Longjing (龙井, Dragon Well) tea is China’s most famous green tea, produced exclusively in a small area of hillside villages surrounding West Lake in Hangzhou. The tea gets its name from a spring in the village of the same name — an ancient well where rain water was said to surface from the ground (giving the “dragon’s breath” water phenomenon that fascinated Chinese scholars).
Visiting the Longjing tea village is one of the most rewarding experiences in Hangzhou — the hillside tea fields above the lake, the traditional processing workshops, and the opportunity to taste freshly made tea in the village itself combine into an experience unavailable anywhere else.
The Tea Village (龙井村)
The core Longjing tea area is a series of hillside villages — Longjing Village (龙井村), Meijiawu (梅家坞), Wengjiashan (翁家山) — spread across the western hills above West Lake, about 5km from the West Lake tourist area.
Getting there: Bus 27 from West Lake to Longjing Village (30 minutes, ¥2). Or cycle from the lakeside (the uphill section is steep; e-bikes available from the lake sharing stations make this manageable).
The village walk: A circuit walk through the tea gardens and between the villages takes 2–3 hours. The fields on the hillsides are beautiful in all seasons — bright green in spring, deep green in summer, golden-brown in winter. The framing of tea fields with mountainside and occasional lake glimpses is classic Hangzhou scenery.
Tea Production: What You’ll See
The Longjing production process is entirely manual for premium grades. In a village workshop, you can observe (and in many places, try) the pan-frying (炒制) step:
- Fresh-picked leaves are spread on bamboo trays to wilt briefly (2–4 hours)
- The wok is heated to 180–200°C (no oil)
- Leaves are hand-pressed and rotated against the wok surface using specific hand movements
- The process takes 15–25 minutes and reduces a large volume of fresh leaves to a small quantity of finished tea
The distinctive flat, pointed shape of Longjing tea comes from the pressing motion during this frying. The finished tea has a characteristic chestnut aroma (栗香) from the heat treatment.
Buying Authentic Longjing
The grade system: Longjing is graded by the time of picking relative to the seasonal calendar.
- Pre-Qingming (明前): Before April 4–6 (Qingming Festival). The most delicate, earliest buds. Most expensive (¥400–2,000+ per 100g for genuine farmgate Grade A).
- Pre-Rain (雨前): Before Grain Rain (April 20). Second grade, still excellent.
- Spring tea (春茶): The broader spring harvest, through late May.
Farmgate vs. urban retail: Tea bought directly from village farmers is typically 30–50% cheaper than the same grade in Hangzhou city tea shops, and 60–70% cheaper than “Longjing” sold in tourist areas in Shanghai or Beijing.
Authenticity: True West Lake Longjing (西湖龙井) has a geographic certification. Much tea sold as “Longjing” in China is from other Zhejiang or Sichuan regions and legally cannot use the “West Lake” designation. The village farmers’ product is the real article.
How much to buy: Premium Longjing is perishable — it loses freshness within 6–12 months even properly stored. Buy what you’ll drink within a year. For gifts: smaller quantities (50–100g) of Grade A are more impressive than larger quantities of lower grades.
Combining with West Lake
The circuit: Take the bus to Longjing Village in the morning (arrive before 10am for the freshest atmosphere). Walk the village tea fields circuit (2 hours). Have lunch in the village at one of the farmer’s tea restaurants — simple Hangzhou home cooking, tea-infused dishes (Longjing shrimp 龙井虾仁 is the classic). Descend back to West Lake for the afternoon.
The Longjing shrimp (龙井虾仁): Freshwater lake shrimp stir-fried with spring Longjing tea leaves — the classic Hangzhou combination, delicate in flavour, only good at this time of year (spring). The best versions are made with pre-Qingming tea.
Also see: Hangzhou West Lake Guide | China Tea Culture Guide | Shanghai Suzhou Hangzhou 5-Day Itinerary