Longjing Village
Longjing village or Dragon Well Village is known for their tea and their plantation tea that are open to the public for them to hike. The difficulties of the hills range from a single trip ten minutes hiking trip to about a single trip hours hiking trip.
Where?
In order to reach Longjing Village, we took a DIDI which took about an hour to reach. We had to pass through a number of tunnels although it is not that far from Xihu. There is also an option of taking a bus and followed by cycling up a hill before reaching the village. From the village, it would be possible to hike up the trail to the different plantation.
What to do???
Most people who went to Longjing Village would either hike up the hills to witness the breathtaking scenery or they are a fan of tea. My group took about almost thirty to forty minutes to hike up the hill. But lucky for us, the path we took has a man-made path for us to follow. However, that route was still one of the longer routes within the area. It was trying and painfully hiking up the hill as the weather was getting more humid and hotter as seasons started the change. However, it was worth. The scenery was breathtaking and we were able to see Xihu from the summit. After taking a lot of photos, we made our way down.
The Tea House
After an exhausting trip down, we wandered around the village to find a suitable place to purchase tea leaves. We pass by an establishment that seems different from the other places which sold tea leaves.
The sale person that attended to us also gave us a brief history of the place. She states that their establishment has been in the tea leaves business for thirty years and they are able to assure that their tea leaves are the authentic Longjing tea leaves.
Different Tiers of Leaves
This establishment sold three different tiers of tea leaves. They are grouped by the area where the tea plants are grown and how they taste. The first tier would be from the top area of their plantation where the tea tasted the most refined. The second tier would be planted in the middle area with a heavier taste. Lastly, the third tier leaves would be grown at the lowest area however it has the bitterest and strongest taste. As for the price as of June 2019, the first tier is about 260 RMB per jin, the second tier is 180 RMB per jin while the tier is about 100 RMB per jin. 1 jin is equivalent to 500grams.
She also though us how to drink and reboil the tea, for example when the cup is about one-third full, the cup should be refilled so that it would be able to retain the favor of the tea. I personally like to third tier tea the best as it has the strongest tea taste.
Special Thanks to those in the Photos
(Date of Trip DATE 2019 Week 5, 8th June 2019)
