Zhang Ping Shui Xian was said to be first discovered in Zhang Ping Zhu Xian Cave (祝仙洞). In local dialect however, Zhu sounded like Water, which is Shui, which was how the name was given.

Zhang Ping started growing this tea since the Yuan Dynasty and at a decent scale by the Qing Dynasty. In 1914, Deng Guan Jin, a native from Zhang Ping Shuang Yang village created the first ever compressed tea brick from Zhang Ping Shui Xian differentiating from all other types of Oolong.

This tea has obvious red oxidation of the tea leaves at the edge of the tea and gives a bright yellow liquor. Locals commonly refer to this tea as the Tri-coloured tea. This tea is commercially sold as loose leaves or in their signature compressed brick.