---
title: "Xiùshān cháyè"
url: https://thetea.app/article/xiushan-chaye
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Xiùshān cháyè (秀山茶叶)

*Xiùshān cháyè* (秀山茶叶) — “Xiushan tea” — is a rolled green tea of Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County (秀山土家族苗族自治县) in the southeast of Chongqing, in the Wulingshan Mountains (武陵山). Under this name the China National Intellectual Property Administration recognized it as a geographical indication product by announcement No. 640 (signed on 16 July 2025, published on 13 August 2025). The protection requirements describe fine, tight strands with sharp tips and a yellow-green sheen, a clean, lasting aroma and a fresh, brisk taste. It should not be confused with the neighboring protected name of the same county — Xiushan Maojian ([秀山毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/xiushan-maojian), 2018): these are different registrations with different requirements.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The class follows from the technology in the protection requirements: fixation, rolling and drying, without oxidation or smothering. The description from the time of the agricultural indication also calls Xiushan tea a select one among green teas (绿茶中的精品).
* **Name:** 秀山 (*Xiùshān*) is the name of the county, 茶叶 (*cháyè*) means “tea leaf”, that is, simply “tea”. The name does not state the class.
* **Category:** Rolled green tea; geographical indication product (2025).
* **Origin:** China, Chongqing municipality (重庆, *Chóngqìng*), Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County (秀山, *Xiùshān*).
* **Protection zone:** 11 townships and towns of the county, with 109 administrative villages. The towns are 钟灵镇, 隘口镇, 洪安镇, 峨溶镇, 清溪场镇, 雅江镇, 溪口镇 and 涌洞镇; the townships are 孝溪乡, 中平乡 and 海洋乡.
* **Geographic coordinates:** 108°43′6″–109°18′58″ E and 28°9′43″–28°53′5″ N — the boundaries of the zone according to the protection requirements.
* **Applicant:** The agricultural technical service center of the county (秀山土家族苗族自治县农业技术服务中心).

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Ancient mentions of the region.** The county government places Xiushan in the region of “巴山峡川”, which Lu Yu's *The Classic of Tea* (《茶经》) mentions, and in the Jian'an years of the Eastern Han — on the southern edge of Fuling Commandery (涪陵郡); of it the *Huayang Guozhi* (《华阳国志》) writes that the commandery supplied tea, cinnabar, lacquer, honey and wax. This is the history of the region, not of the name.
    * **Ming and Qing.** According to the county government, from the late Ming — early Qing tea became an important commodity in Xiushan's exchange with the outside world, and in the late Qing a tribute to the court. A document on the tribute is not found in the sources consulted.
    * **Oral tradition.** The description from the time of the agricultural indication retells the stories of old farmers: the teas of three villages — “猛洞茶”, “平邑茶” and “尖山茶” — were supposedly considered tribute teas at the turn of the Qing and the Republic, and there was a saying “a dou of rice for a jin of tea” (斗米换斤茶). This is a tradition recounted by old residents, not a document.
    * **Agricultural indication.** According to the same secondary description, the name was previously registered as an agricultural product geographical indication (农产品地理标志). The year of this registration is not confirmed in the sources consulted.
    * **2025.** Announcement No. 640 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration recognized 1409 names as geographical indication products. *Xiùshān cháyè* is item 1203: the information on it is in the first annex, the protection requirements in the second.
* **Neighboring name:** According to the Chongqing intellectual property administration, Xiushan Maojian became a geographical indication on 28 December 2018 — this is a separate registration (section 13).
* **Cultural significance:** The county government describes a system in which tea grows together with the forest (林-茶复合农业生态系统): above the gardens is forest, below are fields, rivers and villages. The cultivation and making of the neighboring Xiushan Maojian, according to the county website, is an item of intangible heritage at the municipal level; its main areas — the towns of Hong'an and Zhongling and Haiyang Township — are within the zone of *Xiùshān cháyè*.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** The protection requirements name two varieties — 福鼎大毫 (*Fúdǐng dàháo*) and 蜀永1号 (*Shǔyǒng 1 hào*). For traditional Xiushan Maojian the county government names century-old bushes of the Sichuan small-leaf variety (川小[叶种](https://thetea.app/article/qiaomuguanmu), *chuān xiǎoyè zhǒng*) as the best raw material; this does not apply to the requirements for *Xiùshān cháyè*.
* **Raw material:** At least 70 % of the raw material is spring shoots of “a bud and two leaves”; “a bud and a leaf” and “a bud and three leaves” account for less than 30 %.
* **Harvest:** By hand, in batches.
* **Harvest time:** Spring; there are no exact dates in the requirements.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The Wulingshan Mountains on the southeastern edge of Chongqing. According to the description from the time of the agricultural indication, the zone consists of four sections and borders Huayuan County (花垣) of Hunan Province and the counties of Songtao (松桃) and Youyang (酉阳).
* **Growing altitude:** From 700 m — according to the protection requirements. The county government places the traditional gardens at 500–800 m, the description from the time of the agricultural indication — above 800 m.
* **Soils:** Yellow and red, slightly acidic — according to the protection requirements.
* **Climate:** According to the description from the time of the agricultural indication, there is much fog in winter and spring, and it is cloudy in summer and autumn (冬春多雾，夏秋多云).
* **Area and output:** The description from the time of the agricultural indication gives 6666.7 ha of protected territory and 6000 t of fresh leaf a year. These figures are not confirmed by the 2025 requirements.

