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The TaiHu Lake is one of the biggest freshwater lakes in China, connecting JiangSu and ZheJiang Pro.. There two islands in this lake standing aside, they are called the East DongTing Hill and West DongTing Hill. BiLuoChun Tea is grown in these two famous hills.  

The meanning of "BiLuoChun" is "green conch in Spring". This name comes from its bright green color, spiral shape and picking time in spring. It can only be picked up before the dawn time. Traditionally only virgin girls are trained and qualified to pick up tea sprouts. When the girls are taking the tea sprouts, they put them inside their chest pockets close to their breasts, so that the tea will be merged in the fragrant odour of the virgins and get a special smell. That is why this type of tea is also called "BiLuoChun with the fragrancy of breast".  

 

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The Zijin Teample on the Eastern Hill

BiLuoChun was discovered as a wild tea in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD). The local peasants called it "Terribly Fragrant" and picked it up from the cliffs on the hills. In 1699 the great emperor KangXi went to the TaiHu Lake, the local governor Song Ying send this tea to the emperor. Amazed by its fragrancy and elegant outlooking, the Emperor asked what the name of this tea was. SongYing said it was called "Terribly Fragrant". KangXi renamed this tea as "BiLuoChun (Green Conch in Spring)", according to its color, shape and pick-up season. From then on BiLuoChun has been famous all over the country.  

BiLuoChun has a spiral apperance covered by a layer of fine fuzz. It has a bright green-silver color. The best BiLuoChun has one sprout and one leaf for every pick-up. It is called "QueShe" (the tongue of a bird). One "Jin" (similar to one pound, about 500 grams) consists about 40,000 such sprouts and leaves. Biluochun must be soak into warm water but not boiling water when people are drink it, otherwise it will compromise the taste and color of the tea soup. 

For a long time BiLuoChun has been called "the first green tea" in China and has a good fame for its quality.