Baozhong
Baozhong (pouchong) is the most lightly oxidized of the oolongs, so light it sits at the border with green tea, and it is processed as open, twisted strips rather than rolled into balls. Its appeal is aromatic: a bright, fresh, lily-and-lilac florality with a clean, almost creamy finish. Because oxidation and oxidation alone defines the style (there is little or no roast to lean on), freshness is the variable that matters most.
The leaf is open and twisted (not rolled into pellets), dark green and glossy, with a fresh, high floral aroma and no stale or hay-like dullness. A good baozhong is bright and lifted, with a clean orchid-to-lilac florality and a smooth, slightly buttery body; flatness, grassiness or a cooked-vegetable note signals tired or low-grade leaf. Because it is barely oxidized and unroasted, it shows its age quickly, so favor recent harvests. The liquor should be pale yellow-green and clear, not dull or browning.
The benchmark is Wenshan Baozhong from the Pinglin and Wenshan area in the hills south of Taipei in northern Taiwan, mostly from the Qingxin cultivar. The style is also made elsewhere in Taiwan and abroad, but the cool, humid Wenshan terroir is the classic source of its signature lifted florality. Minimal oxidation (often cited in the rough range of 8 to 18 percent) and little or no roast are the defining processing choices, which is what keeps baozhong closer to green tea in character than its rolled, roasted oolong cousins.
Gongfu: 5-7 g per 100 ml in a porcelain gaiwan, 88-92°C (no rinse needed, since it is unroasted), first steep 30-45 seconds, ascending; 5-7 infusions. Keep the temperature down to protect the aromatics. Western: 3 g per 200 ml, 85-90°C, 2-3 minutes.
Everyday Wenshan baozhong runs €15-40 (about $16-43) per 100 g. Competition-grade and top spring lots from named Pinglin sources climb to €50-90 (about $54-97) per 100 g and higher.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess)
Jade-rolled and structured where baozhong is open-leaf and delicate; the qingxiang Tieguanyin page itself cites baozhong as the floral, minimally oxidized opposite end of the Taiwan oolong scale.
Gao Shan (High Mountain, General)
Rolled high-mountain oolong that is creamier and fuller-bodied, while baozhong stays light, twisted and aromatic; the two bracket the floral end of Taiwan oolong.
Oriental Beauty
The heavily oxidized, bug-bitten far end of the Taiwan oolong range, as honeyed and deep as baozhong is fresh and green.
The name baozhong (literally wrapped kind) comes from an old practice of wrapping the tea in squares of paper, and the style has historic links to Fujian-immigrant tea makers who carried the method to northern Taiwan, where it became a regional specialty.