Zhāopíng yínshān chá (昭平银杉茶), “the silver fir from Zhaoping”, is a green tea of Zhaoping County (昭平县) of Hezhou prefecture-level city in the east of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The description of the agricultural mark calls it a new famous green tea of Guangxi. The name appeared in the 1970s, when local factories began to make tea on the model of longjing — straight, slightly flat, green, with white down — and named it for the resemblance of the dry leaf to the needles of the 杉 tree; in the 1990s the county developed a technical standard for it. Its appearance according to the description: a slightly flat leaf covered with down through which the green shows, a tender green bright liquor, a clean rich aroma and a mellow clean taste. Since 2010 the name has been protected by an agricultural product geographical indication and a certification mark, and since 2025 by the status of a geographical indication product.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The 2025 announcement does not name the class; the description of the agricultural mark (2010) calls it a “new famous green tea of Guangxi” (新创制发展的广西名优绿茶), and compares its extractives with the norm of the standard for green tea.
- Category: A new famous tea of Guangxi; agricultural product geographical indication and certification mark (2010), geographical indication product (2025).
- Origin: China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区, Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū), Hezhou prefecture-level city (贺州, Hèzhōu), Zhaoping County (昭平县, Zhāopíng Xiàn).
- Protection zone: The annex to the announcement describes it twice. As a list — twelve townships and towns: Zhaoping, Wenzhu, Xianhui, Zouma, Wujiang, Majiang, Muge, Huangyao, Fuluo, Beituo, Zhangmulin and Fenghuang, and within them 128 villages. By extreme points — in the east Yingpan village of Fenghuang Township, in the south Nanlupo village of Muge Township, in the west Maoping village of Xianhui Township, in the north Qichong village of Wenzhu Town. The description of the agricultural mark gives the same list.
- Geographic coordinates: 110°30′–111°19′ E, 23°39′–24°24′ N.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Early history. The description of the agricultural mark traces tea growing in Zhaoping back to the Song era.
- 1970s — birth of the name. Local tea factories began to make tea using the longjing technology: the dry leaf came out slightly flat and straight, green, with white down. By grade it was called “silver needle” (银针) and “jade needle” (碧玉针), and then united under the name “Yínshān chá” — the dry leaf, according to the description, “closely resembles the needles of the 杉 tree”.
- Late 1970s. Clonal varieties with uniform bud break were brought into the county — the leaf for Yínshān chá became more even.
- 1990s — standard. The county made tea one of the leading industries of its agricultural program. On the basis of the Jiangjunfeng Tea Factory (将军峰茶厂), with technical help from South China Agricultural University, the technical standard “昭平银杉茶” was developed.
- Since 2004. Every year, around March 28, the county holds the Guangxi (Zhaoping) “Tea King Festival”, whose centerpiece, according to the description of the mark, was Yínshān chá.
- 2007. Tea under the brand “Jiangjunfeng Yinshan” (将军峰银杉) received a gold medal at the famous green tea competition of the World Green Tea Conference in Japan.
- Eighth and Ninth “Zhongcha Bei” competitions. First prizes at the national famous green tea competition (中茶杯).
- 2010. On March 25 the Ministry of Agriculture, by announcement No. 1364, registered Zhāopíng yínshān chá as an agricultural product geographical indication (number AGI00257); in the same year the State Administration for Industry and Commerce registered the certification mark “昭平银杉” (No. 8051378, holder — the Zhaoping County Tea Association, 昭平县茶叶协会).
- 2025. By announcement No. 640 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) recognized the name as a geographical indication product; the same announcement contains 1409 names.
- Name:
- “Zhaoping” (昭平) is the name of the county.
- “Yinshan” (银杉, yínshān) means “silver fir”; the same word is used in China for the relict conifer cathaya (Cathaya argyrophylla). The description of the mark explains the name more simply: the dry leaf “closely resembles the needles of the 杉 tree” (杉树).
- “Cha” (茶, chá) means “tea”.
- Cultural significance: According to the description of the mark, by the end of the 2000s Yínshān chá had become synonymous with Zhaoping tea in the county. Its zone includes Huangyao Town (黄姚) — a well-known old town, now a tourist destination: the tea zone and the tourist site coincide here.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: The description of the mark requires clonal varieties of the medium- or small-leaf group suitable for Zhaoping — locally propagated or introduced; their harvest must begin no later than early March. Specific varieties are not named.
- Harvest standard: According to the description of the mark — three levels. For the highest, “precious” grade (珍品) — single buds; for the special grade — a bud with one just-unfolded leaf; for ordinary Yínshān chá — a bud with one leaf. The shoots must be plump, even and downy.
- Harvest: Spring — in February–April, autumn — in October–November. Leaf picked from May to September goes to maojian and other teas.
- Raw material requirements: Young shoots of clonal varieties grown in the county, without spoilage, foreign odors or impurities.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
According to the description of the agricultural mark (2010):
- Region: The east of Guangxi; the rivers of the county almost all belong to the Guijiang (桂江) basin.
- Climate: Subtropical monsoon. The mean annual temperature is 19.9 °C, the sum of active temperatures above 10 °C is 6953 °C, precipitation is 2046.6 mm a year, relative humidity is 81%. Winters are warm, summers are not hot, clouds and fog persist all year round.
- Growing altitude: Hills and low mountains below 800 m; the slopes under the gardens are no steeper than 25°.
