Every spring, forsythia flowers bloom in the mountains of Huanglong, painting the hillsides in a golden hue that resembles a magnificent scroll. Forsythia is not only a beautiful ornamental plant but also a highly significant medicinal one. The fruits of forsythia are primarily used for medicinal purposes, as they possess the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, dispelling wind-heat, and reducing swelling and resolving masses. Its leaves can also be used as medicine. Because of their excellent effects in clearing away heat and toxic materials and preventing enteritis, in Huanglong, they are made into tea, playing a very good role in health preservation and healthcare.
Huanglong forsythia tea is made from the tender leaves of wild forsythia plants growing in the mountains of Huanglong, with the season for picking and processing new tea leaves falling in May and June each year. The tea-making process for forsythia tea combines traditional and modern techniques, ensuring the nutritional and health-preserving benefits of the forsythia leaves while enhancing the tea’s taste, color, and aroma, making it highly popular among tea connoisseurs. In 2020, Huanglong forsythia received the “Qin Medicine” brand certification, and Huanglong forsythia tea was awarded the Gold Award for Tourism Products at “The 2nd Yan’an Cultural Heritage Expo.” The tea-making skills using forsythia leaves from Huanglong Mountain were also included in the intangible cultural heritage protection projects of Huanglong County. Huanglong forsythia tea successfully obtained national certification as a famous, special, high-quality, and new agricultural product in 2023. In recent years, Huanglong forsythia tea has become a signature tourism commodity in Huanglong, with forsythia leaves becoming a “golden leaf” that enriches the local population.