TeaHQ

Lu’an

The Anhui prefecture behind Liu An Gua Pian, the only well-known Chinese green tea made from a single mature leaf with the bud and stem deliberately removed. It also gives its name to Liu An basket tea, a dark tea from the same area.

六安China100–800 metresAlso called Liuan

Elevation

Recorded at 100–800 metres.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.

When it is picked

Picked to single leaves rather than to buds, which is unusual among China's famous greens and means Lu'an Guapian can be picked slightly later than a bud-standard tea without losing its point. Guyu rather than Qingming is the meaningful marker here.

How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.

How the name is written

Also transliterated as liu an. Romanisations of a district name vary by system and by vendor, and a packet spelling one way is not describing a different place.

Teas this region is known for

  • Liu An Gua Pian — Fuller-bodied and more toasted than other Chinese greens, because the material is mature leaf and the finish is over charcoal. A useful counterexample for anyone who thinks green tea means bud-heavy and delicate.

Other growing regions in China

The neighbouring districts are the useful comparison: they share a country, a grading convention and often a cultivar, so what differs between them is closer to terroir than anything a cross-border comparison can isolate.

Sources

  • TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ

This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No external document stands behind the elevation band, the climate note or the character described above, which is why each carries its confidence in the open.

How TeaHQ handles sources

Written comparisons

Where TeaHQ has set this region against something it is routinely confused with, and argued the differences out in full.

  • Lu’an vs Taiping — Two Anhui areas that both break the ordinary rules of Chinese green tea plucking. Lu’an Gua Pian is made from a single mature leaf with the bud and stem deliberately removed; Taiping Houkui uses enormous leaves pressed flat. Neither uses the bud-and-leaf standard the category is built on.