Longjing (Dragon Well)
Longjing is where Chinese green tea credibility begins and ends for a lot of collectors. The flat, pan-fired leaf, the sweet chestnut character, and the price that swings 10x depending on which hillside it came from make it the style that teaches you the most about geographic fraud and harvest timing in Chinese tea.
Authentic West Lake (Xihu) Longjing leaves should be flat, smooth, and uniform, with a jade-yellow-green color and a roasted chestnut aroma edged with sweet vegetal notes, not grassy or marine. Beware of curved or twisted leaves (incorrect pan-firing or a different processing tradition), excessively bright artificial-looking green, and most importantly Zhejiang Longjing sold as West Lake Longjing. The latter is a legitimate product at a fraction of the price, but the mislabeling is rampant. Pre-Qingming (Mingqian) leaf harvested before April 5th should show very small, tender leaves; coarse leaves in a Mingqian lot are a red flag.
The West Lake production zone divides into five core areas: Shifeng, Longjing village, Yunqi, Hupao, and Meijiawu. Shifeng and Meijiawu are considered the apex and command the highest prices. Greater Zhejiang, particularly Xinchang and Songyang counties, accounts for the vast majority of total Longjing volume and is honest product, but it is categorically different from the West Lake GI material. Pre-Qingming harvest uses only the smallest, most tender new growth and carries a significant premium over post-Qingming material, which has a coarser leaf and a more assertive flavor.
80-85°C for standard Longjing; 75-80°C for pre-Qingming material to preserve its delicacy. Western: 3 g per 200 ml, 2-minute first infusion in a glass cup (watching the leaves open is part of the traditional experience), 2-3 infusions total. Gongfu: 5 g per 100 ml in a gaiwan, 30-45 seconds first steep, ascending; expect 4-5 good infusions from quality leaf. The flat leaf releases quickly, so a short first steep matters more here than with twisted or rolled styles.
Genuine West Lake Longjing starts around €60-120 (about $65-130) per 100 g and goes substantially higher for Shifeng pre-Qingming. Zhejiang Longjing from good producers runs €15-40 (about $16-43) per 100 g and is an honest daily drinker. Any West Lake claim under €40 (about $43) per 100 g deserves close inspection of the leaf.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Bi Luo Chun
Another Jiangsu prestige green (authentic Biluochun comes from Dongting Mountain, Lake Tai, Suzhou; Zhejiang makes imitations), but twisted and fuzzy rather than flat, with a fruitier and lighter profile.
Mao Feng
Huangshan Mao Feng is open-leaf rather than flat, with a more floral, lighter character than Longjing's roasted-chestnut depth.
Anji Bai Cha
Uses an albino cultivar for a pale, high-amino-acid cup with very little astringency; often mistaken for white tea by new drinkers.
Sencha
The comparison that clarifies what pan-firing versus steaming does: Longjing's dry chestnut note is the fire; sencha's grassy freshness is the steam.
GI protection for West Lake Longjing was established in 2001; the national standard (GB/T 18650) was first issued in 2002 and revised in 2008. Shifeng and Meijiawu are the apex sub-zones commanding the highest prices. Because the West Lake zone is small and global demand is enormous, authentic material processed by local families is genuinely scarce; most of what is sold worldwide as West Lake Longjing is from the broader Zhejiang zone, which is legal but rarely disclosed clearly on packaging.