春茶 (一芽一叶)
Mar 25 – May 1
Uniform one-bud-one-leaf or one-bud-two-leaf spring harvest for Enshi Yulu.
恩施州
Enshi
Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in southwestern Hubei; Enshi City is the protected origin of steam-fixed Enshi Yulu green tea.
- Level
- Prefectureautonomous county (自治县)
- Within
- Hubei
At a glance#
Location
- Garden elevation
- Core Enshi Yulu gardens in Bajiao,Cuiba, and沐抚 sit at 500–1,000 m in the Wuling Mountains.
Where it lies#
Tea places nearby, plotted by their coordinates. Only physical positions are shown, no boundaries.
55 places shown Across the view · 575 km
22 places shown Across the view · 297 km
Altitude#
Garden elevations here and in neighbouring places, as sourced.
Picking calendar#
Terroir#
- Rock
- Permian selenium-bearing carbonaceous shale and karst limestone across the Wuling and Dalou mountain folds.
- Soil
- Acidic mountain yellow-brown soil naturally enriched in bioavailable selenium (富硒黄棕壤), pH 4.5–5.5.
- Slope and light
- Deep karst gorges along the Qingjiang River maintain high humidity and cool temperatures, preserving high chlorophyll and amino acid ratios suited to steam fixation.
Cultivation#
- Cultivars grown
- Echa 1恩施苔子茶 (Enshi Taizicha landrace)
- Landraces
- Enshi Taizicha (恩施苔子茶) medium-to-small-leaf local population.
- Practice
- China's flagship surviving historical steamed green tea craft: steam-fixation (蒸青), fanning, rolling, and two-hand shaping/polishing into dark-green pine needles on a heated rubbing table (整形上光).
Local words#
| Local words | Dialect | |
|---|---|---|
| 玉露 Pinyin: yùlù | Southwestern Mandarin (Enshi) | Local craft appellation meaning jade dew, bestowed by an eighteenth-century Enshi tea merchant on steamed green tea whose silvery-green needles brew a luminous liquor. |
People#
- Tujia, Miao and Han Wuling mountain tea cultivators 恩施土家族、苗族与汉族茶农
- Tujia, Miao, and Han mountain communities in the Qingjiang basin preserved live-steam green-tea fixation and rotational table-rolling for Enshi Yulu alongside traditional oil-tea hospitality.
Market#
- Primary trade channel
- Smallholder leaf in Bajiao and neighbouring townships is steam-fixed on the day of harvest by local cooperatives and heritage enterprises and marketed through Enshi and Wuhan specialty channels.
- Trading towns
- Enshi City (Bajiao) · Xuan'en · Lichuan
- Output
- Prefectural production centres on spring steam-fixed Enshi Yulu in Enshi City's Bajiao and Wuyangba townships, complemented by high-elevation green and black teas across the Wuling range.
- Prices of teas claiming this origin
- Prices are driven by one-bud-one-leaf spring tenderness, origin within the historic Bajiao core zone, and uniform pine-needle shaping over heated rolling tables.
History#
- 1680Lan family tea master in Bajiao (Enshi) documents steamed "Enshi Yulü" green tea during the Kangxi era.
- 1936Renamed Enshi Yulu ("Jade Dew") for its bright green needles and clear jade liquor.
Notes#
Identity and history#
Carved by the Qingjiang River through the high karst ridges of the Wuling and Wushan ranges in southwestern Hubei, Enshi Autonomous Prefecture combines cool, misty mountain microclimates with naturally selenium-rich soils. Its core protected zone in Enshi City—historically centered on Bajiao and Wuyangba—preserves the seventeenth-century craft of Enshi Yulu, one of the very few surviving Chinese green teas fixed with live steam rather than dry wok heat. Artisans steam, fan-cool, pan-roast, and hand-roll the leaves on heated rubbing tables into tight, dark-emerald pine needles with a brisk, marine-umami liquor.
Listings claiming this origin 1#
Price ranks compare recorded retail offers for the same tea, including offers outside the current delivery filter. Shipping and import charges are excluded.
Prices compared in the selected currency; unknown values appear last.
| Product | Vendor | Price | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
En Shi Yu Lu Steamed Green Tea
DetailsCompare the details Recorded seller claims; a blank means unrecorded here, not necessarily absent from the seller’s page. Matching production does not establish identical storage or condition.
|
Sazen TeaWorldwide |
€20.70 / 10 g | $232.15 €207.00 / 100 g |
Prices recorded on the dates checked. Conversions use ECB rates dated 2026-10-20; original prices appear alongside. Origin, age and cultivar are stated by the vendor.
Teas associated with this place#
Sources#
- 王镇恒、王广智主编. 中国名茶志. 中国农业出版社, 2000年12月第1版. ISBN 7-109-06510-3 / 9787109065109.
- 中国茶树品种志 (2001)