According to legend, when Emperor Qianlong visited Hangzhou, he wrote a poem in Tianzhu, Longjing Tea District, entitled "Watching Tea Picking and Making Songs". There is another legend here.
Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, came to the foot of Lion Peak in Longjing, Hangzhou, and watched the country girls pick tea to show their feelings. On this day, Emperor Qianlong saw several country girls picking tea at more than a dozen shady tea tables. He was very happy and learned to pick tea. Just picked one, suddenly the eunuch came to report: "The Queen Mother is ill, please return to Beijing as soon as possible." When Emperor Qianlong heard that the Empress Dowager was ill, he put a handful of tea leaves in a bag and returned to Beijing day and night. In fact, the Queen Mother was not seriously ill because she ate too many delicacies. At that time, she got angry, her eyes were red and swollen, and her stomach was upset.
At this time, when I saw the arrival of the prince, I felt a faint fragrance and asked what good things I had brought. The emperor was also surprised. Where does the fragrance come from? He touched it casually, ah! It turned out to be a handful of tea from Shifeng Mountain in Hangzhou. After a few days, it was dry, and the rich aroma came to my face. The queen mother wants to taste this tea. The maid-in-waiting made tea and sent it to the queen mother. Sure enough, the smell is fragrant. The queen mother took a sip and her eyes felt much more comfortable. After drinking tea, the redness disappeared and her stomach did not swell. The queen mother said happily, "Hangzhou Longjing tea is really a panacea." Emperor Qianlong was so happy to see the Empress Dowager, and immediately ordered the eighteen tea trees in front of Gong Hu Temple under Shifeng Mountain in Longjing, Hangzhou to be named imperial tea, and the new tea was picked every year to pay tribute to the Empress Dowager. Up to now, these eighteen kinds of imperial teas are still preserved in front of Gong Hu Temple in Longjing Village, Hangzhou, and many tourists from Hangzhou come to visit and take photos as a souvenir.
West Lake Longjing tea is ranked first with "lion (peak), dragon (well), cloud (border), tiger (running) and plum (home dock)", and West Lake Longjing tea ranks first. Longjing tea is straight and sharp, flat and handsome, smooth and even, and yellow in color. After brewing, the aroma is high and lasting, and the fragrance is fragrant; Tangse apricot is green, clear and bright, with light green leaves and upright buds, which are lifelike. Tea soup is refreshing, fragrant between teeth, and endless aftertaste.
Longjing tea area is distributed on Xiushan near West Lake. Here, the lakes and mountains are beautiful, the climate is mild, it is foggy all year round, the rainfall is abundant, the soil structure is loose and the quality is fertile. Tea trees have deep roots and luxuriant leaves, and are evergreen all the year round. From weeping willows to germination, tea buds keep sprouting until the forest is completely dyed. Tea buds collected before Qingming are called tea before Qingming. It takes 70,000 to 80,000 buds to fry a catty of tea before tomorrow, which is the best of Longjing tea. The appearance and quality of Longjing tea are closely related to its processing technology.
In the past, Longjing tea was fried with a seven-star wooden stove, and the palm fire was very particular. It was called "seven-point stove fire, three-point frying". At present, the rice cooker is widely used, which is not only clean and hygienic, but also easy to control the pot temperature and ensure the quality of tea. When frying, it is divided into two processes: "green pot" and "stew disaster" The techniques of frying are very complicated, generally including shaking, holding, throwing, standing, stretching, buckling, grasping, pressing, grinding and squeezing. When frying, according to the quality of fresh leaves and the molding degree of tea blank in the pot, it changes from time to time and is fried according to the situation.