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April 8, 2015

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Tip-toeing through Waitongwu’s tea leaves

By Wu Huixin | April 8, 2015, Wednesday | Print Edition

SPRING marks the beginning of the Longjing tea picking season in China. Hangzhou is the home of Longjing tea, known around the country for its high quality and great taste. Longjing Village is famous for its tea but not as many people realize Waitongwu Village also produces high-end Longjing tea.

The village covers an area of 130 hectares and since ancient times has been known among locals as “home to loads of tea.” Most villagers earn a living from growing Longjing tea. The village has 186,666 square meters of Longjing tea farms.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Marshal Zhu De visited the village several times. He made field surveys and directed villagers to reclaim wasteland to grow Longjing tea. This proved to be very successful.

To commemorate Zhu, villagers named their tea “Marshal Longjing” to distinguish it from Longjing tea produced in other parts of Hangzhou.

The village was built by the Qiu family during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when they came to the area from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. At the time, the village featured numerous phoenix trees, thus the family named it Waitongwu, which literally means a place surrounded with phoenix trees.

Today, 70 percent of villagers are descendants of the Qiu family.

Tea picking started in late March. The first crop, or mingqian, of Longjing tea (the tea picked before the Qingming Festival), is considered the most precious and said to be of the very highest quality.

Mingqian Longjing is characterized with tenderer leaves and a mellower taste compared to other harvests because the leaves grow slower in the cooler weather.

First-harvest Longjing tea is often treasured by tea connoisseurs and prices range from 1,000 yuan (US$162) to 6,000 yuan per kilogram.

The tea picked between the Qingming Festival and Grain Rain (it falls on April 20 this year) is the next highest grade and is known as yuqian, literally means tea before Grain Rain. The quality is better than leaves picked after Grain Rain, but not as good as mingqian Longjing.

Now is the best time to purchase Longjing tea as most of it is freshly picked and fried.

In late March, Waitongwu held a tea frying competition. Twenty-five skilled tea frying masters from the towns of Zhuantang, Liuxia and Shuangpu competed for the title of Longjing Tea Frying King of Xihu District.

A wok and an electronic boiler are used to fry tea leaves. The process looks simple enough as farmers just repeatedly stir the tea leaves in the wok until they became yellowish. But there is a great deal of technique involved depending on the size and tenderness of the leaves. Tea farmers need more than 10 years of experience before they are ready to fry a pinch of top-notch Longjing tea.

“The most important thing when frying tea is the strength of stirring. It should be gentle at the beginning and the temperature needs to be controlled during the whole process,” says a master surnamed Ge from Zhuantang Town.

After two hours Li Chunquan, a native of Liuxia, won the title of Longjing Tea Frying King.

Visitors can buy freshly stirred Longjing tea in Waitongwu until the middle of April.

Villagers have signed an agreement with the village commission stating all of the tea they stir is authentic Longjing tea. All tins and packaging are labeled with tags from the tea plantation and an anti-fake label to ensure quality.

However, health care specialists recommend waiting a dozen days before brewing freshly stirred tea leaves because they contain tannic acid and theophylline, both of which impact digestion and sleep.

The pastoral village also features idyllic scenery and an artistic vibe since it’s near the Xiangshan campus of the China Academy of Art. Many artists have set up studios in the village.

The village commission has invested millions in a face-lift. Artists have helped with the designs while some villagers have converted their homes into family run guesthouses or restaurants.

Now there’s more to do than just buy and sip Longjing tea. Visitors can spend a weekend in the picturesque village without worrying about food and accommodation.

Hangzhou


 

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