When referring to Anxi Oolongs, most tea lovers will blurt “Anxi Tieguanyin” out. Yes, to some extent, Tieguanyin has become a geographical indication of Anxi. Most tea drinkers know that Tieguanyin is an oolong tea, but they don’t necessarily know it is a tea tree variety.

Firstly, Tieguanyin is a tea tree variety native to Xiping Town, Anxi County.
However, Tieguanyin is not the only oolong tea tree species in Anxi.
In addition to Tieguanyin, Anxi’s native tea tree varieties include Huangjingui, Benshan, Maoxie, Meizhan, and Qilan. These varieties have been widely transplanted to Wuyi Mountain in the north and Taiwan in the south for hundreds of years. Some tea plants have gone to other places and become well-known local varieties, such as the Foshou that flourished in Yongchun and Meizhan, which became one of the famous teas in Wuyi Mountain.

Secondly, it also refers to a production process. In particular, roasting and oxidation have a considerable impact on the style of the resulting tea.