The Hunt of the Dragon Well
© Tea Talk - Fall 1994
By David Lee Hoffman

To Lovers of the Leaf:
There have been so many changes that have taken place in China since my last trip. New construction is everywhere and the country is on the move. The economy grew by a staggering 30% last year, and this rapid growth has created problems of its own: pollution, traffic congestion and overcrowded public transportation. All these provide a great opportunity to practice one's patience, and lacking this virtue would make travel and doing business in China an impossibility.

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, was my first stop. It is the home of one of my favorite green teas, Longjing (Dragon Well). The tea is grown west and southwest of Xihu Lake, just west of Hangzhou City. The finest Dragon Well teas are always picked before the Ching Ming Festival, around April 5 of each year. The cold spell this year reduced the supply of this top-grade tea, thereby increasing its cost. The early leaves are always the most tender; they're literally good enough to eat. The locals prepared several dishes with them, and I enjoyed some myself.

Dragon Well got its name in the Ming Dynasty from a temple at Long Hong Shan. Here, while workmen were digging a well, they pulled out a large rock shaped like a dragon, hence the name, Dragon Well. The history of the tea goes back before the Tang Dynasty when the tea was called Xianglin Baiyun, Fragrant Forest White Cloud. Many poets have written praising the tea, along with the water taken from Hu Pao, the Tiger Run Spring.

So Dongpo, the great northern Sung poet and court official in the 10th century, praised this tea and romantically compared it to a beautiful woman.

I stayed at the Zhejiang Guest House on the West Lake near all the famous tea gardens and near the actual historic sit of the Dragon Well and the Tiger Run Spring. A two-minute walk away is the new Tea Museum which I visited on my first day. The most interesting part was the display of various Zhejiang teas along with the actual samples attached. (Unfortunately, most had been pried off, presumable pilfered when the teas were still fresh!)

While browsing through the museum, someone came in with a large sack of fresh Dragon Well tea, creating quite a stir. Burying my face in the bag as is my wont wherever I find tea, I understood their excitement. This experience completely redefined the limits of Dragon Well for me: its aroma was an olfactory orgasmic experience! Unfortunately, I had wrongly assumed that this tea was typical of what was available on the market. Though I pleaded to purchase whatever they could spare, I only succeeded in obtaining a small sample. I later found out that this bag of tea was a gift to the visiting President of Portugal and his wife who arrived shortly thereafter. I hope they were tea drinkers!

During my week in the Hangzhou area, I was able to sample hundreds of teas, and it was actually quite a challenge to find some worthy of purchasing. The Presidential sample became my standard. Cupping teas side by side against the other Dragon Wells, it became apparent that even the finest tea at $200 a pound could not compete! The well-known tea mountains of Shi Feng Shan (Lion Peak Mountain), Hu Pao (Tiger Run), and others such as Ling Yin, Suan Feng, and Long Hong Shan, were so heavily polluted from Hangzhou smoke that I would be surprised if the lead contamination did not surpass the government standard for export at 2 ppm.

In my search for a better Dragon Well, I took an ancient foot trail which was laboriously paved and stepped with fitted flat stones. I proceed to walk up the mountain over several hills where isolated tea gardens were scattered about. I came across several old concrete pits which historically were used for making compost to fertilize their tea fields. Unfortunately, it looked like they hadn't been used in years. Amongst the debris and duckweed floated the bloated carcasses of some animals which had fallen in. These days, everyone in China seems to have switched to chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, much to the detriment of soil fertility and healthy tea. The temptation of the short term increased yields and the saving of labor costs have influenced their decisions. You can, alas, taste the difference, but with patience and a lot of sampling, one can still find good tea fertilized by traditional methods.

The neighboring hills were buzzing with cheerful chatter of the women picking the tea. They were everywhere, bamboo baskets strapped to their sides, conical bamboo hats bobbing up and down. My musing was interrupted by a pleasant whiff of sandalwood incense. Rounding the next bend, I came upon a small ancient temple. Here, I was welcomed by over 100 pilgrims. I sat down with them as they lit their candles and incense and watched while they prostrated themselves in from of three large wooden deities. The temple obviously had once had a sizable population, judging from the extent of the now-overgrown garden area. The wells were in good repair and still in use. Some exquisitely carved ancient stone panels had ignominiously been turned into kitchen tables. I thought of the monks who once had lived here, growing a little tea in their leisure, and for pocket money, selling some to visiting pilgrims.

