---
title: "Zhūchéng lǜchá"
url: https://thetea.app/article/zhucheng-lucha
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-01
source: THE TEA — encyclopedia of Chinese tea (https://thetea.app)
---
# Zhūchéng lǜchá (诸城绿茶)

*Zhūchéng lǜchá* (诸城绿茶) is a green tea from the county-level city of Zhucheng (诸城市) in Weifang prefecture, Shandong Province, one of the province's northern teas; a reference description links its appearance here with the movement “南茶北引” — “southern tea to the north”. The protection zone is just three townships and towns in the south of the county. The requirements describe two forms, curled and flat, and for both the main feature named is a rich, fresh chestnut aroma (栗香, *lìxiāng*). The name has been protected since 2011; in 2025 the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) updated the requirements by announcement No. 646.

**1. Classification and Origin:**

* **Type:** Green tea (绿茶, *lǜchá*). The class is stated in the name and confirmed by the technology in the protection requirements: fixation, rolling or straightening, drying.
* **Category:** A northern green tea of Shandong with a geographical indication.
* **Origin:** China, Shandong Province (山东, *Shāndōng*), Weifang prefecture-level city (潍坊, *Wéifāng*), Zhucheng county-level city (诸城, *Zhūchéng*).
* **Protection zone:** Three towns of the county within their current boundaries — Taolin (桃林, *Táolín*), Huanghua (皇华, *Huánghuá*) and Linjiacun (林家村, *Línjiācūn*). In the 2025 requirements Taolin is called a township (乡), in the statistical division a town (镇); the reference description, which repeats the earlier version, specifies that the former town of Shandongtou (山东头) has been merged into it. The requirements give no coordinate frame.
* **Geographic coordinates:** The center of Zhucheng — about 36.0° N and 119.4° E; Taolin Town — about 35.8° N and 119.5° E.

**2. History and Cultural Significance:**

* **History:**
    * **Early history.** The reference description begins the history of tea in Zhucheng with the Yuan (元) era; I have not seen the primary source.
    * **1956.** According to the same description, in this year the introduction of southern tea succeeded here — “南茶北引” (*nánchá běiyǐn*). A local Shandong publication calls 1956 the year of the province's first plantings, which froze, so the date remains the reference book's date.
    * **2010.** According to the reference description, Taolin had more than 10,000 mu of gardens and more than seventy tea villages, with an output of 2600 tonnes of dry tea a year.
    * **2011.** The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by announcement No. 14 of 2011, took “诸城绿茶” under protection as a geographical indication product.
    * **Agricultural indication.** The name is also entered in the register of the Ministry of Agriculture (AGI01819); I have not checked the year or the holder.
    * **2025.** By announcement No. 646, CNIPA recognized “诸城绿茶” as a geographical indication product. The applicant is the government of the county-level city; the new requirements replaced the section on the tea in the 2011 announcement.
* **Name:** “*Zhūchéng*” (诸城) is the name of the county-level city; “*lǜchá*” (绿茶) means “green tea”.
* **Cultural significance:** The reference book calls the tea “中国最北端茗茶” — “the northernmost famous tea of China”. This fits poorly with latitude: Taolin lies at about 35.8° N, while the gardens of Laoshan near Qingdao lie at 36°03′–36°20′ N, and those of Yantai further north still. What is true is something else: Zhucheng is part of Shandong's northern tea belt.

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

* **Varieties:** According to the protection requirements — “Dashanlü No. 1” (大山绿1号, *Dàshānlǜ 1*), “Dashanlü No. 2” (大山绿2号, *Dàshānlǜ 2*) and other varieties suitable for this tea. Descriptions of the varieties themselves are not found in the sources consulted.
* **Harvest time:** Spring picking — from mid-March to early June, autumn picking — from early September to early October.
* **Harvest standard:** Three grades of raw material:
    * **Top (特级):** a bud with one opening leaf; buds with an unfolded leaf not more than 10 %.
    * **First (一级):** mainly from a bud with one leaf to an opening bud with two leaves; buds with two leaves not more than 15 %.
    * **Second (二级):** mainly from a bud with two leaves to an opening bud with three leaves; buds with three leaves not more than 20 %.
* **Planting:** When sowing — in one or two rows, 5–6 seeds per hole; after germination 3–4 strong plants are left. Seedlings are best planted from mid- to late March or October, at 60,000–70,000 plants per mu (667 m²).

**4. Terroir and Cultivation Features:**

* **Region:** The south of Zhucheng county-level city.
* **Plots:** According to the requirements — sheltered from the wind and facing the sun.
* **Soils:** Brown forest soils (棕壤, *zōngrǎng*) or similar ones; pH 5.5–6.8, organic matter not less than 1.0 %, a soil layer at least 60 cm deep, groundwater deeper than 100 cm.
* **Climate and altitude:** No data in the sources consulted.

