About Longjing Tea Plantations
Longjing (Dragon Well) tea is China's most famous green tea, and its birthplace is the village of Longjing, nestled in the hills west of West Lake. For over a thousand years, tea has been cultivated in these terraced fields, where the unique combination of soil, climate, and traditional processing methods produces a tea with a delicate, slightly sweet flavor and a distinctive flat-leaf shape.
The tea plantations cover the hillsides in neat rows of low bushes, creating a beautiful landscape that changes with the seasons — fresh green in spring, lush in summer, golden in autumn. Visitors can walk through the fields, visit traditional tea villages, watch the picking and hand-firing process, and of course, taste the fresh tea. The best time to visit is spring (March-May) when the first flush of leaves is harvested.
What Not to Miss
The terraced tea fields themselves — a beautiful landscape, especially in spring.
Tea picking and processing demonstrations at local tea villages.
Fresh Longjing tea tasting — the new spring tea is the most prized and expensive.
