Xiānrénzhǎng Chá · new.thetea.app

Xiānrénzhǎng Chá (仙人掌茶, xiānrénzhǎng chá — “Immortal’s Palm Tea”) — the only tea in history personally named by the great poet Lì Bái (李白, Lǐ Bái, 701–762). Created in 760 by monk Zhōngfú (中孚禅师, Zhōngfú Chánshī) — Li Bai’s clan nephew from the Li family — at the Buddhist monastery Yuquansi (玉泉寺, “Jade Spring Temple”) in Hubei Province, this tea gained its name and immortality through Li Bai’s poem written in Nanjing after tasting: the poet named the tea “Immortal’s Palm” for its flat shape resembling an open palm. This is one of the few Chinese green teas produced using steaming technology (蒸青, zhēngqīng) — an ancient method of fixation by steam, inherited from the Tang era, which has long been displaced by pan-firing in most regions of China.

1. Classification and Origin:

Type: Green tea (non-oxidized). Belongs to steamed green teas (蒸青绿茶, zhēngqīng lǜchá) — enzyme fixation is achieved by steam, not pan-firing in a wok. By shape — flat, “palm-shaped” (掌形, zhǎngxíng).
Category: National Geographical Indication Product (国家地理标志保护产品, 2015). In 2014, the production technology was included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Registry of the PRC (国家级非物质文化遗产). In 1985 — “Golden Cup” of Húběi Province (湖北省”金杯奖”). Historical “tribute tea” (贡茶) of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Origin: China, Húběi Province (湖北, Húběi), Dāngyáng City (当阳市, Dāngyáng Shì). Geographical indication zone — the entire Dangyang municipal district. Terroir core — southern slope of Yùquán Mountain (玉泉山, Yùquán Shān), territory of the Buddhist monastery Yuquansi and adjacent villages (玉泉村, 百宝寨村), in immediate proximity to the famous Pearl Spring (珍珠泉, Zhēnzhū Quán).
Geographic coordinates: 111°59′07″—112°09′22″ East longitude, 31°14′06″—31°34′53″ North latitude.

2. History and Cultural Significance:

History: Around 760 (Shangyuan period, 上元, Tang era) Buddhist monk Zhōngfú (中孚禅师), belonging to the Lì clan (李) — the same family as poet Li Bai — collected fresh leaves from tea bushes growing near the Milk Grotto Cave (乳窟洞, Rǔkū Dòng) on the monastery grounds of Yuquansi, and produced a flat tea of unusual shape resembling an open palm.

Zhōngfú brought the tea to Nánjīng (金陵, Jīnlíng) and presented it to his famous relative — the great poet Lì Bái (李白). Li Bai tasted the tea, was delighted by its shape and flavor, and personally gave it the name “Xianrenzhang” (仙人掌, “Immortal’s Palm”) — for its flat shape resembling the open palm of a Daoist immortal. Moreover, Li Bai wrote a poem dedicated to this tea — “Verses Given in Accompaniment to ‘Immortal’s Palm’ Tea from Monk-Nephew Zhongfu” (答族侄僧中孚赠玉泉仙人掌茶序). This is one of the earliest and most famous tea poems in Chinese literature. From this moment, the tea gained its name and literary immortality.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Xiānrénzhǎng Chá was included in the list of imperial tributes (贡茶). The great pharmacologist Lǐ Shízhēn (李时珍, Lǐ Shízhēn) recorded in “Bencao Gangmu” (本草纲目): “Among the teas of the Chu kingdom, there is ‘Immortal’s Palm’ from Jingzhou” (楚之茶，则有荆州之仙人掌).

