Xùpǔ yáochá (溆浦瑶茶) is the “Yao tea” of Xupu County (溆浦县), Huaihua prefecture-level city, Hunan Province, a geographical indication product since 2019. The name is misleading: this is not the leaf of the tea bush Camellia sinensis but a “sweet tea” (甜茶, tiánchá) made from the young leaves of the tree 木姜叶柯 (Lithocarpus litseifolius) of the beech family. The product is protected and sold as “tea”, but it does not belong to the six classes of tea.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Not tea in the botanical sense. Official texts write: “学名木姜叶柯，俗称甜茶” — the scientific name of the plant is 木姜叶柯, popularly “sweet tea”.
- Category: A tea-like drink not from the tea plant; a geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Hunan Province (湖南, Húnán), Huaihua prefecture-level city (怀化, Huáihuà), Xupu County (溆浦, Xùpǔ); the Xuefeng Mountains (雪峰山, Xuěfēng shān) in the southeast of the county.
- Protection status: Geographical indication product: announcement No. 331 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), protection since 8 October 2019. The name appears in announcement No. 660 of 30 December 2025 on admitting enterprises to use the special mark.
- Protection zone: Nineteen townships and towns of Xupu County: Lufeng (卢峰镇), Dizhuang (低庄镇), Shenzihu (深子湖镇), Zushidian (祖师殿镇), Qiaojiang (桥江镇), Youyang (油洋乡), Sanjiang (三江镇), Shuidong (水东镇), Tongxihe (统溪河镇), Xiaohenglong (小横垅乡), Taojinping (淘金坪乡), Liangyaping (两丫坪镇), Zhongdu (中都乡), Yanxi (沿溪乡), Beidouxi (北斗溪镇), Gezhuping (葛竹坪镇), Longzhuangwan (龙庄湾乡), Longtan (龙潭镇) and Huangmaoyuan (黄茅园镇).
- Geographic coordinates: Xupu County — about 27.9° N and 110.6° E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- A line from The Classic of Tea. Lu Yu in The Classic of Tea (茶经) cites an entry from the Kunyuan Lu (坤元录): in Xupu County of Chenzhou prefecture, on festive days relatives gather and dance on a mountain where there are “many tea trees” (山多茶树). Modern Hunan publications take these trees to be 木姜叶柯; the ancient text speaks simply of tea trees, and the identification belongs to modern authors.
- Age of the tradition. An official report of 2019 writes of “more than 1,500 years” of drinking yáochá, a newspaper of 2018 of “more than 1,300 years”.
- The legend of Lin Zexu. According to legend (相传), in the 17th year of Daoguang (1837), the Viceroy of Huguang Lin Zexu (林则徐), touring these places, stopped at the Shanyin pavilion (善因亭); the Yao boiled fresh leaf for him, the drink turned out to be sweet, and it was named “Xùpǔ yáochá”.
- 2013. According to the product descriptions, an entrepreneur from Yanxi township, together with mountain residents, among whom there were 275 poor families, established contiguous plantings of 木姜叶柯 with an area of more than 530 ha. The scientists who prepared the application called this industry an important basis for protecting the name.
- 2019. Protection since 8 October. According to a report of the Hunan Administration for Market Regulation, the product was part of the first batch taken under protection after the reform of government agencies and became the twelfth such product of Huaihua prefecture.
- 2021. The county adopted rules for protecting the name and issuing the special mark (“溆浦瑶茶地理标志产品保护管理办法”).
- 2023. The Hunan Administration for Market Regulation put a draft of a new edition of the local standard “地理标志产品 溆浦瑶茶” out for discussion.
- 2024. The Hunan local standard DB43/T 1993-2024 “地理标志产品 溆浦瑶茶” was published (issued on 12 July, in force since 12 September), replacing the 2021 edition. The rules for dwarf cultivation of 木姜叶柯 (木姜叶柯（瑶茶）矮化栽培技术规程) also became a local standard.
- Name: “Xùpǔ” (溆浦) is the name of the county; “yáo” (瑶) refers to the Yao people who live in the mountains of the county; “chá” (茶) is tea in the broad sense, any infusion from a leaf. Popularly the plant is called “sweet tea”.
- Cultural significance: According to the 2018 newspaper and an article on the website of the Hunan Forestry Bureau, “yáochá rice” (瑶茶饭) is cooked in the decoction, and “yáochá zongzi” (瑶茶粽子) are made for the Duanwu festival; a song, “溆浦瑶茶”, is sung about the drink. The county newspaper links the picking area with the mountains where the Hua Yao (花瑶) live.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Plant: 木姜叶柯 (mùjiāngyè kē, Lithocarpus litseifolius (Hance) Chun) — an evergreen tree of the genus Lithocarpus (柯属) of the beech family (壳斗科). According to a report of the Huaihua government, it grows in Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi.
