Zheng Yongshun Takes Top Prize at New Taipei's 2026 Spring Wenshan Baozhong Competition
Pinglin tea grower Zheng Yongshun won the special award in New Taipei City's 2026 spring Wenshan Baozhong tea competition, judged over six days against a record 1,825 entries.
This year's benchmark lot of Wenshan Baozhong has a name: Pinglin grower Zheng Yongshun, winner of the special award in New Taipei City's 2026 spring competition, the Pinglin District Farmers' Association said.
A special award at the New Taipei competition sets the season's reference point for the style. Growers submit finished lots for blind judging, and the winning tea becomes the benchmark buyers use for that harvest. The association announced Zheng's win on May 24.
The association said the competition drew 1,825 point-lots of entered tea, a record for the contest, and that judges spent six days narrowing the field, eliminating roughly 29% of entries along the way before naming Zheng's tea the champion. It is Zheng's second special award in the spring competition, reclaiming a title he last won in 2023, United Daily News and Liberty Times reported; his winning lot sold out on its first day on sale.
Wenshan Baozhong is Taiwan's lightest-oxidized oolong, made in the hills of Pinglin District in New Taipei City, closer to green tea in character than the roasted rock teas of Wuyi or the heavier Dong Ding style. The Pinglin District Farmers' Association runs the spring and winter competitions each year under the "New Taipei Good Tea" banner, drawing entries from growers across the district.
Judges described Zheng's winning tea as displaying gardenia among its florals, alongside orchid and jasmine notes, plus a fruit-forward sweetness recalling green apple, plum, and guava, according to the association's announcement.
Zheng grows his tea in Pinglin and runs Quanyi Tea Shop there with his wife, Dai Menghui, pairing his tea service with a small restaurant menu. He has competed on the Pinglin circuit for years; a profile on the Taiwan Council of Agriculture's knowledge portal recorded him placing at a national youth tea-making contest earlier in his career.
Sources: Pinglin District Farmers' Association, 115年新北市春季文山包種茶比賽結果揭曉; United Daily News, 坪林包種茶特等獎 鄭永順二度封王 (June 4, 2026); Liberty Times, 坪林包種茶比賽 鄭永順二度奪特等獎 (June 7, 2026); Agricultural Knowledge Portal (Council of Agriculture), 建國百年全國青年製茶競賽季軍得獎人專訪－新北市坪林區茶農鄭永順.