Reluctantly, I left this peaceful mountain retreat, taking the trail southeast. I dropped down into the village of Yunxi where the entire population was involved with Dragon Well production. A neighboring village, Meijiawu, is also an important Dragon Well center. The air was much cleaner around these villages and I selected and eventually purchased the bulk of my teas from the finest of their harvest.

Dragon Well is known for its four qualities: jade green appearance, sweet fragrance, pure flavor and pleasing shape of its leaves. This tea can be picked up to 30 times in a single year, beginning in April and continuing through October, but the best grades must picked in April, before the rains begin.

Production of Dragon Well tea, though seemingly quite simple, requires great skill and attention to obtain the finer grades. In school, student of tea study no less than 43 grades of Dragon Well, divided into 13 grades. At the top of the list is a Dragon Well tea which I have never seen: it is made from just the buds, without the leaves, and it's called Lotus Heart. The second finest grade, Flag Spear, consists of one leaf and one bud, and the third grade, Que She (Bird's Beak) consists of one bud and two leaves from each picking. All three of the top grades are picked before the Ching Ming Festival.

It takes 70,000 to 80,000 pickings to make up one kilo of tea. After the tea is picked it is spread on bamboo mats indoors where, through evaporation, the moisture content is reduced 15-20%. This takes eight to ten hours. The tea is then sorted into three grades: the thinnest leaves make the best tea. A large wok is heated from 80 - 100 degrees C, wiped with an oily cloth and about 100 grams of leaves are scooped into the wok. At this point, a skilled worker will use 10 distinct hand movements, manipulating the leaves to their proper shape. It is always done with bare hands, and takes from 12-15 minutes. This first process kills the enzyme activity and removes the green, grassy taste. Too high a temperature would reduce the quality and give the tea a dark appearance. Too hard a pressure would also lessen its quality. During this time, the worker's hands never rest, nor leave the wok.

The tea is then removed, spread out a second time to cool for 40 minutes to an hour, and once again it is placed back in the wok. This time, in greater quantity, (about a pound) at a lower temperature of about 60-70 degrees C. When the moisture content is reduced five to six percent, the baking process is finished. Finally, the tea is sifted on a bamboo screen. The dust and small broken pieces fall through to make up the lower grades with the remaining full leaf and buds reserved for the better teas. Well-made tea has a slippery feel, a light green glossy appearance, and gives off a sweet fragrance.

To preserve Dragon Well's unique qualities, the tea requires special care in storage. Traditionally, it was kept cool in large limestone jars and tightly sealed. This kept the leaves fresh for up to a year. Dragon Well is one of the most delicate of teas, and its flavor can rapidly be lost through improper storage. Refrigeration in a tightly sealed container is recommended, and modern methods of nitrogen packaging can also be used with benefit.

Brewing this tea, especially with the young tender leaves on the better grades, is actually quite easy. It will not become bitter from over-steeping. In fact, in China, tea drinkers place much importance on the appearance of the leaf and appreciate its color and shape. Thus, the leaves are brewed directly in a glass, cup, or jar. There, the leaves tend to sink to the bottom and remain, several servings of hot water (not boiling!) are added throughout the day until the flavor is exhausted.

Though my stay in Hanzhou area was enjoyable, my most rewarding experience was in the remote mountains in southern Zhejiang and northern Fujian provinces where I journeyed next. Often I was the first foreigner these people had ever seen. Sometimes, the dirt road would wind up a mountain and dead end at a village completely surrounded by tea gardens. One place in particular was surrounded by pristine virgin forests with the mountain streams so clean I could drink directly from them. Birds, butterflies, and wildlife were abundant. The tea was wonderful and, when the better grades were finally brought out, I opened my wallet generously.

But, the best part of the story begins after a three-hour walk up a steep mountain through a park-like setting where no one lives but the animals and the endemic Camellia sinensis grows wild. There is a small temple at the top of the mountain and a level clearing about 100mu in size(6.6 mu=1 acre). This land has been offered to me to develop an experimental, organically grown tea farm. Its pointless to try and control my enthusiasm. I'm excited, and very very interested.

This story will be continued . . .