Enshi Yulu

Enshi Yulu

Enshi Yulu is a Geographical Indication Protected Product.

Enshi Yulu is a Geographical Indication Certified Trademark.

Enshi Yulu is an Agricultural Geographical Indication Product.

　　Enshi Yulu is produced in Enshi, Hubei Province. Hubei has a long history of tea production, dating back to the Tang Dynasty when it was already well known, and remains one of China’s major tea-producing provinces.

　　Enshi Yulu is produced in Wufeng Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Enshi City. It is one of the few remaining steamed green teas in China, with production techniques and tools that are quite ancient, very similar to those described in Lu Yu’s Classic of Tea. Since the Tang Dynasty, when Japan adopted tea seeds and processing methods from China, it has largely continued using the steaming method for green tea. The production method of Japan’s Gyokuro tea is very similar to that of Enshi Yulu, though each has its own distinctive qualities.

　　It was once called “Yulu” (Jade Green), but was later renamed “Yulu” (Jade Dew) due to its fresh and refreshing aroma, tightly rolled and smooth appearance, emerald green color, and white fuzz resembling jade.

　　Enshi Yulu originated in the area around present-day Bajiao Township in Enshi City. Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi era, a tea merchant surnamed Lan in Huangliangxi, Bajiao, Enshi, built a stove and developed the tea. The resulting leaves were tightly rolled, firm, green in color, and had white fuzz like jade, hence the name “Yulu” (Jade Green). By the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republican period, tea production flourished. In 1936, Yang Runzhi, the tea officer of Hubei Minsheng Company, changed the pan-firing fixation process to steaming. This not only resulted in bright green liquor and leaves, as well as a fresh and fragrant taste, but also gave the tea an oily, glossy emerald color with white fuzz like jade, making its quality exceptionally outstanding—thus it was renamed “Yulu” (Jade Dew). In 1945, it was exported to Japan, and since then, “Enshi Yulu” has gained fame.

　　Mr. Shi Zhaopeng, Vice President of the China Tea Science Society and doctoral supervisor, spoke highly of it and inscribed the words: “Enshi Yulu, the finest tea among teas!” Enshi Yulu is deeply loved by people in China and Southeast Asia, and has been rated as one of “China’s Top Ten Famous Teas.”

　　To protect this local specialty, Enshi City applied for Geographical Indication Product protection for Enshi Yulu in 2006. At the end of 2007, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China approved the protection under Announcement No. 48. Seizing this opportunity, some local enterprises actively built tea brands, and a number of modern tea farmers emerged. Now, the area has developed over 4,000 hectares of tea plantations, and more than 100 “tea bosses” have established modern tea processing businesses. The developed product series are sold well in European, American, and Southeast Asian markets.

　　The protected area for the Enshi Yulu Geographical Indication Product is based on the scope proposed in the “Letter on the Suggestion to Define the Protected Geographical Indication Area for ‘Enshi Yulu’” (Enshi Municipal Government Letter [2006] No. 61) issued by Enshi City, Hubei Province. It covers the current administrative regions of Bajiao Dong Autonomous Township and Wuyangba Subdistrict Office in Enshi City, Hubei Province.