Ying Xiang (No. 20) vs Qing Xin
A bred cultivar against the plant it was bred to relieve. Qing Xin makes almost all of Taiwan’s famous high-mountain oolong and is low-yielding and disease-prone; Ying Xiang offers more vigour and more aroma across a wider range of elevations, and the trade has not adopted it in Qing Xin’s place.
What is being compared
Why these get confused
High-mountain character is credited to altitude alone. Altitude is doing a great deal, and it is doing it to a particular cultivar — the same elevation planted with a hardier plant does not give the same cup, which is why cultivar and mountain have to be read together.
Point by point
| Aspect | Ying Xiang | Qing Xin |
|---|---|---|
| Aroma | Pronounced and floral, and forward at any elevation. | Thick, sweet and gardenia-scented, with a cooling finish that intensifies with altitude. |
| Vigour and disease resistance | Better on both counts, which is what it was bred for. | Low yield and weak resistance — the standing problem of Taiwanese oolong. |
| Elevation range | Planted across a range, and it performs at moderate altitude. | Rewards altitude specifically; below about a thousand metres it loses much of what it is bought for. |
| Market position | A useful plant with no name recognition. | The name behind Alishan, Li Shan and Da Yu Ling. |
| What replaces it in a blend | Nothing — it is usually the whole tea when it is used. | Nothing reproduces its finish, which is why growers accept the agronomics. |
| Price | Lower for comparable growing conditions. | Set by the mountain name as much as by the plant. |
The short answer
Ying Xiang is a better bush and Qing Xin is a better tea, and that tension explains why Taiwanese growers keep planting a plant that gives them trouble. For a drinker buying at moderate elevation, where Qing Xin’s advantage largely disappears, Ying Xiang is often the more honest purchase.
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