Yǒngdìng wūlóngchá (永定乌龙茶) is an oolong of Yongding District (永定区) of Longyan prefecture-level city in the southwest of Fujian Province. The name has been protected by a geographical indication certification mark since 2019; the holder is the district ecological agriculture association, and oolong is recorded in the goods field. The documents are silent about the tea itself: neither the cultivar, nor the technology, nor the appearance is found in the sources consulted. This article is therefore above all about the mark and the place, and it is honestly shorter than usual.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Oolong (乌龙茶, wūlóngchá). The class is given both in the name and in the goods field of the mark — “乌龙茶”.
- Category: A district oolong; geographical indication certification mark.
- Origin: China, Fujian Province (福建, Fújiàn), Longyan prefecture-level city (龙岩, Lóngyán), Yongding District (永定, Yǒngdìng).
- Mark zone: The provincial list assigns the mark to Yongding District — this is the administrative affiliation of the holder, not the legal boundary of the zone. I have not checked the boundary.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- The mark. According to the list of registered geographical marks of Fujian as of 30 June 2026:
- name — “永定乌龙茶”;
- registration number — 20730374, class 30;
- type — certification mark;
- registration date — 28 September 2019;
- holder — the Yongding District Ecological Agriculture Association of Longyan City (龙岩市永定区生态农业协会);
- goods — “乌龙茶”;
- status — valid registration.
- A neighbor in the register. On the same day a second mark for oolong was registered to the same holder — “永定山茶” (No. 20593062). How the two marks relate in zone and requirements cannot be determined from the list.
- History of the tea: Data on the history of this particular oolong are not found in the sources consulted. I do not give legends or dates.
- Name: Yǒngdìng (永定) is the name of the district; wūlóngchá (乌龙茶) means “oolong”, the name of the class.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: Not named in the sources consulted.
- Raw material and harvest standard: No data in the sources consulted.
- Harvest time: No data in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: The southwest of Fujian, Longyan prefecture-level city.
- The holder’s address — Hugang Town (虎岗镇). The district government website describes it as follows: the northwest of the district, two basins with areas of 90,000 and 70,000 mu, the highest point at 1547 m, an average annual temperature of about 18 °C, precipitation of about 1643 mm a year. The high-mountain part of the town lies at 650–850 m, with a large difference between day and night temperatures, and high-mountain tea (高山茶) is named there as one of the four main rural industries. Whether Hugang is part of the mark zone, and what tea grows there — oolong or another — the website does not say; a holder’s address is not in itself a production zone.
- Other gardens of the district. In April 2024 the provincial portal wrote about a tea project in Gaotou Town (高头镇): 2030 mu, of which 2000 mu are ecological tea, in clouds and mists all year round, with an expected output of more than a million jin of fresh leaf a year. The class of tea is not named in the report, although the operations listed there — sun withering, tossing, pan-firing, rolling, drying — are usual for oolong.
- Soils: No data in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
Technology and parameters for this particular tea are not found in the sources consulted. Below is the general scheme for oolong, not a description of Yǒngdìng wūlóngchá:
- Withering (萎凋, wěidiāo): In the sun or indoors.
- Tossing and resting (做青, zuòqīng): The edges of the leaf are bruised and partly oxidized.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heat stops oxidation.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn).
- Drying (烘干, hōnggān).
The degree of oxidation and roasting for this mark is unknown to me.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
- 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. Brewing
Class practice for oolong.
- Water temperature: 95–100 °C.
- Tea amount: 5–7 g per gaiwan of 100–110 ml.
- Teaware: A gaiwan or a clay teapot.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Quickly rinse the leaf with the first water.
- First infusion — 15–20 seconds.
- Each subsequent one — slightly longer.
- The leaf withstands six to eight infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. In tight packaging, in a dry, dark place, away from odors. A light, lightly roasted oolong is better kept in a refrigerator; a roasted one — at room temperature.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Data on prices are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication certification mark “永定乌龙茶” (No. 20730374).
- Check that the producer is from Yongding District of Longyan prefecture-level city.
- Do not confuse it with “永定山茶” (No. 20593062): this is a separate mark of the same holder, also for oolong.
- Do not confuse it with “永定万应茶”: this is a medicinal blend protected as a geographical indication product and has nothing to do with oolong tea.
11. Interesting Facts
- Yongding District has two marks for oolong — “永定乌龙茶” and “永定山茶”, registered on the same day to the same holder.
- Mark number 20730374 is in one sequence with the numbers of the district marks for dried persimmon (20730373), tobacco (20730375) and pomelo (20730376); these are held by another district association.
- According to the list as of mid-2026, Longyan prefecture-level city has 95 geographical marks, and the tea marks among them range from compressed oolong to green tea.
12. Comparison with Other Longyan Teas
- Yongding Shancha (永定山茶): The district’s second mark for oolong, of the same holder; the series has a separate article about it.
- Zhangping Shuixian (漳平水仙): A compressed oolong of Zhangping county-level city in the same prefecture; a collective mark of 2008.
- Yongfu Gaoshan Cha (永福高山茶): A Taiwanese-style high-mountain oolong from Yongfu Town of Zhangping county-level city; a mark of 2022, the goods are also oolong.
- Xiebei Cha (斜背茶): A green tea of Xinluo District of the same prefecture — for contrast.
In Conclusion:
Yǒngdìng wūlóngchá is for now more a name than a described tea: a certification mark for the oolong of Yongding District, in force since 2019, held by the district ecological agriculture association, and next to it a second mark of the same holder, “永定山茶”. The cultivar, technology and appearance are not described in the sources consulted, and the article does not invent them. When the text of the rules for using the mark is found, the appearance of this oolong can be described from the document.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page