LongJing
Tea is one of the best and most famous tea in China. In Chinese,
LongJing means the "Dragon Well". It is the name of a village in
HangZhou City, ZheJiang Province. In LongJing village there are several
places where people plant LongJing Tea, therefore LongJing tea can be
subdivided according to the name of its growing place such as ShiFeng
LongJing Tea, MeiHuaWu LongJing Tea, etc. Among them ShiFeng is the best
LongJing Tea.
LongJing Tea has a long history of more
than one thousand years. As early as Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) LongJing
tea was recorded in the first tea book in China's history - ChaJing (the
Classic of Tea), although at that time there was no specific name for
LongJing tea yet. In Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD) it was called "ShiangLin"
or "BaoYun" tea and already became a royal contribution to the emperor.
In Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) it was named as LongJing and became more
and more famous, now it is the most famous tea in China and being sold
all over the world.
LongJing is a type of green tea. When it is
soaked in hot water it appears as a bright green color with special
fragrance. The best LongJing is call ChiChiang ("flag and spear"). It is
picked up in early April, when every branch of the tea tree has only one
sprout and one leave. When put them in hot water, the sprout looks like
a tipped spear and the leave extended like a flag. Modern research shows
that LongJing is good for people with high blood pressure and blood
sugar level, lower the chance of cancer, and have a strong refresh
function for the body.
The best
LongJing tea is very rare and expensive because its short picking time
-- about two weeks in April every year. The normal LongJing tea can be
picked up anytime throughout the whole summer. People enjoy Longjing
because of its fragrance, beautiful appearance, healthy function and its
long history related to our culture.