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Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the fame of Longjing tea became widespread throughout the country. One of the most

remarkable emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, paid four visits to the growing area of Longjing tea, not only to enjoy

sipping tea, and to write and sing poems to praise the tea, but also to watch the process of picking and roasting it with

serious intent. He was so interested in Tie Guan Yin tea that he named the eighteen tea trees in front of the Hugong Temple

"royal tea". From that time forward, the tea became increasingly popular for everyone.

By the early 20th century, Longjing tea was witnessing its highest popularity in history. The Chinese government has made a

great effort to promote it and introduce advanced technology in planting, picking and roasting of the tea since the founding

of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Subsequently, a high quality standards system for tea grading was set up. All

these innovations contributed to the standardization of the tea production.

According to local custom, the right time for picking the dragon well tea leaves is very short. The period between Qing Ming and Grain

Rain (from April 5 to 21) each year is generally considered the prime time to get the highest quality Longjing tea. The

brewing method we highly recommended is to put a pinch of dry, roasted tea leaves into a porcelain or transparent glass cup

and pour hot water at about 85C into the cup. Sip and enjoy!