Dragon Well Green Tea

Longjing Tea-the most famous Chinese Tea   by Alexa Wang

What is Longjing Tea

The name of Longjing Tea (literally translated as Dragon Well) may come from four sources,tea tree,the well,the temple and the spring. This tea comes from the shores of West Lake (Xi-hu),at Hangzhou City,Zhejiang Province,China.

Long time ago,Longjing Tea was highly praised for its absolute beauty in four aspects: greenish color,elegant fragrance,mellow taste and prettiness in appearance. The delicate fragrance is very long-lasting and bright liquor gives a refreshing,brisk,mellow and sweet aftertaste.

To process Longjing Tea,the Tea Leaf must undergo intensive pan-frying steps by hands during the entire process. In a custom-made pan,the leaves are repeatedly stirred and agitated by hand with different hand gesture: as many as 10 different styles (十大手法 Shi-da Shou-fa) are a must.

There are many versions of longjing tea found in the market,nevertheless,the best longjing tea comes from its original place,the Longjing Village (Long jing cun) which covers several historically renowned longjing tea producing areas. At present, there are many tea produced from other places in Zhejiang Province,which is called Zhejiang longjing tea. However,due to the unique climatic environment and different manufacturing expertise, the quality is different from that of origin. Besides,the producing areas at certain places of Zhejiang Province are located in urban area which is exposed to the risk of heavy metal contamination from vehicles and industrial area.

History & Culture of Longjing Tea

Longjing tea is one of Chinese historical tea. The making of longjing tea was dated back to 1,500 years ago. It is said that longjing tea was recorded as early as Song Dynasty in the world first tea book,Cha-Jing (The Tea Scripture written by Lu Yu). Once upon a time, it was named after the names of mountains: (Xiang-lin-cha), (Bai-yun-cha) and (Bao-yun-cha). Longjing tea was blooming during Yuan (元) and Ming (明) Dynasties. It was named as longjing tea since Song Dynasty. The name of longjing tea was well-known during late Qing Dynasty.

It is said that during the Qing Dynasty,Emperor Qiang-Long visited the Shi-feng Mountain and was served with longjing tea. He was very impressed with its beautiful appearance,elegant fragrance and mellow taste. The monk who served the tea introduced the tea and brought him to the tea garden,at that time, there were 18 tea trees. While he was enjoying plucking the tea leaves,urgent news arrived saying his mother had fallen ill and urged him to return to the palace. During his visit to his sick mother,the scent of tea leaves that he kept in his pocket emitted and attracted his mother’s attention. Without second a thought, he served the tea to his mother and she enjoyed its pleasant taste and flavor very much. After drinking for several times,she was fully recovered. The Emperor was very grateful to the tea and granted the 18 tea trees as the Imperial Tea Tree. Since then, Longjing tea became one of tribute tea to emperors. Up to date,the 18 tea trees remain at the Shi-feng Mountain.

Until now,Longjing held its first place among the Top Ten Chinese Tea. It has been the National Tea ( Guo-cha), and was always selected as a gift for foreign guests. Year after year,its fame as the Queen of Green Tea established.

Growing Area of Longjing Tea

The original longjing tea came from the producing area at Longjing Village,which is situated at the shore of West Lake (Xihu).
During the history,longjing tea was divided into five categories according to five main producing areas: Shi-feng Mountain,Mei-jia-Wu area,Weng-jia-shan Mountain,Yun-xi area,and Hu-pao area.
Today,Longjing is usually categorized into 4 different groups: 狮 (Shi), 梅 (Mei), 西湖 (Xihu, means West Lake), and longjing from other places of Zhejiang Province called Zhejiang Longjing.
The tea growing area is surrounded with fog throughout the year. One of the essential factors for good Longjing tea is the mellow taste. This taste originates from the amino acid called theanine. Young buds contain high level of theanine but it is converted to polyphenol such as catechins when tea leaves receive sun light. On the other hand,less sunshine will preserve high levels of theanine in leaves as bio-conversion is not effectively taking place. The area is often covered by fog which blocks the direct sunlight on tea leaves.

Besides,the soil has strong water holding capacity and good penetrating character which is important to retain sufficient moisture in the soil. In addition,the soil is quartz sandstone which provide an acidic pH,which is suitable for growing tea tree.

About the Author

Editor of Vicony Tea Directory
Jing Tea – Dragon Well Green Tea

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