LONG JING DRAGON WELL GREEN TEA

From Shi (Lion's) Feng Peak you can see a beautiful picture of fertile soil, flowing streams, dense trees, green bamboos dancing on the breeze and patches of tea gardens with clouds lingering around them. This is home to Long Jing and China's most precious tea 'Imperial Dragon Well', both of which grow near the famous, picturesque West Lake in Zhejiang. It takes each picker a whole day to carefully pluck one pound of leaves and takes between 70 to 80,000 leaf and bud sets to make just 1kg. It is then produced by hand through more than 10 special processes in a hot wok. It is given its unique flat shape by being delicately pressed against the sides of the wok. It has a beautiful shape, yellow-green colour, divine fragrance and sweetish, almost malty taste. Lion's Peak Long Jing or 'Dragon Well' is one of the most revered teas in all of China, achieving fame when Qing Dynasty Emperor, Qian Long drank it at the Wugong Temple. He enjoyed it so much that he gave the title 'Imperial Tea' to the eighteen bushes growing outside the Temple. Xi Hu where the tea is grown is now a protected area. Only the leaves picked within the designated 168 sq km of Xi Hu area can be considered as Xi Hu Long Jing.