Governor’s Emerald Tea

“If the tune is wrong, Zhou will look up”—In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhou Yu, a brilliant nobleman and the Grand Commander of the Wu Kingdom, stationed his troops on a mountain in Wuwei County. As a result, the mountain came to be known as Governor’s Mountain. Today, Wuwei County has been upgraded to a city and administratively falls under Chaohu City.

The Governor’s Mountain area enjoys abundant rainfall, high air humidity, ample diffused light, significant day-night temperature variation, fertile soil, and excellent ecological conditions—ideal for tea tree cultivation. Naturally, it produces high-quality tea leaves, known as “Governor’s Emerald Tea.” “Emerald Tea” is an elegant term for green tea.

Governor’s Emerald Tea is a type of green tea. Anhui has long been a traditional green tea region, with soil and climate highly suitable for tea tree growth. Governor’s Emerald Tea has been a renowned local tea since the Song Dynasty.

The tea-making process of Governor’s Emerald Tea differs from that of regular green teas. First, fresh tea leaves are picked and then immediately spread out for withering, a step that typically lasts 3–5 hours. This helps remove some of the moisture from the leaves, dissipate grassy flavors, and enhance the tea aroma.

Next comes grading, based on four harvest standards at picking: “one bud with one leaf just unfolded,” “one bud with one leaf unfolded,” “one bud with two leaves just unfolded,” and “one bud with two leaves unfolded.” Then fixation (a necessary step for green tea) is performed, followed by cooling and impurity removal, pan-firing and shaping, spreading and sorting, roasting, aroma enhancement, and low-temperature storage.

Governor’s Emerald Tea is flat and sword-shaped in appearance, with a glossy green color.The leaves are tender and uniformly green, the broth is clear and bright, and the fragrance is lasting and pervasive.