Customer Inquiry: Hello, could you please tell me about the origin of oolong tea and where it first started being produced? Do Mainland China’s oolong tea and Taiwan’s oolong tea share the same origins? Thank you!
Chang Hing Tea: The origin of oolong tea is generally believed to be the Wuyi Mountains region in Fujian, China, with production beginning during the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras of the Qing Dynasty. Legend has it that it was developed as an improvement upon Wuyi tea-making methods. The Annals of Anxi County in Fujian records: “People in Anxi first invented the method for making oolong tea in the third year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty, which later spread to northern Fujian and Taiwan.” This is how oolong tea came to be.
In China, oolong tea generally refers to partially fermented teas. In Taiwan, in a narrower sense, it specifically refers to tightly rolled, hemispherical oolongs such as Dong Ding tea and high-mountain tea. Here, we refer to Tieguanyin, Pouchong, Dong Ding, high-mountain tea, and Oriental Beauty collectively as oolong tea. When oolong tea was first brought to Taiwan, it was initially processed into Pouchong tea in areas like Nangang and Ruifang and exported back to Mainland China. Later on, Taiwanese tea gradually developed its own unique oolong varieties, such as Dong Ding, Oriental Beauty, and high-mountain tea.
▲ Chinese oolong tea originated from Wuyi tea and was later introduced to Taiwan, becoming the ancestor of Taiwanese oolong tea.
Chinese oolong tea originated from Wuyi tea in Fujian, while Taiwanese oolong tea is a descendant of Chinese oolong. While their roots are essentially the same, after a century of development, Taiwanese oolong has cultivated its own distinct characteristics and flavors, making it quite different from Chinese oolong tea.