The Name Anji Baicha (and alternate names)

Anji Baicha gets its name from both the location where it originated and the tea plant’s appearance. “Anji” refers to Anji County (安吉县) in Zhejiang Province. The word “bai” 白 means “white” and “cha” 茶 means “tea,” but this should not be confused with the category of tea known as “bai cha'' or “white tea.” The Anji Baicha tea trees have a unique appearance. The leaves of this tea plant are sensitive to cold temperatures, which turns them white. In late spring, many of the leaves on the tree turn white. In summer the leaves will turn green again. For this reason it gets its name “Anji White Tea,” but in fact it is a part of the green tea category due to how it is processed. 

Anji Baicha is also known as "Anji Bai Pian" (安吉白片). “Pian” 片 means “thin piece,” “slice,” or “flake.” So this might be translated as “Anji Thin Slices,” which is suitable given the needle-like appearance of the finished tea leaves.  Another name for Anji Baicha is “Yu Rui Cha” (玉蕊茶). “Rui” 蕊 refers to unopened flowers or flower buds, so this name might be translated as “Jade Bud Tea.” The color of Anji Baicha’s tea liquor is sometimes described as “white jade” (白玉). Finally, Anji Baicha is also commonly known as "Xiancao Cha” (仙草茶) which translates to “Immortal Grass Tea.” Locals who live in the mountains regard the spring harvested tea as "Sheng Ling” (圣灵), or “holy spirit.”

Main Production Area of Anji Baicha

The main production area of Anji Baicha is Xilong Township (溪龙乡), Anji County, Zhejiang Province, which is located to the north of Tianmu Mountain (天目) in the northwest of Zhejiang Province.  This area has the reputation of China’s "Hometown of Bamboo." The climate of Xilong Township is mild throughout the year. The area is very green with about three quarters of the area covered by bamboo, trees, and other vegetation.  The environment’s unique ecology amidst forests of bamboo, creates a special environment for Anji Baicha tea plants. In 2004, the Chinese government designated Anji Baicha as a geographical indication (GI) product, offering it a protected status and acknowledging its quality and reputation as tied to its specific geographical origin. 

Anji Baicha Processing

Anji Baicha is grown using the tea plant cultivar called “Bai Ye number 1.” The tea is made following a standard green tea processing methodology in which the fresh leaves are withered, pan-fried, shaped and then dried. The tea is picked in the spring season. To meet quality standards, the tea should be dried and finished to a 5% or less moisture content, and should contain a certain minimum amount of free amino acids in the tea leaves.

Anji Baicha Mythology

Chinese love to form associations between sometimes seemingly disparate things based on appearance, symbolism, and meaning; this is the so-called “correlative thinking” that is dominant in Chinese thought. It is no surprise then that a famous white-colored tea plant from Zhejiang Province became associated with one of China’s most loved mythologies, a legendary love story that takes place in Zhejiang, “The Legend of the White Snake” (白蛇传). 

The Legend of the White Snake is easily one of the most re-told and re-used mythologies in both Chinese opera as well as in films and television series. The story tells the tale of Bai Suzhen 白素贞, a white snake who cultivates for thousands of years until she is able to take on the form of a beautiful woman. She later meets Xu Xian 许仙 with whom she falls in love, however their life is complicated by the overly righteous monk Fahai who, despite Bai Shuzhen’s kind nature and good deeds, can only see her as a demon (妖怪) who can only ever be evil by nature, and so he continuously seeks to imprison her. 

In Anji County, where Anji Baicha is grown, there is a statue of the legendary Bai Suzhen with an engraving connecting it to the story. In one part of the story, Bai Suzhen flies to the realm of the immortals to collect immortal grass when seeking medicine for her lover. She loses the grass in Baicha Valley 白茶谷, a place with a beautiful environment that she notes would be an excellent place to continue her cultivation. Later, when she seeks the magical medicine that she lost, she finds that it had taken root and sprouted on the top of a mountain and grown white leaves. It is this magical plant in Baicha Valley that is associated with the tea called Anji Baicha.

The History of Anji Baicha

Lu Yu's Tang Dynasty work, known as "The Classic of Tea" (茶经) contains the first reference to "Bai Cha” (白茶) in the chapter "The Classic of Tea • Seven Things" (茶经•七之事). Although it could be argued that this refers to the category of white tea, it is also quite possible that it refers to white colored tea plants (that would have been used to make green tea), as was also a common usage of the name “white tea” at the time.

In 1042, Liu Yi (刘异) supplemented Ding Wei’s (丁渭) "Beiyuan Tea Records" (北苑茶录) in his work "Supplement to the Beiyuan Tea Records" (北苑拾遗), which stated that "there are five or six white tea plants in the official garden… " (官园中有白茶五六株). This is the earliest record of white tea plants in Huzhou (湖州) which is a city in Zhejiang Province in the vicinity of Anji. The record of this “white tea” is more than 20 years prior to the origin of the famous tea in Fujian Province that evolved into the category of white tea in China.

In 1062, the "Dongxi Tea Test Record" (东溪试茶录) recorded "one day's white-leaf tea, which is of great importance to the people, came out of recent years..." (一日白叶茶，民间大重，出于近岁…), which offers some evidence that white tea (referring to the category of white tea) was only available in Fujian around twenty years after records referring to Anji Baicha. At present, it is not yet possible to verify whether Fujian’s ancient white tea (古白茶), “white leaf tea” (白叶茶), was the same as the Anji Baicha plants that could have been introduced from the Huzhou area.

In 1930, dozens of wild white tea trees were discovered in Malinggang (马铃冈), Xiaofeng Town (孝丰镇), in Anji. These were used to produce tea for the local "Jinguang Temple'' (金光寺) for some time before seemingly disappearing.

In 1981, the Anji County Forestry Institute set up the "North Zhejiang Tea Plant Breeding Project" (浙北茶树良种选育课题). The county collected 49 plants with distinct characteristics and used them for selective breeding.

In 1982, another white tea tree, more than 100 years old, was found on an 800-meter high mountain in Hengkengwu, Daxi Village, Shanhe Township (山河村) (now Tianhuangping Town 天荒坪镇). At that time, technicians of the Anji County Forestry Institute successfully cut the cuttings and bred them. By 1996, the tea growing area had expanded to 1,000 mu, with only 200 mu that could be harvested. The annual output of dry tea was less than 1,000 catty (1 catty = 500g).