A Cup of Tea and a Village: Longwu is Bustling This April!

In April, tea-making is in full swing, and the fragrance of tea fills every household. Stepping into Longmenkan Village in Longwu Tea Town, the fresh aroma of West Lake Longjing tea wafts through every corner of the village.

Ge Weidong, a representative inheritor of Zhejiang Province's intangible cultural heritage "West Lake Longjing Tea Picking and Making Techniques," lives in this village. Ge Weidong, a native of Longmenkan Village, grew up in an environment filled with the scent of tea. "I started frying tea when I was eighteen and I've been doing it for almost forty years now."

"Tea frying requires a great deal of patience," Ge Weidong explains as he fries the tea, "A tea frying worker works for ten hours a day just to produce around one kilogram of West Lake Longjing tea". Behind every handful of fragrant West Lake Longjing tea lies the tempering of temperature and time.

He skillfully controls the temperature of the frying pan while flexibly changing techniques, concentrating on observing the subtle changes of the tea leaves in the pan. "The essence of hand-fried tea lies in perception." For Ge Weidong, hand-frying tea is not simply a repetitive action but a harmonious integration of men and tea, temperature and techniques, achieved through rich experience and keen perception.

"Tea frying is not just a skill; it is also a bond for us Longwu people. I hope more young people can appreciate its charm and carry forward the intangible cultural heritage of tea frying."

Ge Weidong's simple and sincere enthusiasm, like the tea leaves flying in his hands, has been refined over the years in the frying pan of time. In Longwu Tea Town, every tea leaf tells the stories of tea frying workers. It is the presence of countless "Ge Weidongs" that keeps the flame of China's tea culture and intangible heritage burning brightly, generation after generation.

Located in the "Millennium Tea Town, Fragrant with Thousands of Baskets of Tea" Longwu Tea Town, the West Lake Longjing tea from Longmenkan Village is truly "top-notch tea".

With a history of thousands of years, Longmenkan Village nurtures thousands of mu of old tea trees, making it the "guardian" of the quality of West Lake Longjing tea.

With its mellow and full-bodied flavor and rich aroma, the tea soup becomes more enjoyable with each steeping, leaving a sweet aftertaste. Longmen Ridge's West Lake Longjing tea has become the preferred choice for many seasoned tea drinkers every spring.