The best Longjing Tea is made in the week before April 5, or the Pure Brightness Festival (Qingming). Known as Mingqian (before Qingming), such Longjing tea is "green in hue, strong in fragrance, mellow in taste and pretty in appearance".

    "My tea is always booked out by regular customers who don't trust unknown shops outside. There are many fake West Lake Longjing tea products in the market," he said.

    "My customers won't drink the tea themselves. They keep it as a top-grade gift," Wang added.

    Every year, Wang keeps no more than 10 kilograms of Longjing tea for himself. He sips three cups of tea a day, a habit he believes has kept him in good health.

    At Hefang Street, a popular tourism spot in Hangzhou, the Taiji Teahouse has drawn a lot of attention this spring with a new kind of tea that is more affordable.

    Manager Zheng Xiaochun said no teahouse in Hangzhou is offering West Lake Longjing tea made this year, as the cost, about 100 yuan (12.9 U.S. dollars) per cup, is beyond the reach of ordinary customers.

    The teahouse offers Qiantang Longjing tea, which is grown outside Hangzhou and priced at 600 to 1,600 yuan (77-207 U.S. dollars) per kilogram.

    Zheng, 31, said West Lake Longjing will be widely available in the teahouses by the end of April, when the price drops to 1,000 yuan (129 U.S. dollars) per kilogram.

    The warm winter this year has resulted in slightly bigger tea leaves.

    But Zheng said the quality of Longjing can be guaranteed.

    Most patrons to Zheng's teahouse are aged between 50 and 60, and most of them come from South China.

    Loyal tea lovers, called "laochaqiang" by the locals, prefer tea grown after the Pure Brightness Festival, as the leaves are tougher, and the taste much stronger. More importantly, the price is also more affordable, Zheng said.

    (Source: China Daily)

[1] [2] [3] [4]