Basic Introduction to Longquan Golden Guanyin
Longquan Golden Guanyin is produced in the national nature reserve, known as the “Cradle of Ancient East Asian Plants,” located on the northern slope of Fengyang Mountain in Longquan. The production area is characterized by verdant peaks, secluded valleys with clear springs, dense forests and deep shadows, rich humus, and frequent cloud cover, all contributing to its naturally superior quality.
Taking advantage of the “Golden Guanyin” Tea variety's excellent characteristic of being suitable for making green, Oolong, and black teas, high-quality Green Tea is produced from early spring tea leaves, while oolong and black teas are made from later spring and summer-autumn tea leaves, forming a diversified combination of “green, oolong, and black” tea categories.
Nutritional Value
Modern scientific analysis has identified over 400 organic chemical components and more than 40 inorganic mineral elements in tea. Many of these organic chemicals and mineral elements have nutritional and medicinal properties. Key organic chemicals include: polyphenols, alkaloids, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, pectins, organic acids, polysaccharides, sugars, enzymes, pigments, and more.
Product Features
The Longquan Golden Guanyin boasts unique characteristics of “freshness, sweetness, clarity, and fragrance.” It is fragrant and refreshing, rich and smooth, with a sweet aftertaste that lacks bitterness or astringency even when steeped strongly. Its vibrant aroma deeply permeates the senses, resembling the deep and lasting scent of orchids.
Historical Folklore
Historical records indicate that tea was already cultivated in Longquan during the Three Kingdoms period. According to the Ji Family Genealogy, in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Ji Dayun, a native of Longquan, traveled to Wuyi Mountain in Fujian to introduce tea cultivation and built the Pan Tea King Temple to enshrine an image of the tea sage Lu Yu. After his death, he was honored by the Qian family of Wuyue as a master of agriculture for widely disseminating tea cultivation techniques. In memory of his contributions to introducing, spreading, and cultivating tea, a statue of Dayun was erected beside Lu Yu's image in the Pan Tea King Temple. According to the Longquan County Annals, during the Ming Dynasty's Chenghua period, four catties of “sprout tea” were annually contributed as tribute. Qing Dynasty scholar Zhang Zuonan's Mei Shi Suibi (Notes from the Plum Studio) records: “In the southwestern districts of Longquan, cloud-mist sprout tea is produced; every year after the Qingming Festival and before the Grain Rain, the county magistrate sets the price for the procurement of tea, with a quota of 24 catties of tribute tea, renowned for both flavor and aroma…” Qing Dynasty poet Lin Hui wrote in his poem “Tea Factory Rhyme”: “The territory of Longquan spans two hundred li, and there are tea trees on every mountain within it.” Although large tea fields were destroyed during wartime, some Shuixian tea varieties remained on hill slopes, and local farmers traditionally produced Oolong Tea for their own use. From 1942 to 1945, the Zhejiang branch of the China Tea Corporation relocated to Longquan and established a tea factory in Huangguan Village, four li from the city, where they purchased fresh leaves to produce pearl tea and a small amount of Shuixian oolong tea.