武夷山市茶叶科学研究所武夷山市茶葉科學研究所
Wuyishan Tea Science Research Institute
State tea institute of Chong'an/Wuyishan (1960-2003). It developed and first sold clonal 'commercial' Dahongpao; Wuyi Star took it over in 2003.
- Kind
- state factory
- Based in
- Wuyishan
- Founded
- 1960
History#
- 1960崇安县茶叶科学研究所 established on Tianyou Peak.
- 1980Institute re-established under the county tea bureau (January).
- 1982Moves to the former 御茶园 (imperial tea garden) site.
- 1985Chen Dehua becomes director and obtains five Dahongpao scions for propagation.
- 1989Renamed 武夷山市茶叶科学研究所 on 21 August after the county became a city.
- 1992武夷山市岩茶总公司 formed (June), with the institute as a unit.
- 1996Wang Shunming, general manager of the Rock Tea General Corporation, also heads the institute.
- 2003March: Xingyuan (Wuyi Star) reorganises the Rock Tea General Corporation and the institute.
Also sold or written as 5#
Chinese variants
- 茶科所tea research institute
- 武夷山茶科所Wuyishan — tea research institute
- 崇安县茶叶科学研究所Chong'an — county; tea research instituteName before Chong'an County became Wuyishan City (21 August 1989).
- 市茶叶所municipal tea instituteShort form used in vendor profiles of Chen Dehua.
- 武夷山市岩茶总公司(Wuyishan Rock Tea General Corporation)State holding corporation formed June 1992, with the institute among its units; reorganised by Xingyuan/Wuyi Star in March 2003.
Names and ambiguities#
Directors and dates
The Qiyuan vendor profile says Chen Dehua became director of the '市茶叶所' in 1985, though Wuyishan only became a city in 1989. Fujian Daily (2025) says Wang Shunming became head of the '武夷山市科学研究所' (no 茶叶 in the name) in 1996, while its summary line calls him former head of the 武夷山市茶叶科学研究所. Exact terms of office were not confirmed.
Date of the first commercial Dahongpao and of Chen Chuan's inscription
福茶之心 dates the first commercial Dahongpao to 1985 (Chen Dehua) and Chen Chuan's (陈椽) calligraphy for the first packaged Dahongpao to 1992. Search snippets of other vendor pages give 1990 or 1991 for the inscription. Those snippets do not provide full-text support for either alternative date.
Notes#
The 崇安县茶叶科学研究所 was set up in 1960 on the summit of Tianyou Peak. It was turned into the 天游茶叶试验场 in 1975, re-established under the county tea bureau in January 1980, and moved to the former imperial tea garden (御茶园) site in 1982. On 21 August 1989, after the county became Wuyishan City, it was renamed 武夷山市茶叶科学研究所. In June 1992 the city tea bureau was replaced by the 武夷山市岩茶总公司 (Rock Tea General Corporation), with the institute as one of its units. The institute is closely tied to clonal Dahongpao. Chen Dehua, a national bearer, worked there from 1963 and became its director in 1985, according to a vendor profile.
That year he obtained five scions of Dahongpao from plants grown in a provincial variety garden. 福茶之心 dates the first commercial Dahongpao to 1985 and credits Chen. Wang Shunming, another national bearer, was general manager of the Rock Tea General Corporation from 1993 and also headed the institute from 1996, per Fujian Daily. In March 2003 Xingyuan (Wuyi Star) reorganised both the corporation and the institute, taking over the institute's gardens, processing plant and operating rights, as well as the management of the Dahongpao mother trees. Wuyi Star still lists the 茶科所 garden on the 御茶园 site among its gardens.
The separate state farm line (福建省崇安茶场 from 1955, renamed 武夷山市茶场 in 1990) comes from the 1939 Demonstration Tea Factory site. The city's state refining factory, 武夷山市茶厂 or 武夷山茶业总厂, was later restructured into 武夷山凤凰茶业有限公司 (Fujian Daily 2022). Its own history is not documented here; see open questions.