The gloriousness of a place like Hangzhou, its historical significance for the educated and artistic elite is like no other. Today, Hangzhou is one of the few places one can comfortably visit in China without wanting to jump off the building.
Weather is unpredictable, but for the first time ever, snow and…
Weather is unpredictable, but for the first time ever, snow and frost descended in Hangzhou, claiming vast amounts of the early buds. Waiting for regrowth, but hurrying to meet the peak season, the tea pickers were out in troves. The poor weather pattern means super low yield and many undrinkable leaves- which will make their way to restaurants and teahouses. Demand and competition for top Dragonwell is as fierce as ever amongst the elite, and the class of people above God- Communist government officials.
Arrived into Hangzhou, after flying into Hong Kong first. It’s…
Arrived into Hangzhou, after flying into Hong Kong first. It’s called hit the ground running- traveling straight through now for about 21 hours. You know you’re in China when you can’t see the sky at all, but the bus says zero emissions nonetheless. Autocracy plus zero industrial controls- welcome to China!
Fortunately, tea farms are rarely close to any cities …
Late afternoon on the Westlake。 The Chinese saying: ‘above there…
Late afternoon on the Westlake。 The Chinese saying: ‘above there is heaven, below there is Hangzhou’
That means the most beautiful place next to heaven is deemed to be Hangzhou…..
Early morning on Westlake, Hangzhou. The nicest day I can pray…
Early morning on Westlake, Hangzhou. The nicest day I can pray for as far as being Chinese: misty rain, cool, mosquito free. Poetic and lyrical, scenes of swaying boats and gentle willow trees. Whale size koi fishes happily hopping up the water. Tourists not too loud yet.
The worst day in terms of tea: tea master probably sleeping in. With this unusual rainfall, there should be no harvesting today.
Longjing Village, by far the wealthiest tea farm in the country….
Longjing Village, by far the wealthiest tea farm in the country. Longjing is grown on a rather small cluster of hills, around five major ones with Lion’s Peak being the top grade. Wealthy merchants come with Rolls Royce’ full of cash; some are extremely discerning, some completely fooled. If you can’t taste the difference, the locals will sell you Longjing brought in in truckloads from outside surrounding areas. At the end, either you know and are friends with the teamasters, or with 99% certainty, you have been sold non-authentic Dragonwell. Or unless you are a discerning merchant, or a major government official. At the end, the tradition of bribery and greasing the palms ( in this case, coating the palates) of the government gets you everywhere in life. Merchants happily pay 4000-5000 RMB (about $700-$800 USD) and up for what they thought were real, handcrafted, pre-rain Dragonwell, and would buy 20#s just for gifting!
Forget it if you are a tourist and think you bought real Dragonwell on location!