In the 20th century: after decades of decline, production was revived in 1981. In 1985 — provincial award. In 2014 — technology included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Registry of the PRC. In 2015 — geographical indication protection.
Name:
- “Xianren” (仙人) — “immortal, celestial being”: a Daoist image of a being who has achieved immortality.
- “Zhang” (掌) — “palm”: describes the flat shape of the tea leaf resembling an open palm.
- The name was given personally by Li Bai — the greatest poet in Chinese history. This is the only known case where a tea received its name from a poet of such stature.
Cultural significance: Xianrenzhang Cha — a tea with a unique “literary passport”: Li Bai’s poem transformed it from a monastic beverage into a cultural artifact of world significance. Yuquansi monastery — one of China’s most ancient Buddhist temples (founded in 593), and its Pearl Spring — a famous natural landmark. Steaming technology (蒸青) — a “living fossil” of the Tang era: this very method was used in the times of Li Bai and Lu Yu, and was later transferred to Japan, where it became the foundation for producing sencha and gyokuro.

3. Botanical Description and Raw Material:

Variety / Cultivar: Yuquanshan Quntichong (玉泉山群体种) — local indigenous medium-leaf variety of Camellia sinensis var. sinensis of bush type. Leaf — elliptical, fleshy. Active vegetation period — from March to September. High resistance to adverse conditions. Distinguished by increased ability to absorb selenium from soil (硒吸收率较高).
Picking: Spring — primary. For supreme grade (特级) — one bud with one leaf, “bud longer than leaf” (芽长于叶). Down — abundant, white. For first grade — one bud with one to two leaves. For second grade — one bud with two to three leaves.
Raw material requirements: Tender, uniform shoots without purple leaves, pest damage, or disease. Processing — on the day of picking.

4. Terroir and Cultivation:

Climate: Subtropical humid monsoon. Average annual temperature — 16.4°C, annual precipitation — 1250 mm, relative humidity — ≥78%.
Growing altitude: 400–800 meters above sea level. Core — southern slope of Yuquan Mountain.
Soils: Yellow-brown soils (黄棕壤) and red sandy soils (红砂岩风化沙质土), pH 4.5–6.5. Organic matter content — ≥1.5%.
Unique features: Mountain gorges are constantly shrouded in clouds and mist. Numerous underground springs, including the famous Pearl Spring (珍珠泉) — clear water rich in minerals. Forest coverage — 70%, over 300 tree species (including laurel and lotus) create a unique “high-mountain cloud forest” ecosystem (高山云雾).

5. Production Technology:

Xianrenzhang Cha — one of the few modern Chinese green teas using steaming fixation (蒸青, zhēngqīng) — a method where leaves are processed with hot steam rather than pan-fired in a wok. This technology is a direct heritage of the Tang era, the times of Li Bai and Lu Yu.

Steam fixation (蒸汽杀青 — zhēngqì shāqīng): At 100°C, duration — 50–60 seconds. Steam instantly inactivates enzymes, preserving the maximally bright green color (锁鲜保”三绿”) — “three greens”: green dry leaf, green liquor, green spent leaves. Steam fixation precisely gives “three greens” — a characteristic unattainable with pan-firing fixation.
Wind cooling (扇凉 — shànliáng): After steaming, leaves are quickly cooled with an air stream.
Pan-firing and shaping (炒青做形 — chǎoqīng zuòxíng): Three stages:
- First pan-firing (头青): “Shaking and scattering” (抖散, dǒusàn) — separating stuck leaves.
- Second pan-firing (二青): Alternating “shaking” and “smothering” (抖闷结合) — aroma development.
- Shaping (做形): Key technique — “抓按” (zhuā àn, “grasping and pressing”) — the master grasps leaves and presses them against the wok wall, forming the characteristic flat “palm-shaped” form (掌形, zhǎngxíng). The entire process — manual, with precise temperature control to prevent leaf reddening.
Drying and shape setting (烘干定型 — hōnggān dìngxíng): At 70°C to moisture content ≤5%.

