The natural sweet-osmanthus (桂花) aroma family of Fenghuang Dancong—unscented oolong whose cultivar volatiles evoke blooming *Osmanthus fragrans*, celebrated since its 1994 Guangzhou debut and 1995 China Agricultural Expo gold medal.
Natural sweet-osmanthus blossom fragrance with a clear, honey-sweet golden liquor and smooth, lingering floral aftertaste; distinct from flower-scented osmanthus oolong (桂花乌龙).
As in Phoenix Dancong. No osmanthus flowers are added; the aroma arises entirely from the leaf and bruised-leaf fermentation.
Fenghuang Gui Hua Xiang Dancong is pure tea leaf from selected Fenghuang Shuixian bush lines whose endogenous volatiles (including β-ionone, linalool oxides and lactones) recall sweet osmanthus. It contains no added osmanthus blossoms, unlike scented桂花乌龙 or 桂花红茶.
《中国茶树品种志》 (2001, p. 229) documents 桂花香单枞 as a small-arbor large-leaf (大叶类) mid-season clone selected from Fenghuang Shuixian with an attributed mother-tree history of over 300 years and an optimal elevation belt of 800–1,000 m. Its dark-green elliptic leaves reach 12.1 × 4.9 cm with 10 pairs of lateral veins; 100 one-bud-three-leaf shoots weigh 115.0 g, and spring shoots contain 2.1% amino acids, 33.4% tea polyphenols, 18.8% catechins and 47.4% water extract.
Yu Yongming’s 《中国名茶志》 (2000, pp. 608–609) records that in June 1994, top-grade Fenghuang Gui Hua Xiang Dancong debuted on the Guangzhou market at 9,600 RMB per kilogram—when ordinary Fenghuang Dancong sold for 120–400 RMB/kg—and became the first batch of Fenghuang Dancong exported directly to Japan, winning a gold medal at the 2nd China Agricultural Expo in October 1995.
Appendix A.2 of T/CZTTBZ 001—2021 documents nine named mother bushes and clonal plots under 桂花香型:
1. 群体单丛（桂花香）: a 54-bush clonal plot at Fengxi Zimao (~650 m) propagated by cuttings in 1976 (producing ~50 kg dry tea annually). 2. 乌岽桂花: growing at 990 m in Liziping Village on Wudong Shan, aged ~110 years (3.87 m tall, 5 kg peak yield). 3. 官头輋桂花香: growing at 1,000 m in Guantoushe, Fengxi, aged ~200 years (4.17 m tall, 7.2 kg peak yield). 4. 团树叶桂花香: growing at 1,000 m in Da’an Village, aged ~260 years (5.26 m tall, 4.92 × 4.91 m dense rounded crown, 9.6 kg peak yield). 5. 石古坪桂花香: growing at 500 m in Shiguping Village (the She ethnic village of Fenghuang), aged ~160 years (3.94 m tall, 5.2 kg peak yield). 6.
东头桂花香: growing at 720 m in Dongtou, Fengxi, aged ~150 years (4.24 m tall, 6.5 kg peak yield). 7. 金桂花: growing at ~450 m in Qipan Village, aged ~40 years—a 1988 bud-sport discovered in a Mi Lan Xiang Dancong (Baiye) garden. 8. 石井桂花: growing at 680 m in Shijing, Fengxi, aged ~150 years (4.11 m tall, 5.2 kg peak yield). 9. 白桂花: growing at ~610 m in Zimao, Fengxi, aged ~250 years (3.65 m tall, 5.6 kg peak yield).
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The Chaozhou geographical indication local standard DB4451/T 1—2021 defines Fenghuang Dancong as oolong tea manufactured within the protected Chaozhou area by traditional craft from lines and cultivars selected or bred from Fenghuang Shuixian (GSCT 17), categorizing finished teas into ten aroma types with physicochemical limits of ≤7.0% moisture and ≥30.0% water extract.
Full text · Clauses 3–5 (definition, Fenghuang Shuixian planting stock requirement, ten aroma types, and physicochemical table) · checked 2026-11-04
Scope and limits: Establishes the statutory GI specification for Chaozhou Fenghuang Dancong, whereas the voluntary national standard GB/T 30357.6-2017 defines Dancong generically without a geographic origin requirement.
Zhongguo Chashu Pinzhongzhi (2001, pp. 103–104) documents Fenghuang Dancong as a collective group of 80 superior lines selected from the sexual Fenghuang Shuixian population and named after tree habit, leaf morphology, or aroma, while Appendix A.2 of T/CZTTBZ 001—2021 catalogues 136 named mother bushes across 15 aroma groups.
Full text · Cultivar monograph entry for Fenghuang Dancong (凤凰单枞), pp. 103–104, selection history, 80 lines, and separate harvesting/processing · checked 2026-11-04
Scope and limits: Documents how 'Dancong' evolved from single-bush selection and separate manufacture into propagated clonal lines, meaning a modern Dancong packet is almost always clonal garden tea unless single-tree provenance is independently verified.
