A tea enthusiast wrote to ask: “Dear Liao Chang Xing, I saw an online tea merchant selling Yuanfeng tea and when I asked where the plantation was, they said it’s by the mountains of Wuling Yuanfeng. Is this true? What is the altitude and reputation of Yuanfeng tea? How can I get there if I want to buy tea in the Yuanfeng tea area?”
Yuanfeng Tea Area
Liao Chang Xing’s response: The Yuanfeng tea area generally refers to the “front slopes of Cuifeng”—that is, heading from Cingjing Farm toward Wuling, going down the agricultural road on the right-hand side about 100 meters past the Cuifeng Police Station, all the way down to the Zhuoshui River at the base of the mountain. However, tea farmers in this area are generally accustomed to calling it the “Hehuanshan tea area,” and very few market their tea using the Yuanfeng name.
Altitude and Aspect of the Yuanfeng Tea Area
The lowest point is near the Zhuoshui River valley in Delugu Village, at an altitude of about 1,600 meters. The highest point sits about 150 meters below Highway 14A, at an altitude of approximately 2,080 meters—making it a tea area with an impressive elevation. Much like Meifeng and Songgang, the overall aspect faces east, providing excellent sunlight. Combined with the cold breezes from nearby Wuling year-round, the tea develops a wonderful brisk, mountain-chilled character.
Store Manager's Review of Yuanfeng High Mountain Tea
The Yuanfeng tea area primarily produces lightly fermented high mountain Oolong tea. The harvest seasons are mainly spring, autumn, and winter; summer tea and Winter Sprout Oolong are less common due to the high-mountain environment. Harvest seasons run in April and May for spring tea, August for autumn tea, and October for winter tea. The primary tea tree variety is Qingxin Oolong.
Much of the tea from here is sold under the name Hehuanshan tea, and quite a bit is also marketed as tea from neighboring Cuifeng, Cingjing, or even “upgraded” to Lishan or Dayuling tea, which shows how highly regarded Yuanfeng tea is within the tea community. However, the tea plantations here are generally not as well-managed as those in Cuifeng and Cingjing, and there are more vegetable farms nearby, meaning pesticide drift from those farms can be an issue.
If you’d like to visit, you can set your navigation to here. The agricultural roads are very narrow and steep, so please drive with extreme caution.