Fluidr / cnmark's "Hangzhou 杭州" set

A Nikon Df — 1/320s ƒ/5.6 ISO 1600 at 70 mm

N 61 B 4.1K C 1 E Apr 3, 2017 F Apr 9, 2017

DESCRIPTION
COMMENT
MAP
O
L
M

This is the 3rd and most important step in the processing of Longjing Tea. And it happens very early, only about 6-12 hours after picking, once the initial sun drying is finished. The heating stops the oxidation of the leaves, so they keep their green colour.

The nearly dry tea buds are heated in these special pans turned over and over by hand. This takes about 15 minutes per charge and requires experienced and skilled operators to achieve just the right grade of dryness. During this "roasting" process the leaves loose between 20 and 40 percent of total volume. After cooling down the tea processing is finished and it is packed for sale.

This is the third photo of a 3-photo miniseries.

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Hangzhou - Longjing Tea Picking

A Nikon Df — 1/320s ƒ/8 ISO 400 at 210 mm

N 88 B 8.0K C 1 E Apr 3, 2017 F Apr 9, 2017

G 中國 > 浙江省 > 杭州市 >

DESCRIPTION
COMMENT
MAP
O
L
M

Just back from a 2-week business trip to China - and it was interrupted by the long Qingming weekend that allowed for a quick trip to the tea fields of Longjing Village, where China's best green tea comes from.

Here's a short series of three pictures showing the processing steps in producing authentic Longjing Tea.

First, real Longjing Tea (龙井茶) comes only from the small mountainous area around Longjing Village near Hangzhou.

The best tea leaves (actually buds) are picked before the Qingming Festival (清明节 aka "Tomb Sweeping Day"). This is called ming qian cha (明前茶) and it is tremendously expensive - in 2012 a record price of 64,000 CNY per kilogram was achieved (64,000 CNY equals about 8,750 EUR or 9,270 USD, just to give some scale to that).
This year (2017) the prices hovered at a meager 14,500 CNY / kg, governement price regulations have kicked in...

One kilogram of dried tea is said to contain around 36,000 buds.

The tea is hand-processed, here is the first step, the picking of the buds. The preferred way of picking is nipping the buds gently with the thumb and the index finger, one bud with a leaf every time. In this way, both the bud and branch are protected.

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Hangzhou - Longjing Tea Drying

A Nikon Df — 1/500s ƒ/8 ISO 800 at 210 mm

N 90 B 4.8K C 1 E Apr 3, 2017 F Apr 9, 2017

G 中國 > 浙江省 > 杭州市 >

DESCRIPTION
COMMENT
MAP
O
L
M

Longjing Tea tea is hand-processed, here is the second step, the drying of the buds. After they are picked, the tea leaves are left to dry in a warm room or in the sun for 6-12 hours. The proces is checked regularly if the buds have dried enough to nter the next step, the "frying" or "roasting"..

This is the second photo of a 3-photo miniseries.

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Hangzhou - West Lake Sunset

A Nikon Df — 1/500s ƒ/16 ISO 800 at 12 mm

N 308 B 9.0K C 327 E Apr 2, 2017 F Apr 19, 2017

G 中國 > 浙江省 > 杭州市 > 杭州 >

DESCRIPTION
COMMENT
MAP
O
L
M

Hangzhou - Spring at the West Lake

A Nikon Df — 1/640s ƒ/8 ISO 800 at 135 mm

N 210 B 6.5K C 554 E Apr 2, 2017 F Apr 9, 2017

G 中國 > 浙江省 > 杭州市 > 杭州 >

DESCRIPTION
COMMENT
MAP
O
L
M