Chinese Tea-Longjing龙井 – SMART CHINESE TEACHER

Grown in the ancient area of Hangzhou, in the Zhejiang Province, for more than a thousand years, Longjing is China’s most famous tea and it is often offered to heads of state. Imagine starting your day drinking such an exquisite tea!

The tea is then roasted. This magical art is done by hand. Roasters use their bare hands to better experience the heat and understand the development of the tea leaves, which takes up to five years to master. Leaves are folded by hand into the shape of flattened sticks. As this stage of the processing takes place a wonderful warm aroma emanates from the tea leaves, instantly reminding of all the tea cups you’ve drunk in your entire life. Finally, the tea should be placed in the refrigerator, to avoid humidity, where it can remain fresh up to three years, thus letting you enjoy this marvelous experience for a long time.

Longjing tea is indeed a world full of elegance, benefits and history, starting with its name. This Chinese green tea is also known as Dragon Well, and there is more than one legend to explain this mysterious name.

One version tells us that in ancient times, people believed that a dragon lived in the village well, controlling the rainfall. They would actually visit the well and pray for rain.Another legend says that the name Longjing is both the name of a water spring and the name of a temple, where monks planted tea trees.

Historically, Longjing green tea was not given its name until the southern Song Dynasty (960 – 1279AD), a dynasty that invested in the development of tea production.However, it was only during the Qing Dynasty (1616 – 1911AD) that Dragon Well tea was introduced to the world, due to the increasing interest of the emperor Qianlong (1735 – 1796AD).Delighted and intrigued by this tea, this philosophic and poetic emperor often visited the Longjing tea growing area to observe the processing methods, drink a cup of tea and also sing and write poems about it.During one of his visits, his mother became ill, forcing him to return at once and take some tea leaves. Upon his arrival, his mother was intrigued by the smell of the tea leaves and the emperor brewed them for her. She soon improved and the emperor granted Imperial status to the temple tea trees.

So, if you are looking to take part in this ancient and healthy experience, Longjing tea will take you on an extraordinary adventure. Come with us and discover the world of Longjing or Dragon Well. Longjing green tea comes to life in the mountainous area of the Zhejiang Province, surrounded by a mild climate, rain and fog all year round. These conditions, and the lack of sun, allow the tea leaves to retain more theanine, thus providing your tea with a mellow and fruity taste. This method of processing tea in the shade is similar to that of Gyokuro tea and Matcha tea, both Japanese green teas

The best Longjing quality tea can be found in West Lake, namely in Lion Peak Mountain. There are, of course, other Longjings produced outside West Lake, within the Zhejiang Province, and even produced in other provinces. This tea is harvested just once a year, for six weeks, in early spring and then only young buds are plucked. Leaves are jade-green in colour. The first two weeks are considered high grade, while the remaining ones are low grades. Immediately after picking, the tea is withered, thus removing moisture and increasing the content of theanine.

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