Zǐyún chūnchá

Zǐyún chūnchá (紫云春茶) is “the spring tea of Ziyun”, a green tea of Ziyun Miao and Buyei Autonomous County (紫云苗族布依族自治县), Anshun prefecture-level city, in Guizhou Province. Since 4 January 2023 it has been protected as a geographical indication product under Announcement No. 512 of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). The protection requirements describe two forms — flat and spirally curled — and an early harvest, from the beginning of February to the end of April. The word “spring” in the name refers to the season, not to the class.

1. Classification and Origin

Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The protection document does not name the class in words, but both of its schemes — fixation at 180–250 °C, shaping and drying without an oxidation stage — are green tea technology.
Category: A geographical indication product (2023) in two forms: flat tea (扁形茶, biǎnxíng chá) and spirally curled tea (卷曲形茶, juǎnqūxíng chá).
Origin: China, Guizhou Province (贵州, Guìzhōu), Anshun prefecture-level city (安顺, Ānshùn), Ziyun Miao and Buyei Autonomous County; the applicant is the county people’s government.
Protection zone: 11 units of the county within its present boundaries: the towns of Bayang (坝羊镇), Bandang (板当镇), Maoying (猫营镇), Getuhe (格凸河镇), Houchang (猴场镇), Zongdi (宗地镇) and Daying (大营镇), the subdistricts of Songshan (松山街道) and Wufeng (五峰街道), and the townships of Baishiyan (白石岩乡) and Sidazhai (四大寨乡).
Geographic coordinates: Not given in the protection requirements.

2. History and Cultural Significance

History: No classical written mentions of Ziyun tea were found in the sources consulted; only the recent history of the industry is known.
- 2010. According to the leadership of Bayang Town, tea became the town’s leading industry (Jingji Ribao, 2023).
- 2014. The company “Tuhongpo” (土红坡茶业) obtained organic certification and joined the system of the “Guicha” (贵茶) brand; according to the Anshun city administration, it laid out 500 mu of organic gardens.
- 2023, 4 January. CNIPA, by Announcement No. 512, placed the tea under protection after a technical examination of the application; the same announcement covers noodles from Hebei Province.
- 2024. On 21 October the Anshun market supervision administration approved two municipal standards — quality requirements (DB5204/T 12-2024) and technical rules for processing (DB5204/T 13-2024); both have been in force since 1 December 2024.
Discrepancy in the sources: The Anshun city administration (2024) writes that protection was granted by the General Administration of Quality Supervision (质监总局). The primary document does not confirm this: protection was announced by CNIPA in 2023.
Name: 紫云 (Zǐyún, “purple cloud”) — the name of the county; 春茶 (chūnchá) — “spring tea”.
Cultural significance: The county is an autonomous area of the Miao and Buyei peoples. According to Jingji Ribao, it lies in a zone of karst desertification at the junction of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou; the leadership of Bayang says that the town’s tea industry has served both greening and farmers’ incomes. No data on the tea customs of the Miao and Buyei were found in the sources consulted.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material

Variety / Cultivar: The document permits the local population (当地群体种) and varieties suited to local conditions; specific varieties are not named.
Harvest time: From the first ten days of February to the last ten days of April; the raw material is processed in batches as it is picked.
Harvest standard: From a single bud to a bud with two leaves (单芽至一芽二叶).
From practice: According to a Renmin Wang report from Bayang, on 14 March 2023 the harvest was in its third day; at a garden leased by a trader from Zhejiang, a bud with one leaf was being bought at 25 yuan per jin.

4. Terroir and Cultivation Features

Growing altitude: 900–1600 m — according to the protection requirements.
Soils: Yellow (黄壤) and yellow-brown (黄棕壤), pH 4.5–6.5; a layer no thinner than 40 cm, organic matter no less than 1.0%.
Climate: The leadership of Bayang calls the town a place of high mountains, frequent fogs and few sunny days. The Anshun city administration writes of the whole prefecture: in spring it warms quickly and the buds break early; in autumn the difference between day and night temperatures is large.
Forest: According to the county head (2023), forest cover is 68.63%.
Agricultural practice under the document: Two plants per hole (weak ones, three per hole), no more than 45,000 per hectare. In autumn, 15,000–30,000 kg of manure or 3000–6000 kg of organic fertilizer per hectare is applied into furrows at a depth of 30 cm or more; top dressing — about 7500 kg of well-rotted manure or 1500 kg of organic fertilizer.
Scale: According to Jingji Ribao (July 2023), the town of Bayang alone has 41,000 mu of gardens, a tea belt 40 km long and 1500 t of tea a year; the output value exceeded 150 million yuan. The town holds the provincial title of “demonstration park of ecological tea”.

