Longjing Tea Fields



The Longjing Tea (The Dragon Well Tea) is a famous specialty in Hangzhou and known as the best tea in China.
It is also an invaluable culture in the city.

Having a land area of 335 hectares, the Longjing Tea Plantation is located in the West Lake Scenic Area. The
plantation is a base for Longjing Tea cultivation in Hangzhou. The tea fields are distributed in many places inside
the West Lake Scenic Area and they are the state's tea gift production base.

The Dragon Well, in Chinese known as “longjing”, was discovered around 230 A.D. The well is rather small,
measuring two meters in diameter, but of all the teas in China, Dragon Well tea is considered the best.  

Longjing has been praised as the "Green Queen" which means the tea is of top quality and loved so much by
ancient royal families in China. Longjing tea received imperial approval when the Emperor Qianlong passed
through on one of his long inspections of the realm - a true connoisseur of teas, Qianlong recognized the fine
subtleties of the Longjing brew and stamped it as the 'Imperial tea', securing its reputation forever.

The tea leaf of Longjing is flat, small and very soft. The greenish yellow color on it is vivid and evenly spread, you'll feel smooth when you touching
it. The leaf is generally shorter than 3cm with no dust on it. Strong tea fragrance is smelt on the leaf's surface. The counterfeit Longjing Tea has a
smell of common grass and not smooth when being touched by hand.

Longjing, which roughly translates as 'the well of the dragon', hides deep in the organic brush where the moist mountain air and organic soil keep
the thirsty tea plants warm and wet, resulting in the flavour some brew that won Qianlong's enthusiasm centuries ago.

Now, modern townhouses and double-storied homes with elegant balconies receive tourists for calm
afternoons spent over bottomless glasses of deep green tea, as visitors and locals pass each other
on the pavement stones beneath, the clacking of their heels echoing off into the fields of tea climbing
the mountainsides beyond, framing the village with pastoral grace.

It is best to visit during the harvest period, which usually lasts from the first week of March until after
May Holiday, when everyone is out in the field picking the tea fresh.