Changshan Camellia Oil

Changshan Camellia Oil

Changshan camellia oil is a protected geographical indication product.

Changshan camellia oil is a protected geographical indication certification trademark.

　　The production of Changshan camellia oil has a history of over two thousand years and was long regarded as a tribute to imperial courts throughout the dynasties. Camellia oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of wild camellia plants grown in mountainous regions. Regular consumption can effectively improve cholesterol levels in the blood, making it an ideal cooking oil for people with high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and fatty liver. Cosmetics made with camellia oil have moisturizing and hair-nourishing effects. Existing Changshan camellia oil brands such as "Dongcha," "Changfa," "Shanshen," "Changxi," and "Bamianshan" have all been certified as national geographical indication products.

　　    Changshan is a natural habitat for oil-tea camellia, and the production of camellia oil here boasts a long history, with legends dating back over two thousand years. The 1990 edition of the "Changshan County Annals," based on genealogical records from areas such as Youlu and Shouyuan in Fangcun Town, confirms that large-scale cultivation of oil-tea camellia began in Changshan during the late Song and early Yuan dynasties. By the mid-Ming dynasty, oil-tea camellia had spread widely across mountainous and hilly areas, and during the Republican era, it was cultivated in all townships across the county.

　　Camellia oil, also known as tea oil or tea seed oil, is commonly called "longevity oil" among the locals in Changshan. Traditional physical pressing methods are used to extract Changshan camellia oil, using naturally grown oil-tea camellia seeds as raw materials, making it a truly pure, natural, and green edible oil. Camellia oil is a uniquely traditional edible plant oil in China with a long and storied history. As recorded in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" from the 3rd century BC: "Yuanmu is the oil-producing tree of the south." This "Yuanmu" refers to the oil-tea camellia. During the Qin dynasty, it was called "ganlao gao tang," in the late Han dynasty it was referred to as "gao tang zhike cha," and it began to be called "camellia oil" in the Tang dynasty, a name that has been used ever since. Why do the people of Changshan call camellia oil "longevity oil"? There is a local myth that offers an explanation: It is said that long ago, in the stream at Niujiaokou in Fangcun, there were male and female snake spirits that often caused trouble, bringing great suffering to the people living along the stream. The Goddess Guanyin, feeling compassion, devised a way to subdue the two snake spirits and transformed them into a single large tree with both male and female flowers. This tree bore flowers and fruit year-round, taking fifteen months to go from blooming to fruit ripening through autumn, winter, spring, summer, and autumn again—earning it the name "tree cradling its child while pregnant." Later, the highly accomplished monk Xizhao from Mount Wuyi in Fujian, following Guanyin’s will to cultivate virtue and do good deeds, flew through the air to Niujiaokou in Fangcun. Looking up, he saw a magical tree on Dapan Mountain and was astonished, so he stayed to practice cultivation and built two temples on Dapan Mountain and Xiaopan Mountain. Each year when the tree’s fruit ripened, Monk Xizhao would have the monks pick the fruit, press out the oil, and use it for lighting lamps and daily consumption. He also shared some of the oil with worshippers who came to burn incense. People who consumed this oil felt their vision sharpen and their energy revive. Before long, it became widely rumored among the people that this oil was a divine gift with life-extending properties. Word spread rapidly, and thus it came to be called "longevity oil."

　　The protected geographical indication area for Changshan camellia oil is defined according to the "Report on Defining the Geographical Indication Scope of Changshan Camellia Oil" (Chang Zheng [2005] No. 5) issued by Changshan County, Zhejiang Province, covering the entire current administrative region of Changshan County, Zhejiang Province.