Talk:Baihao Yinzhen

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 January 2020 and 9 May 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): KZZZ01.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 15:13, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Removed all references
I removed all references. Except for the ones to Chadao's tea blog (which is a good blog, IMHO), the references all looked like pretty egregious examples of WP:CITESPAM. I would recommend reading WP:RS before adding sources; in general blogs are not acceptable unless there is great reason to trust the blog's authority and editorial integrity. In some unusual cases, in the world of tea, company websites might be acceptable, but I think only in cases where there is reason to believe the information should be trusted, such as when the company has clearly identified the source of their information, or is recognized as an authority on the subject. Blogs and company websites that do not clearly identify authorship, method of research / sources of the information, and an editorial policy are not acceptable as sources. Cazort (talk) 15:49, 6 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the clarification Cazort. I chose those sources because they were the only ones I could find. In the absence of reliable sources, perhaps the page itself should be deleted. timo (talk) 17:53, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Silver needle tea question
I am certain that Bai Hao Yinzhen tea is Silver Needle Tea, but not too sure if Junshan Yinzhen tea can also be called Silver Needle tea. Does anyone know for sure? I ask because I made a redirect page for "Silver needle tea" today, I pointed it to Bai Hao Yinzhen tea. But if both teas are called Silver Needle Tea, then I need to make a change so that people can find BOTH teas. Thanks. Fallendarling (talk) 00:58, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Baihao Yinzhen is referred to as Silver Needle in popular practice, abbreviated from the full name White Hair (or White Down) Silver Needle. Junshan Yinzhen, even though with the same "Yinzhen" part of the name, however, is not referred to as Silver Needle. That is because the original Junshan Yinzhen was a yellow tea, so it looked yellowish. And due to the type of tea cultivar used to make the tea, the down was not as prominent as that in Baihao Yinzhen, and the leaf size a lot smaller. Therefore, the Silver Needle name is used for Baihao Yinzhen and not other downy shoot tea varieties. Back to Junshan Yinzhen: genuine Junshan Yinzhen is extremely rare, if not extinct, nowadays. Most teas called by that name are leaf shoot green teas produced from various cultivars and locations, they don't taste like the traditional yellow tea. There has been some discussions in the web in Mainland China about this, although they got exterminated quite readily because of commercial concerns.

All in all, directing the Silver Needle page to the Baihao Yinzhen page is good, but not the Junshan Yinzhen page.

Bill Ukers (talk) 16:31, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

This article is inaccurate, misleading, and lacking in definitive content
The content in this article now cannot define what a baihao yinzhen really is. What it does is to further indulge imitation products to be sold as the genuine ones. Accurate information should not be short of reputable references. There simply are too many reliable, independent sources out there for much better and definitive description of this tea than what this article can provide. I am surprised no one has been trying to improve this. Bill Ukers (talk) 16:04, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Genuine productions are from Fujian
It is key to state that the origin is from Fujian because it was where it started and the specific cultivars and local growing environment together yield the characteristic taste. In reality, many other provinces, and even in Nepal, are producing the tea with various dai bai cultivars they get from Fujian, but there are taste differences. I am amending the article accordingly. Please let me know if you have strong reasons to disagree with this change.

Bill Ukers (talk) 13:09, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

rewritten and references cited
I have rewritten the article to re-align facts and realistic practices, complete with reliable references. I also deleted some of the production regions that claimed to be also the origins. For historical references of the true origins, please go to the stated references for more reading. The two Chinese sources cited are some rare examples of reliable and non-biased writings, the Zhongguo Chajing book was published before the crazy capitalization on China happened and the Zhongguo Baicha book was from a rare scholar written with extensive field work and lab work supports. Those who can read Chinese and are interested in White teas are encouraged to read these two rather than the marketing writing and sales talks that flood the market. As for the two Englsih sources, the Tea Guardian site is an independent tea commentary and references with critical point of views and the Joseph Needham encyclopedia does not need my introduction.

Please share with me your thoughts about this re-writing.

Bill Ukers (talk) 15:29, 28 December 2010 (UTC)