; merchants from Guangdong and Hong Kong opened tea shops in Dahu, trade in the best years exceeded ten thousand dan, and on the Nanpuxi River in the spring tea season up to three hundred-odd boats lay at anchor.
    * **1925.** According to an account by the local leadership cited by the newspaper, the “Huang Rongmao” shop from Dahu blended *shuǐxiān* from Mount Tiantai with that of Dahu and took first prize at the provincial tea competition of northern Fujian; the then governor of the province presented the shop with a board inscribed “武夷春色” — “Spring in Wuyi”.
    * **2017.** The certification mark “小湖水仙” No. 17925384 was registered — earlier than the district mark “建阳水仙” (September 2019) and three months before the mark “武夷山水仙”.
* **Mother bush:** The 1929 chronicle wrote that “the mother tree in Xiqianchang is alive to this day”. The 2017 newspaper reports that this bush was later found withered. Later local press writes of a protection zone around the mother bush in Dahu. Whether it is the same bush cannot be established from the sources consulted.
* **Name:** “Xiaohu” (小湖) is the name of the town, “small lake”. “Shuixian” (水仙, *shuǐxiān*) is the name of the variety, “water fairy”, which is what the narcissus is called in Chinese. According to the newspaper, in the Jian'ou dialect “祝仙” (after the name of the cave) and “水仙” sound alike, hence the name; others explain it by the aroma of the narcissus.
* **Cultural significance:** For the town *shuǐxiān* is the main crop: according to the newspaper, tea grows in almost every village, and most of it is *shuǐxiān*. The town leadership, according to the same newspaper, is betting not on expanding areas but on quality and nature; Xiaohu holds the title of provincial ecological town.

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

* **Variety:** *Shuǐxiān* (水仙), Fujian *shuǐxiān*. According to *Fujian Ribao* (2025) — a semi-arbor (小[乔木](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu)型), large-leaf (大叶类), with a thick fleshy leaf; especially suited to oolong, but it also performs well in white and red tea. A triploid, propagated by cuttings and layering, its buds break late. In 1984 it was recognized as the national elite variety “华茶9号” (GSCT9).
* **Harvest time:** According to the district newspaper, the variety buds late, and picking usually begins after the Qingming festival.
* **Harvest standard:** Not described for the mark in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Northern Fujian, Jianyang District; according to the district newspaper, the Nanpuxi River (南浦溪), a tributary of the Jianxi, flows through the town.
* **Altitude, soils, climate:** No data for the zone of the mark in the sources consulted.
* **Areas:** According to the newspaper (2017), neither the area nor the output of *shuǐxiān* in the town has yet exceeded its historical maximum; the newspaper gives no figures.

**5. Production Technology:**

No document setting the technology for the mark was found in the sources consulted. For the two classes in which the variety is used, the general schemes are as follows:

* ***Shuǐxiān* oolong** according to the national standard GB/T 30357.4—2015:
    1. **Moderate withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*).**
    2. **Tossing and oxidation (做青, *zuòqīng*).**
    3. **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*).**
    4. **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*).**
    5. **Drying (烘干, *hōnggān*).**
* **White tea** from the same variety — withering and drying, without fixation and rolling.

Both schemes are general for the class, not a description of the product under the mark; no parameters were found in the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

No descriptions of the product under the mark were found in the sources consulted. Below is the description of *shuǐxiān* from the district newspaper’s article about Dahu (2017); it is given for the variety in oolong, not for the mark. *Fujian Ribao* (2025) assigns Xiaohu *shuǐxiān* to the “school of the original taste” (本味系): the soft and long character of the variety, a pure orchid aroma, a full and sweet taste.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Larger than ordinary tea, oily-glossy, black-brown (油亮乌褐色).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Orchid, in some batches milky or the aroma of the narcissus flower; after brewing the aroma is clearer and longer.
* **Taste:** Fresh and full (茶味鲜醇).
* **Liquor color:** Deep (茶色浓重); the newspaper does not name the exact shade.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** No descriptions in the sources consulted.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

No physicochemical data on the product under the mark were found in the sources consulted.

**8. Health Properties:**

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

**9. Brewing:**

Class practice — the parameters depend on whether it is an oolong or a white tea in hand.

* **Oolong:** 95–100 °C, 7–8 g per 110 ml gaiwan, first infusions 15–30 seconds, five to seven infusions, lengthening each.
* **White tea:** 85–90 °C, 4–5 g per 150 ml, first infusion about two minutes, gaiwan or porcelain teapot.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. Airtight, in a dry, cool place, without light and foreign odors.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

No price data were found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the mark “小湖水仙” No. 17925384 and a producer from Xiaohu town.
    * Clarify the class: the mark does not say whether it is an oolong or a white tea.
    * Remember that *shuǐxiān* is the name of a variety that grows all over Fujian; only the mark confirms the place.
    * Do not confuse it with the district mark “建阳水仙” No. 28346009: it is held by another organization — the district industrial crops extension station.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The record of the find of the variety cited by the Jianyang district newspaper is taken not from the Jianyang but from the Jian'ou chronicle: Dahu village once belonged to Jian'ou.
* The name “water fairy”, according to the local explanation, grew out of its consonance with the name of the cave.
* According to an account recorded by the newspaper, in 1925 Dahu *shuǐxiān* blended with that of Mount Tiantai received the board “Spring in Wuyi” — an inscription with the name of the neighboring mountains.
* The town’s mark was registered two and a half years earlier than the mark of the whole district.

**13. Comparison with Other Teas from the Shuixian Variety:**

* **Jianyang Shuixian (建阳水仙):** A district mark for the same variety; Xiaohu is its historical center with its own mark.
* **Nanlu Shuixian ([南路水仙](https://thetea.app/article/nanlu-shuixian)):** A town-level mark of neighboring Jian'ou; the newspaper assigns it to the same “school of the original taste”.
* **Jian'ou Shuixian Cha ([建瓯水仙茶](https://thetea.app/article/jian-ou-shuixian-cha)):** The mark of Jian'ou as a whole; the find of the variety is described by the chronicle of Jian'ou County.
* **Wuyi Yancha ([武夷岩茶](https://thetea.app/article/wuyi-yancha)):** Wuyishan *shuǐxiān* — a rock tea with an emphasis on roasting.
* **Shuixian Bai (水仙白):** A white tea of Jianyang from the same variety.
* **Yongchun Minnan Shuixian ([永春闽南水仙](https://thetea.app/article/yongchun-minnan-shuixian)):** The southern branch, to which the variety came via Wuyishan.

**In Conclusion:**

*Xiǎohú shuǐxiān* is the mark of the place where, according to the chronicle, *shuǐxiān* was found: Dahu village, Mount Yancha, a cave by a woodcutter’s path. The mark does not name the class, and it is more honest to say so — Xiaohu *shuǐxiān* can be both an oolong and a white tea. What is reliable is something else: the chronicle of the find, the trading past of Dahu with its Hong Kong shops and boats on the Nanpuxi, and the 2017 mark, which the town received before its district.