Longjing Tea: A Hangzhou Picking and Tasting Guide

Tea From the Source

Longjing — Dragon Well — is the most famous green tea in China, and it grows on the hills at the edge of Hangzhou, half an hour from West Lake. The craft is still manual: leaves are pressed and shaped in a hot wok by hand, a technique that decides the flat blade shape, the chestnut sweetness and the price. A day among the tea terraces is one of the most rewarding craft excursions in the east, and it fits neatly with the lake, the temples and the city's gardens.

The Hills: Longjing Village and Meijiawu

Two villages anchor the tea country. Longjing village, closest to the lake, holds the original spring, the museum and the terraces that appear on every postcard; Meijiawu, a little further west, is the larger farming village with the highest concentration of family workshops, courtyards and tasting rooms. Both are reachable by bus, taxi or bike from the lake area — the ride itself is part of the experience, winding up through bamboo and tea slopes.

Picking Seasons and What They Change

Tea here is a spring crop, and the calendar divides the year. The first flush — picked around the Qingming festival in early April — is the most delicate and the most expensive, with the pre-rain flush that follows close behind. Later pickings are fuller and cheaper; summer and autumn leaves are rarely sold as Longjing. For travelers, the message is simple: April is the harvest trip, summer and autumn are the drinking trip, and the villages are quietest outside the spring rush.

Tasting and Buying

Tasting is the whole transaction: sit down, watch the leaf pour, smell the hot cup, then taste. Good Longjing is sweet and chestnut-like with a clean finish; older or lower-grade tea turns grassy and flat. Buy from the workshop where you tasted, ask which picking the batch is from, and buy in vacuum-sealed packets or tins for travel — humidity is the enemy. Prices at the farm are better than in the city shops, and the farmer will usually tell you exactly what you are paying for.

The Tea Day Trip

Plan it simply: a morning in the terraces and a workshop, lunch in the village, tea tasting in the afternoon and back to the lake by evening — or the reverse if you want West Lake at sunset. Two hours is enough for the tasting; a full day lets you walk between the villages through the tea fields, which is the best part. Combine the day with the lake's temples and causeways for a complete Hangzhou stop.

Frequently Asked Questions