5. Production Technology

The protection document gives two schemes with parameters.

Flat tea:

Withering (摊放, tānfàng): In a layer of 2–5 cm, 6–12 hours, until the leaf is soft and darkened and its grassy smell has weakened; moisture 65–70%.
Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): 180–220 °C, until dark green without scorched edges; moisture 60–65%. Then cooling and moisture equalization.
Straightening (理条, lǐtiáo): 120–150 °C, 2–5 minutes; moisture 40–50%.
Pressing flat (压扁, yābiǎn): 120–150 °C, until emerald in color; moisture 10–15%.
Removing the down and finishing the aroma (脱毫、提香): 60–80 °C; moisture 6–8%.
Drying (干燥, gānzào): In 2–3 passes, to a moisture of no more than 6.5%.

Spirally curled tea:

Withering: In a layer of 5–10 cm, 4–6 hours; moisture 65–70%.
Fixation: 200–250 °C; moisture 60–65%. Then cooling.
Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): 25–45 minutes, until 80–90% of the leaf has curled into strips; then breaking up the clumps.
Partial drying (脱水): 90–110 °C; moisture 45–50%.
Shaping and bringing out the down (做形、提毫): 70–75 °C; moisture 10–15%.
Finishing the aroma (提香, tíxiāng): 90–105 °C, a layer of 5–8 cm, 1.5–2 hours; moisture no more than 7%.
Drying: In 2–3 passes, to a moisture of no more than 6.5%.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics

According to the protection requirements, for each form separately.

Dry leaf appearance: Flat — flat and straight, smooth, even, slender, with pointed tips, tender green. Curled — tightly rolled, fine, curled like a “snail” (卷曲如螺), with visible buds, rich green.
Dry leaf aroma: Not described in the document separately from the liquor.
Liquor aroma: Flat — tender and lasting (嫩香持久). Curled — with a chestnut note, high and lasting (带栗香，香高持久).
Taste: Flat — clean, fresh and brisk. Curled — fresh and mellow, with a sweet, brisk aftertaste (鲜醇，回味甘爽).
Liquor color: Flat — tender green, bright. Curled — yellow-green, bright.
Spent leaves (wet leaves): Flat — young, plump, opening into a “flower” (成朵). Curled — green-yellow, bright.

7. Chemical Composition

The norms of the protection requirements:

Indicator	Requirement
Moisture	no more than 7.0%
Water extract	no less than 38.0%
Total ash	no more than 6.0%
Crude fiber	no more than 14.0%
Theanine	no less than 8.0 g/kg
Free amino acids, calculated as theanine	no less than 4.0%

These are thresholds, not the results of batch analyses. The document gives no data on polyphenols or caffeine.

8. 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 and pour the water down the side.
2. The first infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
3. Leave part of the liquor and top up; two or three further 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

No price data for the finished tea were found in the sources consulted.

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the official geographical indication mark: it is authorized by the Guizhou intellectual property administration on application through the county, with registration at CNIPA.
- Check that the tea comes from one of the 11 units of the county.
- Compare the appearance with one of the two forms: a flat tender-green leaf or tight green “snails” with a chestnut note.

11. Interesting Facts

The document allows harvesting from as early as the first ten days of February, but in the cold spring of 2023, according to the report from Bayang, on 14 March the harvest was only in its third day.
Two technologies with different fixation temperatures are protected under one name: 180–220 °C for flat tea and 200–250 °C for curled tea.
Noodles from Hebei were placed under protection in the same announcement as the tea.

12. Comparison with Other Green Teas of Guizhou

Pubu Maofeng (瀑布毛峰): A green tea of Anshun prefecture; according to the encyclopedia article, Ziyun County is within its zone.
Anshun Pubu Lücha (安顺瀑布绿茶): The prefecture-level green tea brand of Anshun — a level above the county one.
Meitan Cuiya (湄潭翠芽): A flat green tea from the north of the province; in form it is closer to the flat Zǐyún chūnchá.
Duyun Maojian (都匀毛尖): A curled green tea from the south of Guizhou; closer to the curled form.

In Conclusion:

Zǐyún chūnchá is a young name without a written history, but with a detailed protection document: gardens at 900–1600 m, harvest from February and two technologies — a flat tender-green leaf with a long, tender aroma and tight “snails” with a chestnut note. On the shelf it is distinguished by the geographical indication mark and by its origin from the eleven towns and townships of a karst county.