6. Organoleptic Characteristics:

Dry leaf appearance: Flat, straight, even tea particles of characteristic “palm-shaped” form (掌形, zhǎngxíng — shape of an open palm). Color — bright emerald green (翠绿). Abundant silvery down (显毫). “Three greens” (三绿, sān lǜ): green dry leaf, green liquor, green spent leaves — calling card of steaming technology.
Dry leaf aroma: Clean, elegant (清香雅淡, qīngxiāng yǎdàn). Light “sunny” note (日晒气, rìshài qì) — subtle overtone characteristic of steamed green teas.
Liquor aroma: Clean, persistent, with delicate green freshness. Without “roasted” notes — result of steaming rather than pan-firing fixation.
Taste: Fresh and brisk (鲜爽, xiānshuǎng), sweet (甘, gān), mellow and rich (醇厚, chúnhòu), with pronounced returning sweetness (回甘, huígān). Astringency minimal. Taste more “green” and “clean” than pan-fired teas — without chestnut-nutty notes characteristic of “炒青”.
Liquor color: Tender green, bright and clear (嫩绿明亮) — more intensely green than pan-fired teas, thanks to maximum chlorophyll preservation during steaming.
Spent leaves: Tender, uniform shoots of bright green color — the third of the “three greens”.

7. Chemical Composition:

Steaming technology (蒸青) maximally preserves the native chemical profile of fresh leaf:

Polyphenols (catechins): Significant content. Steaming preserves catechins in less oxidized form than pan-firing.
Amino acids (including L-theanine): Elevated content — steaming fixation at 100°C is gentler to thermolabile amino acids than pan-firing at 140–200°C.
Chlorophyll: Significantly elevated content — steaming maximally preserves green pigment. Chlorophyll precisely determines the intensely green color of the liquor.
Flavonoids (黄酮类, huángtóng lèi): Elevated content. According to research, Xianrenzhang Cha possesses significant activity against influenza viruses and streptococci — the effect is attributed to flavonoids and chlorogenic acid (绿原酸, lǜyuánsuān).
Chlorogenic acid (绿原酸): Elevated content — anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent.
Alkaloids: Caffeine — moderate content.
Vitamins: Vitamin C (maximally preserved thanks to gentle steaming fixation).

8. Health Properties:

Cooling and detoxifying action (清热解毒): Traditional properties of steamed green tea.
Bronchodilator action (止嗽平喘): Traditional medicine attributes to this tea the ability to relieve cough and shortness of breath.
Antioxidant action: Polyphenols + flavonoids + chlorogenic acid — triple antioxidant complex.
Blood sugar and lipid control (降血糖血脂): Polyphenols and chlorogenic acid.
Antiviral action: Flavonoids and chlorogenic acid significantly suppress influenza viruses and streptococci.
Important: the listed properties are based on publicly available data and are not medical recommendations.

9. Brewing:

Water temperature: 85–90°C.
Tea quantity: 3 g per 150 ml water (1:50 ratio).
Teaware: Glass tumbler or white porcelain gaiwan.
Process:
1. Warm the teaware, drain.
2. Add tea leaves.
3. Pour water to 1/3 volume, “moisten” tea for 30 seconds.
4. Fill to 7/10 volume. First infusion — 20 seconds.
5. Subsequent — increase by 10 seconds. Tea withstands 3 infusions.
Note: freshly purchased tea is recommended to rest ~2 weeks for “fire taste dissipation”. When evaluating tea, pay attention to absence of mold — distinguish natural white down (白毫) from moldy coating (霉斑).

10. Storage:

Store airtight, in a dark, dry and cool place, away from foreign odors.
Optimal — refrigerator at 0–5°C.
Storage period — up to 12 months.
After opening — consume within 1–2 months.

11. Market and Price Range:

Xianrenzhang Cha — tea with limited production: core — territory of Yuquansi monastery and adjacent villages. Three grades (特级, 一级, 二级).

