Benshan is often compared to Tieguanyin, but it's a distinct cultivar with no national grading standard of its own — not a cheaper substitute, and not a regulated category either.
Benshan (本山) is a Southern Fujian oolong from Anxi County, and one of Anxi’s Four House Varieties (四大当家品种) — the group that also includes Tieguanyin, Huangjingui and Maoxie. It’s the quiet one of the four.
Source material describes tight, granular, dark green dry leaf, a clean and relatively light aroma, and a clean, mellow taste in a yellow-green liquor. The one comparison worth repeating: Benshan is often described alongside Tieguanyin, but as a lighter version — not a lesser one. It’s a different cultivar with its own, softer cup, not a discount stand-in for its more famous neighbor.
The detail most product listings skip: Benshan has no dedicated national product standard. Unlike Tieguanyin (GB/T 30357.2-2013) and Huangjingui (GB/T 30357.3-2015), our reference sources’ standards research explicitly states no independent national standard covers Benshan. So if a listing claims “national-standard grade” or cites a GB/T number for Benshan specifically, that claim needs checking — this research found no such standard to point to.
All four Anxi House Varieties go through the same general oolong process — withering, bruising-and-resting, kill-green, wrap-rolling and drying — separated by cultivar and finished character rather than a different method. On paper, Benshan and Maoxie land close together: both tight, granular, dark green leaf; both clean and mellow; both yellow-green liquor. Tasting them side by side, along with Tieguanyin, is a more useful way to learn what “cultivar” changes in an Anxi oolong than any written description.
See the Oolong Tea guide for where Benshan sits among the Anxi oolongs, and Huangjingui and Maoxie for the other two House Varieties.
Look · Dry leaf
Source material describes tight, granular, dark green dry leaf — the same general shape reported for Maoxie.
Smell & taste
Typical aroma: clean, light. Flavor tendencies: clean, mellow. Body: light-medium. These vary by batch, storage and brewing.
Brew · A starting point
Try 5 g in 150 ml water at 90–100°C for 15–30 seconds. Fully decant before tasting.
Read the wet leaves
Not documented specifically for Benshan in the source material reviewed.
Sources & review
Compiled by ChinaTea101's editors from Chinese national and industry tea standards and reference material, then fact-checked. Last reviewed 2026-09-25. How we check claims
- Standard GB/T 30357.2-2013 乌龙茶 第2部分：铁观音 (Oolong tea — Part 2: Tieguanyin) — National Public Service Platform for Standards Information (SAMR). Current standard; status checked on the national standards platform. View source ↗
- Standard GB/T 30357.3-2015 乌龙茶 第3部分：黄金桂 (Oolong tea — Part 3: Huangjingui) — National Public Service Platform for Standards Information (SAMR). Current standard; status checked on the national standards platform. View source ↗