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Meijiawu Village
Chinese name
梅家坞村
Here in Hangzhou, tucked into the hills just west of West Lake, sits Meijiawu Village. Looking around the valley one can see terraces rolling up the slopes in every direction. Those terraces are planted with tea bushes, making this village one of the core production bases for authentic West Lake Longjing tea, also known as dragon well green tea.
This village has stood in this pocket of the hills for over six hundred years, originally settled by families surnamed Mei. For generations, daily life here has followed the rhythm of tea cultivation. The surrounding hills shelter the bushes, while the local mist and soil create the specific microclimate that Longjing tea needs to thrive.
The most demanding time of year arrives with the spring harvest, especially before the Qingming festival in early April. That is when workers pick the tender, early tea shoots entirely by hand. Once harvested, the leaves are brought right into the village to be roasted and flattened in hot iron woks. That traditional hand-firing technique gives Longjing its distinctive flat shape, pale green color, and toasted aroma.
In the twentieth century, Premier Zhou Enlai visited Meijiawu five times, which helped put the village on the map as a center for Chinese tea culture.
Today, many of the village houses function as family-run teahouses. Locals process their harvest batches here and brew the freshly picked tea in clear glasses with hot water, allowing you to watch the leaves unfurl as they steep.