On the mist-covered hills on the outskirts of Hangzhou, the annual Longjing tea harvest has begun, marking one of the most anticipated seasons for China’s most celebrated green tea. In the Longwu Tea Village, fourth-generation farmer Ge Xiaopeng carefully moves through rows of tea bushes, plucking tender leaves one by one and placing them into a basket already filled with freshly harvested buds. Each leaf is smooth, slender, and jade-green—considered the finest quality at this early stage of the spring harvest.
Longjing, also known as “Dragon Well” tea, has been cultivated for centuries in the rolling hills surrounding West Lake in Zhejiang Province. Its reputation dates back to the 18th Century, when Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong is said to have personally praised the tea during a visit to Hangzhou, even granting imperial recognition to select tea bushes. Today, it remains one of China’s most prestigious teas, with its value deeply tied to tradition, geography, and craftsmanship.
The harvest season for Longjing is extremely short and highly sensitive to timing. According to Ge Xiaopeng, the best leaves are those that reach around 2.5 cm in length during the early spring flush. These early buds, harvested before the Qingming Festival in early April, are known as “mingqian” tea and are prized for their delicate aroma and mild, chestnut-like flavour. Even a difference of a few days in picking time can significantly affect quality and price.
In recent years, demand for authentic Longjing tea has increased sharply, driven by growing domestic appreciation for traditional products and a global interest in regional Chinese teas. However, this surge has also contributed to rising prices and an expanding counterfeit market, where teas grown outside the designated West Lake region are often mislabelled as premium Longjing. Authorities have responded by strictly defining the geographical boundary of authentic production to a 168-square-kilometre zone and introducing QR-coded authentication stickers to ensure traceability.
At Ge Xiaopeng’s family farm, the economics of the harvest highlight the tea’s growing exclusivity. Just 500 grams of early “mingqian” leaves can fetch more than 30,000 yuan (approximately £3,250 or $4,400), a price that reflects both limited supply and high labour costs. Xiaopeng notes that such figures would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
The production process remains deeply traditional, despite increasing mechanisation in the wider industry. After harvesting, leaves are hand-fired in large woks heated to around 200°C, a labour-intensive process that halts oxidation and shapes the tea’s distinctive flat, spear-like form. Ge Zhenghua, Xiaopeng’s father, performs this step manually, using only his hands to gauge heat and moisture as he continuously stirs the leaves.
He explains that while machines are increasingly used in tea production for efficiency and consistency, they cannot replicate the nuanced control of human touch. According to him, hand-firing produces a richer aroma and a more lasting sweetness that machines fail to capture. However, younger generations are gradually shifting towards mechanisation due to its speed and reduced physical strain during the intense harvest period.
Once processed, each batch is packaged and certified with official authentication labels issued by authorities to combat fraud. Despite these safeguards, experts and farmers alike note that the supply of genuine Longjing remains far below market demand, particularly for early spring harvests.
For many consumers, the most reliable assurance of authenticity comes from direct engagement with growers. In response, families like the Ge’s have begun welcoming visitors to their farms, offering guided tours, live demonstrations of pan-firing, and tastings. At nearby Yige Tea House, visitors can observe the production process firsthand, a practice that has become increasingly important in preserving trust in a market where authenticity is often questioned.
As the brief spring window continues, farmers across Hangzhou’s tea hills work against time and weather, balancing tradition with modern pressures to produce one of China’s most iconic and sought-after teas.
