On November 29, 2025, China's nomination of “Traditional Chinese Tea processing Skills and Related Customs” was reviewed and included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO, convened in Rabat, Morocco. To date, China has a total of 43 projects listed in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, ranking first in the world.

“Traditional Chinese Tea Processing Skills and Related Customs” encompasses 44 national-level representative intangible cultural heritage projects, each a cultural treasure. In order to further promote and display these intangible Tea processing skills and related customs, “Tea Talk” is presenting a special series titled “Encounter with Intangible Cultural Heritage Teas – Traditional Chinese Tea Processing Skills and Related Customs.”

This article will focus on the Green Tea production techniques (Xinyang Maojian tea production techniques).

Xinyang Maojian belongs to the category of green teas and is one of China's top ten famous teas, renowned for its unique style characterized by “fine, round, tight, straight, abundant white down, high fragrance, rich taste, and green liquor.”

The history of tea cultivation in Xinyang dates back over 2,300 years. With the passage of time, today's Xinyang Maojian is characterized by “bunches,” handcrafted through traditional roasting methods. The accumulated techniques over a thousand years have resulted in a dozen processes, and the intangible cultural heritage skills are distilled into a cup of fine tea.

Picking

Xinyang Maojian is manually picked only once during the spring season in April, following standards that include single buds and one bud with one leaf.

Sieving

The fresh leaves of Xinyang Maojian, freshly picked in April, are sieved through three layers of bamboo sieves to separate out single buds and one bud with one leaf.

Withering

The sieved fresh leaves of Xinyang Maojian are turned every hour, for a total of six hours, allowing the moisture to evaporate gradually.

First Wok

The first wok is a critical step in the making of Xinyang Maojian, using oak wood from Xinyang as fuel, and the tea is quickly stir-fried at temperatures around 180 degrees Celsius for about ten minutes, gradually removing the grassy scent.

Second Wok

After being processed in the first wok, the tea is transferred to the second wok for further manipulation, primarily for shaping. The shaping technique is particularly meticulous, determining the shape of Xinyang Maojian. It relies solely on one hand, requiring precise control of force, temperature, and speed. On a fire between 80 to 100 degrees Celsius, each strand of Xinyang Maojian is shaped tightly and straight.

Initial Drying

When drying tea, it must not be exposed to the direct flame. After the initial drying process, when the tea strands are somewhat stiff to the touch and contain approximately 15% moisture, they can be removed from the heat.

Airing

After initial drying, the tea is spread indoors on large trays for more than four hours, allowing the moisture to distribute evenly in preparation for re-drying.

Re-drying

The tea is evenly spread on a tea drying rack after airing and gently stirred every ten minutes or so. When the tea strands become fixed and can be crumbled into powder by hand, it can be removed from the heat.

Sorting

The re-dried tea is laid out on a worktable, and yellow leaves, old twigs, and non-tea impurities are removed.

Final Re-drying

The tea is dried further to achieve a moisture content below 6%, and after 30 minutes of re-drying, the aroma of Xinyang Maojian fills the air.

In recent years, to support and inherit the traditional production techniques of Xinyang Maojian, governments across Henan Province have actively supported various groups in implementing protective measures and ensuring the continuation of traditional production techniques.