Shui Xian

Shui Xian is often seen as a tea plant varietal. The name means narcissus, or literally “Water Spirit” or “Water Immortal”. It is difficult to determine what kind of tea plants are actually covered by this name and where they come from; there is too much contradictory information circulating, much of it is simply ignorance and speculation.

The tea plant varietal or cultivar Shuixian from Wuyishan and the local variety Shuixian in Fenghuang can be clearly distinguished.

  • Shuixian from Wuyishan grows as a sturdy bush and can grow several meters tall and live for decades; many over 100 years old trees can be found in the tea gardens in Wuyishan. It probably came to Wuyishan from Jian’ou, which is located a little to the southwest, where there are also several old Shuixian bushes. It is not certain whether it came from southern Fujian, from Anxi, to Jian’ou and Wuyishan at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, like other varieties. In Zhangping near Anxi, Shuixian is still grown today and processed into Zhangping Shuixian, as oolong or black tea. The common legend is that Wuyi Shuixian originally came from cuttings from a mother tree in Fenghuang. This could be the case; the tall, bushy shape of both Shuixian suggests this.

  • Shuixian from Zhangping is, as written, the same cultivar as in Wuyishan, adapted to the local climate. It is not clear whether Shuixian came to Wuyishan via Zhangping or from Wuyishan to Zhangping.

  • Shuixian from Taiwan and other regions are usually offshoots from Wuyishan. If they come from Fenghuang, they are usually called Dancong.

  • Shuixian or Shuixian Dancong from Fenghuang is a complex matter and impossible to fully explain. The local tea people from Chaozhou can undoubtedly answer all questions in no time; there are still many contradictions and uncertainties for outsiders. An attempt:

Shuixian and other varietals for Fenghuang Dancong

Shuixian is the old local variety from Fenghuang, so it belongs to the local colonies, Quntizhong in Chinese. These are created from naturally propagated tea seeds and are accordingly diverse. Whether Shuixian comes from the still existing, rare, wild variety Hongyin is disputed. Before the individual Dancong varieties were differentiated (see below), the teas were called Shuixian locally and Fenghuang tea when exported. The term Dancong was reserved for teas from a single tree, the simplest teas, which could also be mixed with other tea plant varieties, were called Langcha, where the verb "lang" is used here for “shaking, moving” and means inducing the oxidation of the oolong processing. Nowadays, the variety Shuixian is given if the tea trees have not yet been assigned to a Dancong varietal (or named as a new one), or if the tea comes from young bushes grown from tea seeds.

Dancong means single bush and stands for a tea from a single cultivar (contradictorily, even if some are mixed) of the Fenghuang Dancong, which are all said to come from the local Shuixian variety. In other words, the tea from one or a few genetically more or less identical trees has a typical flavour. Now cuttings are taken (i.e. asexual propagation) and a new cultivar is created and named. Traditionally, Dancong also stands for tea made from cuttings from a single tree, for which the term Danzhu is more commonly used today. It can also be translated as a single bush and thus stands for the cultivation method in Fenghuang, where the bushes grow up as individual plants and are not crammed together in rows of bushes, a bit like Shengtai for Pu'er in Yunnan. So far so simple.

However, some of the Dancong cultivars are said not to come from Shuixian and are completely different, although their appearance suggests a great similarity. For the local tea people, it is clear that Baiye (Milanxiang), Dawuye and Yashixiang do not come from Shuixian. Others such as Baxian, Huangzhixiang and Juduozai (Xingrenxiang) certainly originated in Shuixian.

The names of the individual cultivars and teas have been introduced since the 1950s. The different teas have been and continue to be divided into different categories; it is difficult or even impossible to introduce a system. Teas from different varieties can end up having the same name. Often, teas from different origins and from different varieties are mixed to achieve a certain aroma and taste profile.

The most common varieties of Fenghuang Dancong are listed below

  • Baiye (White Leaf) is said to originate from Lingtou in Shangrao County and was introduced to the Fenghuang area in the 1930s. The tea made from it is often called Milanxiang (“Honey Orchid Scent”) because of its floral and honey-sweet character. The fresh leaves have a light green, whitish color.

  • Dawuye (“Big Black Leaf”) is said to have originated in the Fenghuang area in the 1940s, origin unknown - if not from tea seeds or cuttings from a Shuixian tree as claimed locally.

  • Yashixiang (“Duck Dung Scent”), also known as Yinhuaxiang (“Silver Flower Scent”) is said to have originated in the 1940s in Pingkengtou on Mount Wudong near Fenghuang. It probably belongs to the Dawuye line, exact origin unknown - if not from tea seeds or cuttings from a Shuixian tree as claimed locally.

  • Baxian (“Eight Immortals”) comes from eight original tea trees grown in Shuixian in a small, miserable garden up on Wudong. The eight bushes looked like the image of the eight (Daoist) immortals crossing the sea, from a Chinese legend.

  • Huangzhixiang (gardenia scent or kumquat scent, literally “Yellow Branch Scent”) is a group of tea plant varietals that originate from Shuixian. Huangzhixiang, Wenzhong, Songcha are some of these cultivars.

  • Songzhong, Dongfanghong, Zhuxicha are other tea plant varietals originating from Shuixian whose teas belong to the Huangzhixiang fragrance category.

  • Juduozai (“Saw Blade Youngster”) is a tea plant varietal originating from Shuixian with many serrations on the leaf edges, hence the name. The tea from Judouzai is called Xingrenxiang (almond scent).

  • Shiguping Wulong (Oolong from Shiguping) is an old local variety from Shiguping, next to Fenghuang another village where Dancong is produced. Shiguping Oolong is a small bush variety, similar to the varieties from Anxi and Taiwan, perhaps it is one of their ancestors. It has nothing to do with Shuixian, but is listed here as a variety belonging to the area and style of Feghuang Dancong.

  • Shiguping Wulong (Oolong from Shiguping) is an old local variety from Shiguping, next to Fenghuang another village where Dancong is produced. Shiguping Oolong is a small bush variety, similar to the varieties from Anxi and Taiwan, perhaps it is one of their ancestors. It has nothing to do with Shuixian, but is listed here as a variety belonging to the area and style of Feghuang Dancong.

  • Hongyin (“Red Mat”) is the original tea variety in Fenghuang, the exact origin of which is unclear. Wild trees of this tea still exist today in remote areas around Fenghuang and Shiguping. It cannot be said conclusively whether this tea plant is the origin of Shuixian. Some studies of constituents suggest this. However, it is also claimed that Hongyin has nothing to do with Shuixian.