Shui Xian
Shui Xian ('narcissus') is the workhorse cultivar of Wuyi rock tea and the rounder, mellower counterpart to the spicier rou gui. The leaf comes from a tall, almost tree-like varietal, and the style is traditionally given a substantial charcoal roast, yielding deep dark-fruit and woody notes over a smooth, sweet body. The variable that matters most is bush age: ordinary Shui Xian is everyday rock tea, while old-bush lao cong material develops a prized mossy, woody depth (cong wei) that justifies a much higher price.
Long, thick, dark twisted leaf, typically larger than rou gui because the cultivar is a big-leaf, tall-growing plant. A good Shui Xian is smooth and round with dark fruit, a woody or floral-woody sweetness and a long mineral finish, never sharp. The roast should be integrated rather than ashy, and freshly fired leaf benefits from one to three months of rest. The premium signal is lao cong (old bush): genuine old-bush Shui Xian shows a distinctive mossy, aged-wood character (cong wei) that ordinary young-bush leaf cannot fake. Yan yun in the aftertaste still marks true zhengyan origin.
Wuyishan, northern Fujian, with the standard zhengyan, banyan and outer-zone price ladder. Shui Xian is the most widely planted yancha cultivar, valued for its reliability and body, and the same cultivar travels well beyond Wuyi (it is the base of pressed Zhangping Shui Xian; the Phoenix-mountain tea also called Shui Xian is a separate, name-sharing Guangdong cultivar, not this one). Traditional processing leans toward a medium-to-heavy charcoal roast; old-bush (lao cong) gardens are the prestige tier.
Gongfu: 7-8 g per 100 ml in a gaiwan or seasoned clay, 95-100°C, a brief rinse, 15-30 seconds for the first steep and ascending; 6-8 infusions, often more from old-bush leaf. Western: 4 g per 200 ml, 95-100°C, 2-3 minutes. Shui Xian's mellow body makes it the most forgiving yancha if you slightly oversteep.
Commodity and banyan Shui Xian runs €10-25 (about $11-27) per 100 g and is genuinely good value. Named zhengyan and especially old-bush lao cong Shui Xian climbs to €40-100 (about $43-108) per 100 g, and higher for well-documented old gardens.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Rou Gui
The classic yancha pairing: rou gui is sharp and cinnamon-spicy, Shui Xian rounder, woodier and mellower.
Lao Cong Shui Xian (Old Bush)
The premium old-bush tier of this same cultivar; old-bush Shui Xian adds the mossy cong wei depth that ordinary Shui Xian lacks.
Da Hong Pao
Commercial DHP blends usually lean on Shui Xian for body; tasting it alone shows exactly what it contributes.
Wuyi Yancha (Rock)
The parent style page covering the rock-tea GI geography and the quality logic behind the price spread.
Shui Xian is one of the most planted oolong cultivars in all of Fujian, used for Wuyi rock tea, the pressed Zhangping Shui Xian squares and more. In Wuyi the most coveted version is lao cong, leaf from decades-old bushes whose trunks grow a real coat of moss, which drinkers associate with the deep cong wei flavor.