**5. Production Technology:**

The sequence according to the protection requirements:

1.  **Spreading the fresh leaf (摊青, *tānqīng*):** The leaf is spread in a layer of 3–10 cm and turned every 30 minutes.
2.  **Fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*):** Heating stops oxidation. There are no numerical parameters in the requirements.
3.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*):** The share of rolled leaf is 90 %, of fragments less than 2 %.
4.  **Drying in a dryer (烘干, *hōnggān*):** In two stages: the first drying to a moisture content of 35–40 %, the second to 15–20 %. The final moisture content of the finished tea is not named in the requirements.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

The description below follows the protection requirements; the text from the time of the agricultural indication gives the same description.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Fine, tight strands with sharp tips (条索紧细、有锋苗), yellow-green, with a sheen (色泽黄绿润).
* **Dry leaf aroma:** A separate description is not found in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** Clean and lasting (清香持久).
* **Taste:** Fresh and brisk (滋味鲜爽).
* **Liquor color:** Yellow-green, bright (汤色黄绿明亮).
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Yellow-green, glossy, tender and even (叶底黄绿亮、嫩匀).

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical limits according to the protection requirements:

| Indicator | Value |
| :--- | :--- |
| Water-soluble extractives | 38.0–50.0 % |
| Tea polyphenols | 13.0–24.0 % |
| Amino acids | 1.8–4.5 % |
| Caffeine | 1.8–4.0 % |

The same limits appear in the description from the time of the agricultural indication. These are norms for the product, not measurements of a specific batch.

**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:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
    3. The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    4. Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
    5. Top up with water.
    6. Two or three further infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the special geographical indication mark. The application for the right to use it goes through the county intellectual property office, is checked by the Chongqing administration and approved by the national administration; the lists of authorized producers have not been checked.
    * Check that the tea is made in one of the 11 townships and towns of the zone.
    * The leaf — fine strands with sharp tips and a yellow-green sheen; the liquor — yellow-green and bright.
    * Do not confuse “秀山茶叶” and “秀山[毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/mao-jian)”: these are different protected names, and the mark of one does not replace the other.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* Two protected tea names live in one county: Xiushan Maojian (2018) and *Xiùshān cháyè* (2025). Their descriptions differ in variety, altitude and raw material.
* One unit of the zone is named differently: in the description from the time of the agricultural indication — as a township (涌洞乡), in the 2025 requirements — as a town (涌洞镇).

**13. Comparison with Other Teas:**

* **Xiushan Maojian (秀山毛尖):** The neighboring protected name of the same county (2018): pan-firing in a wok, the Sichuan small-leaf variety, an aroma of young chestnut. *Xiùshān cháyè* has two modern varieties and drying in a dryer.
* **Guzhang Maojian ([古丈毛尖](https://thetea.app/article/guzhang-mao-jian)):** A green tea of Guzhang County in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan — also from the Wulingshan Mountains, on the other side of the provincial border.
* **Nanchuan Lücha ([南川绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/nanchuan-lucha)):** A green tea of Nanchuan District of the same Chongqing.
* **Yongchuan Xiuya ([永川秀芽](https://thetea.app/article/yongchuan-xiu-ya)):** Another well-known green tea of Chongqing.

**In Conclusion:**

*Xiùshān cháyè* is a green tea of southeastern Chongqing that received the simple name “Xiushan tea” together with detailed requirements: 11 townships and towns, two varieties, gardens from 700 m, spring shoots of “a bud and two leaves”, fine yellow-green strands and a clean, lasting aroma. As a protected product the name appeared in 2025, and it lives alongside the Xiushan Maojian mark, with which it is easy to confuse.