Oolong tea grades: Tieguanyin, Wuyi rock tea and more

Oolong tea grades in China are set by the national standard series GB/T 30357 (乌龙茶), which has eight published parts, and for Wuyi rock tea by the geographical-indication standard GB/T 18745-2006. Tieguanyin comes in delicate-aroma (清香型) and strong-aroma (浓香型) types, graded from special grade down to grade 3 or grade 4 in the Anxi specification filed with the EU, plus an aged-aroma type (陈香型); Wuyi Da Hong Pao and Rougui have three grades each. Most parts of the series cap moisture at 7.0% and require at least 32% water extract, while Wuyi rock tea is capped at 6.5% moisture.

Oolong standards in China: the GB/T 30357 series

Oolong is one of the six Chinese tea types. GB/T 30357.1-2013 describes it as tea made from the leaves, dormant buds and tender shoots of the tea plant by moderate withering, “fine manipulation” (做青), fixing, rolling and drying. Fine manipulation bruises the leaf edges so that part of their polyphenols oxidise, producing green leaves with red edges (绿叶红边). The international standard ISO 20716:2022 defines oolong in similar terms and sorts it by degree of oxidation into light, medium and high.

GB/T 30357, oolong tea: the parts (official records, checked October 2026)

Each scale starts at special grade (特级), then grade 1 (一级), grade 2 (二级) and so on; the grades are named in words only, with no export codes, and each has a physical reference sample, renewed every three years. Each product part is named after a cultivar, not a place: Part 5, for example, covers oolong made from the Rougui cultivar wherever it is grown. The official records show a review on 17 May 2021 that concluded Parts 1 to 7 should be revised; all eight published parts were still listed as in force in October 2026, and no Part 8 had been published. Taiwan-style oolong has a separate national standard, GB/T 39563-2020 (台式乌龙茶), in force since 1 June 2021.

Oolong moisture, ash and water extract limits

Physical and chemical limits for oolong (% by mass; GB/T 30357, GB/T 18745-2006 and ISO 20716:2022)

Huangjingui (Part 3) is the exception in the series, at 7.5% moisture, and compressed Shuixian has no broken-tea or dust limit. ISO 20716 adds chemical minimums on a dry-matter basis: 10.0% total polyphenols, 3.0% total catechins, with a catechin-to-polyphenol ratio of at least 0.3, 1.0% caffeine and 0.1% theanine, and it caps crude fibre at 16.5%. Under GB/T 30357.1, each batch is released after checks of sensory quality, moisture, broken tea, dust and net content, and contaminant and residue limits are those of China’s GB 2762 and GB 2763. The Chinese series bans colouring and additives, and ISO 20716 bans colouring agents and flavourings.

Tieguanyin grades: delicate, strong and aged aroma

GB/T 30357.2-2013 covers raw and refined tea made from the Tieguanyin cultivar, wherever it is grown, and sets its classification and physical reference samples; its official record notes one amendment (第1号修改单). Finished Tieguanyin comes in two main types: delicate aroma (清香型), dried over a gentle fire, and strong aroma (浓香型), roasted (烘焙). The Anxi Tieguanyin specification filed with the EU, which keeps the grades of the 2006 Anxi standard, grades the first as special grade (特级) or grades 1 to 3, and the second as special grade or grades 1 to 4 (四级). It names yinyun (音韵) among the tea’s quality characteristics and describes it as the combined flavour and aroma peculiar to the Tieguanyin cultivar.

In January 2024, the drafters of the new Anxi standard wrote that aged-aroma Anxi Tieguanyin was then made mainly to GB/T 30357.2-2013, and the 2025 Anxi standard has since added it (see below). The grade and sensory tables of GB/T 30357.2 are not reproduced here, because no official copy of them could be read (checked October 2026).

Anxi Tieguanyin: the geographical-indication standard GB/T 19598-2025

Anxi Tieguanyin (安溪铁观音) is Tieguanyin from Anxi county in Fujian. China has protected the name as a geographical indication (GI) since 8 July 2004, under notice No. 91 of 2004 of its former quality inspection administration (AQSIQ), and the EU has protected it since 1 March 2021. GB/T 30357.2 applies to the cultivar wherever it is grown; the name Anxi Tieguanyin is reserved for tea from the county.

The GI standard, GB/T 19598-2025, was published on 28 February 2025 and took effect on 1 September 2025, replacing the 2006 edition; its official English version followed on 3 November 2025. Anxi county’s media centre reported that it adds aged-aroma Anxi Tieguanyin and, citing the county tea office, new limits for water extract, catechins and theanine. The published values could not be checked (October 2026). The specification filed with the EU still carries the grades and limits of the 2006 edition, including moisture of up to 7.5%.

Wuyi rock tea grades: Da Hong Pao, Rougui, Shuixian

Wuyi rock tea (武夷岩茶, Wuyi yancha) is oolong grown and made within the administrative area of Wuyishan city in Fujian, from clonally propagated bushes, and marked by the “rock character” (岩韵, yanyun) that GB/T 18745-2006 glosses as 岩骨花香, “rock bones, flower fragrance”. The standard, published on 18 July 2006 and in force since 1 December 2006, divides it into five categories.