- Soils: Mountain red-yellow and yellow soils, on sandstone and shale rocks and on river and slope deposits; well drained, pH 5.0–6.5, organic matter 2.5–3.4%.
- Zone: Twelve townships and towns, 128 villages; in the 2025 annex the boundary is also set by four extreme villages and a coordinate frame.
- Scale: According to the description of the mark, in 2010 there were 8000 ha under Yínshān chá.
5. Production Technology
The description of the agricultural mark sets the sequence: spreading of the fresh leaf → fixation → cooling → initial pan-firing with straightening → re-drying with shaping → full drying → sorting → packaging. For manual processing it also gives the parameters.
- Spreading of the fresh leaf (摊放 — tānfàng): 2–4 hours in a cool, ventilated place.
- Fixation (杀青 — shāqīng): In an electric pan at about 140 °C, 3–5 minutes of quick turning — until the leaf becomes soft and dark green and the grassy smell gives way to a clean aroma.
- Cooling (摊凉 — tānliáng): 5–6 minutes, so that the leaf does not turn yellow.
- Initial pan-firing with straightening (初炒理条 — chūchǎo lǐtiáo): Pan at 80–90 °C; the leaf is pressed and drawn out until it becomes straight, slightly flat strips and the moisture drops to 40%.
- Re-drying with shaping (复干做形 — fùgān zuòxíng): The leaf is pressed in the pan again, with lighter pressure, to 70–80% dryness.
- Full drying (烘足干 — hōng zúgān): At about 50 °C, to moisture below 6%.
- Sorting (精选 — jīngxuǎn): Winnowing out fragments and sorting by grade by hand.
- Packaging.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description of the agricultural mark: 外形微扁、披毫隐绿，汤色嫩绿明亮，清香浓郁，滋味纯爽，叶底绿亮、肥嫩露芽. The Tea Quality Control Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, in its expert evaluation, recognized the tea as having “the style of a famous tea” and described it in its own words; the table of the same description distinguishes three grades — “precious” (珍品), special (特级) and ordinary.
- Dry leaf appearance: Slightly flat, covered with down through which the green shows (微扁、披毫隐绿). According to the evaluation — large and firm, straight, slightly flat, with hidden green and luster (肥壮，条直微扁，隐绿润泽).
- Dry leaf aroma: No descriptions in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and rich (清香浓郁); according to the evaluation — clean and high (清高). The highest grade has a fresh, tender aroma (鲜嫩香).
- Taste: Mellow and clean (纯爽); according to the evaluation — fresh and mellow (鲜醇). The highest grade has a sweet aftertaste (回味甘甜).
- Liquor color: Tender green and bright (嫩绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Green and bright, with plump buds (绿亮、肥嫩露芽); according to the evaluation — plump and tender, with visible buds, green, bright and even (肥嫩显芽，绿亮匀整). The highest grade — single plump whole buds.
7. Chemical Composition
The description of the mark gives the main figure: extractives of about 45% against the norm of 36% under the standard for green tea GB/T 14456-1993; hence, in its words, the resistance to repeated infusions. The physico-chemical norms of the same description: moisture — no more than 6.0%, total ash — no more than 6.5%, fragments — no more than 2.5%, extractives — no less than 36.0%, crude fiber — no more than 14.0%. Other physico-chemical data are not found in the sources consulted.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler — the straight downy leaves can be seen in it — or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Three or four repeat infusions; the sources note that the tea withstands many infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the certification mark “昭平银杉” No. 8051378 or the agricultural product geographical indication mark.
- Check that the producer is from Zhaoping County.
- The leaf is straight, slightly flat, with down and hidden green; the liquor is tender green and bright.
- Do not confuse with other green teas of the county: Yínshān chá is a separate name.
11. Interesting Facts
- The tea was named in the 1970s for the resemblance of the dry leaf to the needles of the 杉 tree; in Chinese, 银杉 is also the name of the relict conifer cathaya.
- Yínshān chá is made only from the spring and autumn harvests; summer leaf goes to maojian and other teas.
- The 2025 annex sets the boundary of the zone the old way — by four extreme villages — and the new way, by a coordinate frame.
- The zone includes Huangyao — an old town known far beyond the subject of tea.
- The name appeared in the 1970s, the technical standard in the 1990s, and in 2010 the tea received both an agricultural product geographical indication and a certification mark at once.
12. Comparison with Other Guangxi Teas
- Zhaoping Lü Cha (昭平绿茶): A green tea of the same county. The corpus article mentions the “silver fir” (银杉) among its forms, but Yínshān chá is protected by a separate name, and the two must not be equated.
- Zhaoping Hong Cha (昭平红茶): A gongfu red tea of the same county — a different class from the same mountains.
- Guilin Mao Jian (桂林毛尖): A green tea of Guilin in the northeast of Guangxi; thin straight strips with white down versus the slightly flat leaf of Yínshān chá.
In Conclusion:
Zhāopíng yínshān chá is a green tea of eastern Guangxi that got its name in the 1970s for the resemblance of the dry leaf to conifer needles, and its technical standard in the 1990s. Its appearance is recognizable: a straight, slightly flat leaf with down and hidden green, a tender green bright liquor, a clean aroma and a mellow fresh taste. The description of the mark sets three grades — from single buds to a bud with a leaf — and allows the tea to be made only from the spring and autumn harvests; the zone is outlined by a list of twelve townships and towns, four extreme villages and coordinates.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page