---
title: "Yǒngdìng shānchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/yongding-shancha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Yǒngdìng shānchá (永定山茶)

*Yǒngdìng shānchá* (永定山茶) is an oolong from Yongding District (永定区) of Longyan prefecture-level city in the southwest of Fujian Province, near the border with Guangdong. “*Shānchá*” (山茶) in this name means “mountain tea”: the goods covered by the mark, according to the register, are oolong. Since 2019 the name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark. On the same day the same holder registered the district's second tea mark — “[永定乌龙茶](https://thetea.app/article/yongding-wulongcha)”, also for oolong; what separates the two products is not explained in the sources consulted. I have not found open descriptions of the tea itself — varieties, technology, appearance: more is known about the mark than about the leaf.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Oolong (乌龙茶, *wūlóngchá*) — according to the register: in the provincial list of marks the goods are recorded as “乌龙茶”.
* **Name trap:** Botanists use the word 山茶 for the Japanese camellia, but the mark is registered for oolong, and “*shānchá*” here means “mountain tea”.
* **Category:** Oolong of southwestern Fujian with a geographical indication certification mark (2019).
* **Origin:** China, Fujian Province (福建, *Fújiàn*), Longyan prefecture-level city (龙岩, *Lóngyán*), Yongding District (永定区, *Yǒngdìng qū*).
* **Zone:** The provincial list names Yongding District as the administrative affiliation of the mark holder. I have not found the legal boundary of the zone or the rules of the mark. Yongding is not among the thirty-five counties and districts of the provincial indication Fujian Wulongcha ([福建乌龙茶](https://thetea.app/article/fujian-wulongcha)), as our article on it gives them.
* **Protection regime:** Geographical indication certification mark of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) No. 20593062, class 30, goods — oolong. According to the provincial list as of 30 June 2026, the mark was registered on 28 September 2019; the holder is the Ecological Agriculture Association of Yongding District, Longyan City (龙岩市永定区生态农业协会); the registration is in force.
* **Geographic coordinates:** Yongding District — approximately 24°23′–25°06′ N and 116°25′–117°05′ E (according to the reference on the district).

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Before the mark.** No written history of this tea is found in the sources consulted.
    * **2014–2015.** According to the reference on the district, in December 2014 the State Council agreed to abolish Yongding County and to create Yongding District of Longyan City in its place; the change took effect on 9 February 2015. In older texts the area is called a county.
    * **2019.** On 28 September two marks of one holder were registered on the same day: “永定山茶” (No. 20593062) and “永定乌龙茶” (No. 20730374). Both are for the goods “乌龙茶”.
    * **2024–2025.** *Fujian Ribao* writes about the district's mountain tea gardens — in the towns of Gaotou and Qiling (details in section 4). The newspaper does not mention any link between these gardens and the mark.
* **Name:** “Yongding” (永定) is the name of the district; “*shān*” (山) means “mountain”; “*chá*” (茶) means “tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** Yongding is known for the Hakka tulou — rammed-earth fortress houses. According to the reference on the district, the main tulou clusters are Hongkeng (洪坑), Nanxi (南溪), Gaobei (高北) and Chuxi (初溪); in 2008 the “Fujian Tulou” were inscribed on the World Heritage List. The same source states that the local “永定万应茶” is included in the national list of intangible heritage — but it is a medicinal herbal blend, not an oolong. The sources consulted do not link the “永定山茶” mark with the tulou.

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

* **Varieties / Cultivars:** No data in the sources consulted. I have not seen the rules of the mark with a list of permitted varieties.
* **Raw material:** Raw material requirements are not found in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest standard and timing:** No data for the mark in the sources consulted.

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** Southwestern Fujian. According to the reference on the district, Yongding borders Nanjing, Pinghe and Shanghang counties and Xinluo District, and in the southwest Dabu and Meixian in Guangdong. The terrain is mountains and hills; the highest point is Chiyantou (赤岩头), 1547 m.
* **Holder's town:** The holder association is registered in Hanyang Village (汉洋村) of Hugang Town (虎岗镇). According to the district government's reference, the town lies in two basins — Hugang and Guanyang; Chiyantou peak is in Guanyang. The mean annual temperature is about 18 °C, precipitation about 1643 mm, and the frost-free period ten months. The Guanyang basin lies at an altitude of 650–850 m, with a large difference between day and night temperatures. High-mountain tea ([高山茶](https://thetea.app/article/gao-shan-cha)) is named as one of the town's four main agricultural industries — together with furong plum, off-season vegetables and tobacco.
* **Other tea places in the district:**
    * **Gaotou.** According to *Fujian Ribao* (2024), an ecological tea garden of 2000 mu has been laid out in Gaodong Village of Gaotou Town (高头镇); the newspaper describes the place as high, with fog all year round and abundant rain.
    * **Qiling.** According to the same newspaper (2025), in Neikeng Village of Qiling Town (岐岭镇) a mountain garden of more than 500 mu lies at an average altitude of 800 m, and the town as a whole has more than 1000 mu under tea.
* **Soils:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