How to avoid counterfeits:
- Buy from verified sellers with geographical indication marking from Dangyang city.
- Evaluate shape: characteristic flat “palm” — unique shape not found in other teas. Twisted or needle-shaped leaves — different tea type.
- Check “three greens”: green leaf, green liquor, green spent leaves. Yellowish liquor — sign of pan-fired, not steamed tea.
- Evaluate aroma: clean, delicate, without “roasted” notes. Chestnut or bean aroma — different technology type.
- Pay attention to price: suspiciously low — sign of counterfeit.

12. Recommended Sources:

Verified sellers with geographical indication marking from Dangyang city.
Evaluate shape: characteristic flat “palm” — unique shape not found in other teas. Twisted or needle-shaped leaves — different tea type.
Check “three greens”: green leaf, green liquor, green spent leaves. Yellowish liquor — sign of pan-fired, not steamed tea.
Evaluate aroma: clean, delicate, without “roasted” notes. Chestnut or bean aroma — different technology type.
Pay attention to price: suspiciously low — sign of counterfeit.

13. Interesting Facts:

The only tea personally named by Li Bai — the greatest Tang poet, one of the “two saints” of Chinese poetry (alongside Du Fu). Li Bai’s poem “答族侄僧中孚赠玉泉仙人掌茶序” — one of the early and most famous tea works in world literature.
Monk Zhōngfú (中孚禅师) — not simply a Buddhist teacher, but Li Bai’s relative from the Li clan (族侄, “clan nephew”). Thus, the tea’s history is also a story of family connections in 8th-century Chinese elite.
Steaming technology (蒸青) — “living fossil” of the Tang era. This very method was used in the times of Li Bai and Lu Yu. It was transferred to Japan in the 12th–13th centuries and became the foundation for producing sencha, gyokuro and matcha. In China itself, pan-firing (炒青) displaced steaming almost everywhere — but Xianrenzhang Cha preserved the ancient method.
Li Shizhen — author of “Bencao Gangmu”, the greatest pharmacological treatise — specifically highlighted Xianrenzhang Cha as “tea of the Chu kingdom” (楚之茶).
Yuquansi monastery — one of China’s most ancient Buddhist temples (founded in 593), and its Pearl Spring (珍珠泉) — natural landmark where bubbles resembling pearls emerge from underground.

14. Comparison with Other Steamed (蒸青) and “Famous” Green Teas:

Ēnshī Yùlù (恩施玉露): From Hubei. Also steamed (蒸青), also from Hubei. Yulu — needle-shaped, with “Japanese” character; Xianrenzhang — flat, “palm-shaped”, with Tang aura.
Japanese sencha (煎茶, Sencha): Also steamed (蒸し製). But sencha — more “marine” and “umami”-oriented; Xianrenzhang — more “clean” and delicate, with “sunny” note.
Nánjīng Yǔhuā Chá (南京雨花茶): From Nanjing — the city where Li Bai gave the tea its name. Yuhua Cha — pan-fired, needle-shaped; Xianrenzhang — steamed, flat. Different technologies, but — common Nanjing connection.
Lóngjǐng (龙井): Also flat, but — pan-fired (炒青), with pronounced bean-chestnut aroma. Longjing — “structural” and “umami”; Xianrenzhang — more “clean”, without roasted notes, with “three greens” of steaming type.

In Conclusion:

Xianrenzhang Cha — tea to which immortality was granted by China’s greatest poet. When in 760 Li Bai received from his monk-nephew’s hands a flat green leaf resembling the palm of a Daoist immortal, he did not simply give it a name — he inscribed the tea into the pantheon of Chinese poetry. Twelve centuries later, “Immortal’s Palm” is still produced on the same slope of Yuquan Mountain, by the same Pearl Spring, using the same steaming technology that was used in the times of the “Tea Classic”. Its “three greens” — green leaf, green liquor, green spent leaves — are not merely a visual characteristic, but a tangible connection to the Tang era: to a time when tea was steamed, not pan-fired, when poets named teas, and monks created them. For those seeking not merely a beverage, but a touch of millennial history — Xianrenzhang Cha, tea from the immortal’s palm, awaits in its jade cup.