Wuyi rock tea categories and grades (GB/T 18745-2006, clause 5.1 and Tables 2 to 6)

Source: Anxi Tie Guan Yin specification in the EU register of geographical indications (eAmbrosia), Tables 1 and 2; China’s national standard GB/T 18745-2006, Tables 2 to 6

Compared with the 2002 edition, the 2006 edition added the Da Hong Pao grades, dropped the split of the area into raw-material zones and the classification of cultivars, and became voluntary rather than mandatory. An amendment to the 2006 edition replaced the standard’s own table of contaminant and residue limits with China’s food safety standards GB 2762 and GB 2763. Labels must state the cultivar or category, the grade and the standard number.

Rougui grades in Wuyi rock tea (GB/T 18745-2006, Table 4)

Rougui grown outside Wuyishan can still be graded under GB/T 30357.5-2015, in the same three grades and with similar words, but its taste descriptors do not mention rock character, and it may hold 7.0% moisture instead of 6.5%. Special-grade Da Hong Pao needs tight, sturdy, slightly twisted leaf with a gem-like sheen (宝色) or gloss, pronounced rock character and a deep orange-yellow liquor; grade 2 has a subtle, lasting aroma and a golden liquor.

GB/T 18745-2026, published on 31 March 2026, replaces the 2006 edition on 1 April 2027; the official record listed it as not yet in force in October 2026. Its project notice of March 2024 announced the main changes: aged Wuyi rock tea (陈茶) with its own sensory description, a new grading for Qizhong and a stated storage period. The published text was not checked.

Da Hong Pao and the oolong names protected in the EU

Da Hong Pao is covered by two protected names. As a category of Wuyi rock tea, it falls under the GI Wuyi Yan Cha, protected in China since 8 March 2002 (AQSIQ notice No. 23 of 2002) across Wuyishan city. Mount Wuyi Da Hong Pao (武夷山大红袍) is a separate name, registered in China as a certification mark on 21 December 2001 (No. 1687896), whose EU specification places its producing area in the Mount Wuyi scenic area. Both are among the 100 Chinese names that the EU–China agreement on geographical indications has protected in the EU since it took effect on 1 March 2021. The green teas among those names are covered in our guide to Chinese green tea geographical indications.

Oolong names on Annex III of the EU–China agreement on geographical indications (Council document 8361/20)

Annex V lists 175 more Chinese names that were to be processed within four years of the agreement’s entry into force, among them Pinghe Bai Ya Qi Lan (平和白芽奇兰, No. 40); Baiyaqilan has its own part of GB/T 30357 (Part 9). In December 2025, an article published by China’s intellectual property office (CNIPA) described the mutual protection of this second list as still under way. Fenghuang Dan Cong comes from Fenghuang in Guangdong.

Oolong exports and the HS code

China exported 13,900 tonnes of oolong in 2025, 3.32% of its tea export volume and 1,568 tonnes (10.14%) less than in 2024, according to the China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA), which draws on customs data. It also imported 1,548 tonnes, 21.08% more than in 2024. Most oolong stays in China: oolong made up 9.61% of the country’s 3.64 million tonnes of crude tea in 2025, about 349,800 tonnes, so exports equalled roughly 4% of output (our calculation from CTMA figures).

The HS Explanatory Notes place partly fermented tea such as oolong in heading 09.02, with black tea: subheading 0902.30 for immediate packings of 3 kg or less and 0902.40 for the rest. China’s tariff gives oolong its own lines, 0902.3010 and 0902.4010, and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) counts both in its “speciality tea” group, with white tea, jasmine tea and other scented tea, ripe pu-erh and other dark tea. The six-digit figures China reports to UN Comtrade mix oolong with black tea and dark tea: 41,638 tonnes left under 0902.30 and 0902.40 in 2025, of which oolong was about a third (our calculation). The HS 2028 text, in force from 1 January 2028, names oolong as a partly fermented tea under the same two subheadings; our guide to tea HS codes explains the change.

What to put in an oolong purchase specification

• Standard, type and grade: the part and its year (for example GB/T 30357.2-2013 with Amendment No. 1), the type (清香型, 浓香型 or 陈香型) and the grade, in Chinese and English.
• Reference sample: the number of the sealed contract sample, since each grade is defined against a physical reference sample.
• Limits: moisture ≤7.0% (method GB 5009.3-2016; the standards cite GB/T 8304, withdrawn in 2017), or ≤6.5% for Wuyi rock tea (GB 5009.3); water extract ≥32% (GB/T 8305); broken tea ≤16% and dust ≤1.3% (GB/T 8311).
• Origin and name: for Anxi Tieguanyin or Wuyi rock tea, the GI standard (GB/T 19598-2025; GB/T 18745-2006, then GB/T 18745-2026 from 1 April 2027) and proof that the producer may use the GI mark; for Da Hong Pao, which of the two protected names applies.
• Aged tea: the production date and storage record behind any aged-aroma or aged claim.
• Residues: the destination’s limits, with a test report per lot; at origin, China’s GB 2762 and GB 2763 apply. The EU’s maximum levels for contaminants are set out in our guide to EU contaminant limits for tea.
• Customs line: 0902.3010 or 0902.4010 at Chinese export, according to the net weight of each immediate packing.
• Disputes: a retained sample; GB/T 30357.1 settles a dispute by retesting it or a double sample drawn from the same lot.