I have not found the rules of the mark or requirements for the technology. The newspapers describe production in the district, not the product under the mark, and they describe different things:

* **Gaotou (2024)** — an oolong sequence:
    1.  **Sun withering ([晒青](https://thetea.app/article/shai-qing), *shàiqīng*).**
    2.  **Shaking (摇青, *yáoqīng*).**
    3.  **Pan-firing — fixation (炒青, *chǎoqīng*).**
    4.  **Rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*).**
    5.  **First drying (初烘, *chūhōng*).**
    6.  **Breaking up clumps (打散, *dǎsàn*).**
    7.  **Final drying (烘干, *hōnggān*).**
* **Qiling (2025)** — withering (萎凋, *wěidiāo*), rolling, fermentation (发酵, *fājiào*) and drying; according to the newspaper, it takes eight hours from fresh leaf to finished tea. The newspaper does not name the tea class, but this set of operations is typical of red tea.

Judging by this, the district makes more than just oolong. Which techniques the “永定山茶” mark requires cannot be established from the sources consulted.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

I have not seen a document with requirements for the appearance.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor aroma:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Taste:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Liquor color:** No descriptions in the sources consulted.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** No descriptions in the sources consulted.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

Physicochemical data are 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 oolong; the style of this tea — fresh or rich — is unknown.

* **Water temperature:** 95–100 °C.
* **Tea amount:** 7–8 g per 110 ml gaiwan.
* **Teaware:** Gaiwan or Yixing teapot.
* **Process:**
    1. Warm the teaware.
    2. Add the tea and quickly pour off the first water.
    3. First infusions — 10–20 seconds.
    4. Increase the time a little with each infusion.
    5. A good oolong holds up for six to eight infusions.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. Roasted oolong of the rich style is stored at room temperature; fresh, lightly roasted oolong is better kept cold and drunk within a year.

**11. Price and Counterfeits:**

Price data are not found in the sources consulted.

* **How to avoid counterfeits:**
    * Look for the geographical indication certification mark “永定山茶” No. 20593062; the holder is the district ecological agriculture association.
    * Check that the producer is from Yongding District.
    * Remember that, according to the list, the mark protects only oolong.
    * Do not confuse it with the same holder's second mark, “永定乌龙茶” (No. 20730374), with the medicinal herbal blend “永定万应茶”, or with the “永定茶油” mark — it is registered for edible oil.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The district has two tea marks registered on the same day to one holder and for one product — oolong. Open sources do not say how “mountain tea” differs from “Yongding oolong”.
* The number of the “永定乌龙茶” mark stands in one series with the numbers of the district's marks for taro, dried persimmon, tobacco and pomelo (20730372–20730376), although those have a different holder. The number of “永定山茶” lies apart — 20593062.
* The district's highest point, Chiyantou (1547 m), is in Hugang Town, where the mark holder is registered.
* The word “tea” appears in the name of one more protected product of the district — “永定万应茶”, but it is a medicinal herbal blend with its own protection (2012).

**13. Comparison with Other Teas of Longyan and Its Neighbors:**

* **Yongding Wulongcha (永定乌龙茶):** The district's second mark — the same holder, the same date, the same goods. The difference between the products is not described in the sources consulted.
* **Zhangping Shui Xian ([漳平水仙](https://thetea.app/article/zhangping-shui-xian)):** Pressed oolong of the county-level city of Zhangping, in the same prefecture-level city of Longyan.
* **Nanjing Tulou Cha ([南靖土楼茶](https://thetea.app/article/nanjing-tulou-cha)):** Oolong of neighboring Nanjing County — also tulou country and also a mark for oolong (2022).
* **Wuping Lücha ([武平绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/wuping-lucha)):** Green tea of Wuping County in the same prefecture-level city — for contrast.
* **Fujian Wulongcha (福建乌龙茶):** The provincial umbrella indication; Yongding is not named in the list of its zone.

**In Conclusion:**

*Yǒngdìng shānchá* is the protected name of a mountain oolong from tulou country at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong. Documents confirm mark No. 20593062 since 2019, the holder and the goods — oolong; everything else is not yet in the open. Newspapers write about the district's mountain gardens — in Qiling at an average altitude of 800 m — and about different processing schemes: an oolong one in Gaotou and, judging by the set of operations, a red-tea one in Qiling. But the appearance of the tea under this mark and how it differs from the neighboring “永定乌龙茶” still await a document.