- Raw material: Tender leaves of the current year — according to the product requirements. According to the official 2019 report, 木姜叶柯 grows in all nineteen townships of the zone over an area of more than 80,000 mu, and up to 20,000 t of fresh leaf can be picked a year. Besides wild trees, there have been plantings since 2013.
- Harvest time: From the beginning of April to mid-May, around the Guyu season (谷雨) — according to the product requirements.
- Propagation and planting: According to the same requirements — by division of the bush, division of the roots or cuttings; 5,300–6,000 plants per hectare; planting from December to February.
- Varieties: In the tea sense there are none; named selected forms of 木姜叶柯 for Xupu were not found in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The west of Hunan, the Xuefeng Mountains in the southeast of the county.
- Growing altitude: The product requirements name 200–1,200 m; the official 2019 report gives 300–800 m for the main area.
- Soils: According to the requirements — red soils, yellow soils and yellow-brown soils, organic matter not less than 2.8%, pH not higher than 7. The scientists who prepared the application believe that the leaf from here is richer in flavonoids than the raw material of Jiangxi and Chongqing; this is the applicants’ assessment.
5. Production Technology
The traditional method, according to a 2018 newspaper publication: in spring and summer the Yao pick young leaves, dry them in the sun in a special way and then boil a drink from them. The requirements for the protected product describe a factory chain similar to the technology of green tea and give the conditions for several stages:
- Spreading of the leaf (摊放, tānfàng): Until the moisture drops to 65–70%.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Fast — 40–50 seconds at 300–320 °C.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): At least twice: first by hand, then, after cooling, by machine.
- Low-temperature drying (低温烘干, dīwēn hōnggān) and repeated machine rolling.
- Drum pan-firing (滚炒, gǔnchǎo) and repeated drying — to a moisture of no more than 10%.
- Sorting (筛选, shāixuǎn) and heating to bring out the aroma (提香, tíxiāng) — to a moisture of no more than 7%.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below follows the requirements for the protected product.
- Dry leaf appearance: Curled and firm (卷曲紧实), the color dark green, “ink-green” (墨绿).
- Dry leaf aroma: The requirements call the smell “clean” (气味清香), without specifying what it smells of.
- Liquor aroma: Clean (清香); the official 2019 report — “natural clean aroma” (天然清香).
- Taste: Sweet (甘甜). A commercial description notes sweetness without bitterness or astringency.
- Liquor color: According to the requirements — light yellow, with a bright green sheen (浅黄、绿亮); the official 2019 report and the press write “golden yellow” (汤色金黄).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): No descriptions found in the sources consulted.
7. Chemical Composition
Physico-chemical requirements for the protected product:
| Indicator | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Total flavonoids | not less than 15 g/kg |
| Water extract | not less than 41% |
| Moisture | not more than 7% |
| Total ash | not more than 6.5% |
The 2018 press gives the share of flavonoids as 9–14% — this is not a requirement. According to an article by researchers of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the sweetness of the 木姜叶柯 leaf comes from dihydrochalcones; a commercial description names phlorizin (根皮苷) and trilobatin (三叶苷) and claims that there is no caffeine or theanine in the leaf. No measurements were found in the sources consulted.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular product. Official texts call it “cordyceps on a tree” (树上的虫草) — this is an advertising formula, not an argument.
9. Brewing
Class practice. No brewing parameters for Xùpǔ yáochá were found in the sources consulted; traditionally the leaf is boiled. As a guide for the factory-made rolled leaf — the practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 85–90 °C.
- Amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a gaiwan.
- Process: The first infusion — about a minute, then two or three further infusions; by local custom the leaf is boiled.
10. Storage
Class practice. The dry product (moisture no more than 7%) is kept in tight packaging, in a dry, dark place, away from odors.
11. Price and Counterfeits
No price data were found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark: it is issued only to authorized producers.
- Check the origin: only raw material from the nineteen townships and towns of Xupu County may be sold under the name “溆浦瑶茶”. “Sweet tea” from 木姜叶柯 of other provinces is a different product.
12. Interesting Facts
- Xupu is named in Lu Yu’s The Classic of Tea — in the quotation from the Kunyuan Lu about festive days on a mountain where there are “many tea trees”.
- According to legend, the name “Xùpǔ yáochá” appeared after Lin Zexu was treated to the drink.
13. Comparison with Other Infusions Not from the Tea Bush
- Kuding (苦丁茶): Also a “tea” from the leaves of evergreen plants, but a bitter one.
- Buckwheat tea (苦荞茶): A drink from buckwheat grain, also not tea in the botanical sense.
- Lagou Gonggan Yaocha (拉沟公敢瑶茶): For contrast — a true tea from old trees of Guangxi with the same word “yáochá” in its name.
In Conclusion:
Xùpǔ yáochá is a sweet infusion from the leaves of 木姜叶柯 from the Xuefeng Mountains, protected since 2019: a curled dark-green leaf, a clean aroma, a sweet taste, a light-yellow liquor. It is “tea” in the popular sense of the word, not in the botanical one.
Sources
Standards
Full list — on the Sources page