As the top of China's Ten Famous Teas, West Lake Longjing has been a significant part of Chinese Tea history since its inception.

How much do you know about the origins of West Lake Longjing? Today, let us journey through a thousand years of history to trace its roots and inquire about its tea.

Tea is the “National Drink,” and Hangzhou is the “Capital of Tea.” Hangzhou is a holy land of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and the birthplace of West Lake Longjing tea, with a tea production history stretching back over a thousand years. In the archaeological site of Huliaoqiao in Hangzhou, which dates back eight thousand years, the world's earliest “tea seeds” were unearthed, proving that tea plants have existed in Hangzhou for at least eight thousand years.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the famous poet Xie Lingyun introduced and planted tea from Mount Tiantai in Xiaotianzhu. During the Tang Dynasty, according to Lu Yu's “The Classic of Tea,” there are records of tea production in Tianzhu and Lingyin Temples. At that time, the method of processing tea, as described in “The Classic of Tea,” was steamed Green Tea compressed into cakes.

In the second year of Qianyou (949 AD), local residents raised funds to build the Guokuo Sutra Reading Institute in Luohuiwu, northwest of Longjing Village, which later became known as Longjing Temple. During the reign of Emperor Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was renamed Shousheng Temple.

In the first year of Jingyou (1034 AD), after Hu Ze, the governor of Hangzhou, retired, he lived in seclusion at Shousheng Temple. He brought tea seeds from Lingyin and Tianzhu on the opposite mountain and successfully sowed them, officially starting the history of tea cultivation in Longjing Village.

In the second year of Yuangfeng (1079 AD), the eminent monk Biancai moved from Shangtianzhu to retire at Shousheng Temple in Longjing Village. He then began to cultivate tea and taste tea while reciting scriptures on the slopes of Shifeng Mountain. In the seventh year of Yuangfeng (1084 AD), Zhao Pan visited Master Biancai in Hangzhou, and in their exchanges, there is a line that reads, “Cooking tea with dragon water at Dragon Spring Pavilion.”

In the fourth year of Yuanyou (1089 AD), Su Shi tasted the tribute tea of Longjing in Hangzhou and visited Master Biancai at Shousheng Temple in Longjing Village, where he wrote the plaque “Lao Longjing,” which still hangs on the cliffs of Shifeng Mountain today.

There is also an interesting story here. According to Su Dongpo's “Postscript to the Poem by Biancai,” “Master Biancai retired to live in Longjing and no longer went out. When I visited him, he often came out to Fenghuang Ridge. His attendants exclaimed, ‘Master Yuan has crossed the Tiger Stream again.' Biancai laughed and said, ‘Didn't Du Zimei say, “We two old men will be companions, and our comings and goings are elegant.”‘” Therefore, a pavilion was built on the ridge and named “Crossing the Stream” or “Two Elders.”

This refers to the story where Su Dongpo visited the reclusive Master Biancai in Longjing, and they hit it off immediately. When Su Dongpo left, Master Biancai saw him off, breaking his rule of not sending guests beyond the Tiger Stream. The attendants were surprised, so they built a pavilion and named it “Crossing the Stream Pavilion.”

By the Song Dynasty, the Longjing tea area had already taken shape. At that time, the “Xianglin Tea” produced in Xianglin Cave under Lingyin, the “Baiyun Tea” produced on Baiyun Peak in Shangtianzhu, and the “Baoyun Tea” produced on Baoyun Mountain in Geli were all listed as tribute teas. In the Yuan Dynasty, Yu Ji's “Following Deng Wen's Visit to Longjing” mentions, “Wandering above Dragon Spring, clouds rise in broad daylight. Master Chenggong loved guests and fetched water from the secluded spring. He seated me among the magnolias; the lingering fragrance could not be smelled. Only the clear water in the gourd was seen, with green shadows falling from the surrounding mountains. Boiling the golden sprouts, not picking them after the Grain Rain. Two or three of us came together, three sips without rinsing.” This passage describes the scene of picking and tasting Longjing tea at the time.

Although the name “Longjing Tea” does not appear during the Song and Yuan dynasties, there are texts recording the production of tea in Longjing.

The name “Longjing” tea first appeared in the writings of several people from Qiantang during the Ming Dynasty. Tian Yiheng's “Boiling Spring Miscellany” states, “Among the springs of Wulin, only Dragon Spring is ranked, and the tea is also best from Dragon Spring Mountain. This mountain is deep, high, beautiful, and outstanding, being the main mountain of the two regions.” During the Ming Dynasty, “Longjing” referred only to the tea produced in the dozens of acres around Lao Longjing. Gao Lian's “Eight Notes for Living” mentions, “For example, the true tea of Hangzhou's Longjing (also known as Longjing) surpasses even Tianchi.” The “Qiantang County Gazetteer” from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty states, “Tea, when produced in Lao Longjing, has a soybean flower aroma, a clear color, and a sweet taste, differing from those of other mountains.” Xu Chishu's “Tea Manual” records, “…the tea of Longjing in Qiantang has a rich aroma, comparable to those from Jiaxing, clearly pointing to the tea named ‘Longjing' here.”