**5. Production Technology:**

The protection requirements set two schemes and common parameters — this is a description of this particular tea, not the general scheme for the class.

* **Curled tea (卷曲形, *juǎnqū xíng*):** spreading of the fresh leaf (摊青, *tānqīng*) → fixation (杀青, *shāqīng*) → rolling (揉捻, *róuniǎn*) → second drying (二青, *èrqīng*) → shaping with drying (做形烘干, *zuòxíng hōnggān*) → aroma development (提香, *tíxiāng*) → packing.
* **Flat tea (扁形, *biǎn xíng*):** spreading of the fresh leaf → fixation → straightening of the leaf (理条, *lǐtiáo*) → shaping by pressing (压扁, *yābiǎn*) → final drying (辉干, *huīgān*) → packing.
* **Parameters:** The fresh leaf is spread in a layer no thicker than 5 cm until it loses 15–20 % of its moisture. Fixation is carried out at 350–410 °C. During straightening and shaping the temperature runs from high to low. Final drying — at about 120 °C, for no longer than half an hour.

**6. Organoleptic Characteristics:**

According to the protection requirements; the ranges cover the different grades of raw material.

* **Dry leaf appearance:** Curled tea — thin, tight, curled strands, even, with a fleshy leaf; color from emerald (翠绿) to a dark, almost ink green (墨绿), without yellowed or broken leaves. Flat tea — flat, with a fleshy leaf, from smooth to fairly even; color from tender green to dark green, even and clean.
* **Dry leaf aroma:** No separate description.
* **Liquor aroma:** Chestnut, rich and fresh (栗香浓郁而清爽). In the curled tea the shades range from fresh and tender to fairly clean, in the flat tea from chestnut to a clean, fresh aroma (清香).
* **Taste:** Mellow, rounded (醇) — this is how it is recorded for the curled tea; for the flat tea the taste is not described in the requirements.
* **Liquor color:** Curled tea — from tender green and bright to yellow and fairly bright, without turbidity. Flat tea — from yellow-green and bright to yellow-green and fairly bright.
* **Spent leaves (wet leaves):** Curled tea — from bright to fairly bright, without mottled leaves. For the flat tea there is no description.

**7. Chemical Composition:**

The protection requirements set two physicochemical indicators:

| Indicator | Requirement |
| :--- | :--- |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 38 % |
| Crude fiber | not more than 12 % |

Data on the polyphenols, amino acids and caffeine of this tea 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 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, put in the tea, pour the water down the side.
    2. The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
    3. Drink, leaving part of the liquor, and top up — two or three times.

**10. Storage:**

Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. The freshness of the aroma fades over time, so the tea is 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 geographical indication mark: the right to it is approved by CNIPA.
    * Check that the tea was made in one of the three towns of the zone — Taolin, Huanghua or Linjiacun.
    * Broken and yellowed leaf does not meet the requirements; the aroma has a chestnut tone, the liquor is free of turbidity.

**12. Interesting Facts:**

* The zone of *Zhūchéng lǜchá* is three towns. For comparison: Yantai Cha ([烟台茶](https://thetea.app/article/yantai-cha)) has fifteen administrative units and 154 townships and towns, and Taishan Hongcha ([泰山红茶](https://thetea.app/article/taishan-hongcha-shandong)) has 965 villages.
* According to the reference description, tea of this name has one “well-known trademark of China” (中国驰名商标) and three well-known marks of Shandong Province.
* Picking takes place twice: the requirements end the spring season in early June and begin the autumn one in early September; they make no provision for a summer picking.

**13. Comparison with Other Green Teas of Shandong:**

* **Rizhao Lücha ([日照绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/rizhao-lucha)):** One of the best-known green teas of Shandong, from the neighboring coastal prefecture; also curled and flat, with a chestnut note.
* **Junan Lücha ([莒南绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/junan-lucha)):** Green tea of Junan County in Linyi prefecture; three forms — curled, flat and needle-shaped — and a chestnut aroma in all of them.
* **Yimeng Yu Ya ([沂蒙玉芽](https://thetea.app/article/yimeng-yu-ya)):** A flat green tea of Junan County in the south of Shandong, named after the Yimeng Mountains; also with a chestnut aroma.
* **Laoshan Lücha ([崂山绿茶](https://thetea.app/article/laoshan-lucha)):** A coastal green tea of Mount Laoshan near Qingdao, north of Zhucheng.

**In Conclusion:**

*Zhūchéng lǜchá* is a green tea from three towns in the south of Zhucheng. The document on it is short but precise: the “Dashanlü” varieties, brown soils, spring and autumn picking, fixation at 350–410 °C, a curled and a flat form, and a chestnut aroma. There is little history in the primary sources, and the reference book's title of “the northernmost famous tea of China” does not fit with latitude.