West Lake and Long Jing

To Hangzhou city and West Lake, famous for Long Jing green tea, also known as Dragon Well. It has a very recognisable flattened leaf, with a strong flavour, and is one of the most well known green teas in China. Spring Long Jing is revered by green tea connoisseurs all around the world.
I'm not sure what i expected, but it was a big disappointment. West Lake is a popular tourist destination, and the roads were lined with coaches bringing thousands of visitors to enjoy the scenery. A real contrast to being in the hills and mountains.

We made our way up from the lake to Wen Jian, where Long Jing is made in small batches in individual houses, from leaf picked in tea gardens in the hills above the village. But this is very unlike what I experienced in the more remote villages in the Phoenix mountains. It is a prosperous place, with fine houses and something of a mediterranean feel, presumably built on the high price of Long Jing tea over many years.

We saw some tea being made - pressed by hand against the sides of a hot wok. It was certainly a very skilled process, but it left me feeling rather flat. I'm not sure why the environment in which tea is made should make so much difference, but it does (to me at least). In Wen Jian it's perfectly possible to buy high quality tea from a good source, but it just lacks something. It turns out there are other options much further away and I will be pursuing those. I think it's important for Fortnum & Mason to have top quality tea, but also a point of difference.

We took a leisurely walk back down to the lake, discussing Chinese tea history, which is one of Jennifer's favourite subjects. I will need to get myself a decent book. Then to the National Tea Museum, which is superb. It covers every aspect of tea in an interesting and very accessible way - for tea geeks like us it's a good afternoon out!