Oolong tea Origin of the name

The word oolong is a chinese word for black dragon and is pronounced O-liông. The other names as Wu Long, Wulong and Wu-long tea are only the different pronounciations of the chinese name and actually stand for one and the same, Oolong tea.

How Oolong tea got its name remains a secret and is a theme of quite a few myths, but there are three commonly accepted theories:

Tribute tea theory
According to this theory, Oolong tea was a direct descendant of Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake tribute tea and replaced it when loose tea became popular. It was called the Black Dragon tea because it was dark, long and curly.

Wuyi theory
According to Wuyi theory, Oolong tea originated from the Wuyi Mountain. Supposedly Oolong tea was named after the part of Wuyi mountain where it was originally produced.

Anxi theory
According to this theory, oolong tea had its origin in the Anxi oolong tea plant, where it was discovered by a man named Sulong, Wulong or Wuliang.
Another explanation for the name is the fact that Oolong tea leaves resemble little black dragons but probably the most interesting guess are the variations of the tale about a man called Wu Liang. The tales say that Wu Liang had a hard, labourous day of tea-picking behind him when something distracted him. Some tales say it was a deer, some speak of a snake, resembling a dragon. One or the other, one of those distracted or scared him away and after Wu Liang returned to his tea, it was already well oxidized in the sun. Out of curiosity, Wu Liang brewed the oxidized tea leaves and found the tea very pleasing.