Shoumei

GB/T 22291—2017 places Shoumei alongside Baihao Yinzhen, Baimudan and Gongmei as four independent white-tea product types, and only then divides Shoumei internally into Grade 1 and Grade 2. Its raw-material range is broader, allowing tender shoots or leaves from Dabai tea, Shuixian or population cultivars.

For that reason, statements such as “Shoumei is low-grade Gongmei” or “Shoumei is just coarse leftover leaves” do not match the current national standard. The categories differ first in raw material and product definition; they should not be arranged into one simple cross-category ladder from high to low.

In historical trade terminology and local materials, Gongmei and Shoumei overlapped for a long time. Even today, some Fuding heritage materials preserve older expressions such as “Gongmei (Shoumei).” The 2017 edition of the national White Tea standard added and clearly defined Shoumei as a product type, while Gongmei was restricted to tender shoots from population cultivars.

When reading Shoumei history, this evolution in naming should be preserved rather than projecting today's definitions backward as if the two terms had always been completely separate.

Shoumei itself has no single nationwide GI. Fuding White Tea has long produced Shoumei within its GI and traditional craft system, Zhenghe White Tea has its own regional standards, and northern Fujian white-tea traditions including Jianyang are also connected with Shoumei-type products.

This page therefore does not assign one universal gi_basis to Shoumei. Fuding and Zhenghe are treated as related regional identities, and only a product with a verified specific origin may inherit the corresponding GI, heritage or agricultural-heritage relationships.

Like other white teas, Shoumei centers on withering and drying. Because the raw material can be more mature than Gongmei and the leaves larger, leaf-layer thickness, ventilation, temperature, humidity and even moisture loss become especially important during withering.

Under-withering can leave green odor, while excessive withering can reduce liveliness and freshness. Fuding traditional practice includes natural and combined withering, while modern national processing specifications translate such experience into more controllable production conditions.

Current national-standard Grade 1 Shoumei should have leaves that remain somewhat tightly curled and relatively even, a fairly gray-green color, a clean aroma, a mellow substantial yet still brisk taste, orange-yellow liquor, and infused leaves that retain some bud tips and remain soft and fairly bright.

Grade 2 has looser leaves, can show somewhat darker color with red tones, a fuller taste and deeper liquor. For that reason, Cha Yu Jing uses newly made Grade 1 Shoumei as the standard visual anchor rather than drawing all Shoumei as brown-red aged tea.

Fuding White Tea Making Craft entered China's national intangible-cultural-heritage list in 2011 and became a Fujian component of UNESCO's 2022 “Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China.” Official Fuding materials explicitly list Shoumei among the region's traditional white-tea products.

The Fuding White Tea Culture System became a China Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2017 and was formally recognized by FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2025. For generic Shoumei, these identities can only be presented as Fuding-specific regional associations and cannot automatically be assigned to Shoumei from other origins.