(梅家坞茶文化村)Meijiawu Tea Culture Village enjoys the same reputation as Longjing Village and Shifeng Village. In the village, there are 2,380 mu tea plantations (1 mu is roughly equal to 666 square meters), over 160 tea houses, and many landscape resources including Former Premier Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall, Shi Li Lang Dang (十里琅珰) and Historical Relics of Emperor Qianlong, forming a tea culture environment integrating tea picking, tea making, tea appreciation and leisure. It once hosted Hangzhou West Lake Farm-Flavored Tea House Festival and supported farm-flavored tea houses like Chunjuan Tea House (春娟茶楼) and Xumei Tea House (徐梅茶楼) to compete for the “People’s Favorite West Lake Taste” in Hangzhou. It advanced the spread of West Lake Longjing Tea Food Culture among people.
Jiangnan water towns are densely packed with tea houses, like Meijiawu Village in the tea season, Manjuelong Village (满觉垅) in the season of osmanthus rain. It's a great experience to hold a cup of Longjing green tea in your hand and sit at the tea table, loosen your tongue, chatting with family and friends about the past and the present, this place and that place. All things are soaked in this cup of tea, exuding a light and refreshing fragrance.
Many tea gardens in Hangzhou are situated near the West Lake and resemble semi-outdoor salons. With the refreshing breeze blowing, the bright moon hanging in the sky, people can leisurely savor the refreshing and fragrant Longjing green tea. Although the tea can’t make a man drunk, the man is intoxicated by the atmosphere.
Hangzhou indeed is the treasured place of tea. It is adjacent to a river and a lake. The magnificent Qiantang River hugs Hangzhou, and the beautiful and elegant West Lake is right in front of the city. A river and a lake, balancing the rainfall and the temperature of the city, bring elegance and nutrition to Hangzhou.
Here, the climate is warm and humid with four distinct seasons. It’s commonly characterized by gentle breeze and drizzle, and it's cloudy at dawn, and foggy at dusk. The natural microclimate in the mountains is conducive to the growth of high-quality tea leaves.
According to “The Classic of Tea” by Lu Yu, “Qiantang (tea) was born in the two temples, Tianzhu and Lingyin” ... hence, we know that Hangzhou has since ancient times been the famous tea production area.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, the tea industry in Hangzhou was booming. From temples to the imperial court, to the daily life of common people, tea etiquette has already established its own system; the world-known Jingshan tea etiquette was also formed then.
Today, when coming to Hangzhou, how can one fast blend in? The answer is to make a pot of good tea and to learn about the charm of ancient Chinese tea. Meijiawu Tea Culture Village happens to be a great place to do so.
Meijiawu, located in the southwestern part of Hangzhou, is about 2 kilometers northwest of “Bamboo-Lined Path at Yunxi (云栖竹径)”, one of the Top Ten Views of West Lake. It is an ancient village with a history of over 700 years. It is blessed with an excellent ecological environment and is home to over 2000 mu tea plantations. It is a first-class reserve of West Lake Longjing production area. There are about 540 families of tea farmers living here.
The tea leaves produced in Meijiawu are the best among West Lake Longjing green tea. Tea leaves are picked four times every year and divided into four categories according to the picking time, which are “Mingqian Tea (明前茶; tea picked before Qingming Festival)”, “Yuqian Tea (雨前茶; tea picked before Grain Rain - the 6th solar term)”, “Sanchun Tea (三春茶)” and “Sichun Tea (四春茶)”. Among them, “Mingqian Tea” is the most precious.
In May 2000, the construction of a 5-kilometer-long road and tunnel was completed, and Meijiawu was built into a large-scale tea leisure area. The tea houses having gradually appeared in the village increased farmers’ revenue and leisure resources for citizens, adapted to tourism needs, and changed the old shabby appearance of the village.
The present Meijiawu is a distinctive tourist hotspot in Hangzhou. It has about 160 tea houses and historical and cultural tourism resources including Premier Zhou Enlai Memorial Room, Langdang Peak (琅珰岭) and Ligeng Hall (礼耕堂).
While in Hangzhou, if you have time, why not come and have a walk around the village and listen to the heartbeat of Longjing green tea. There will be a pot of good tea waiting for you here.
Hangzhou Social Resource International Tourism Visiting Places
The Hangzhou Social Resource International Tourism Visiting Places introduced in 2004 is guided by the goal of “offering the experience of Hangzhou and China”, covering six categories (urban public service, industrial tourism, agricultural tourism, social life, sociopolitics and citizen life) with over 120 visiting places. It is a successful case of Hangzhou’s innovative practice of tourism internationalization and regionalization. These visiting places are also great places for foreign tourists to have an in-depth Hangzhou tour.