The Land of Green Tea

On Wednesday, Oct 20th, around  5:00 pm we headed for the tea area of Hangzhou, (Longjing) green tea, one of China's most prized teas has long been cultivated in this area on the jagged hills that border Hangzhou. Our driver weaved up the hills and narrow streets and wedged us in a side street.We then walked for about 10 minutes down a steep walkway, past houses with patios and gardens, finally to our destination. We were at a family's house and sat out on their deck. They had just remodeled their place and it was fantastic. It had the traditional furniture inside and put  a brand new TV set up attached to stone wall. The food kept coming out once again and we really had a good time. At the end the family got out the tea and many of us bought some. According to legend Emperor Qian Long decided this tea from the Meijiawu Village was the best in China. So of all the tea in China..we bought the best...So I got that going for me when I return to the US. The leaves were hand dried and recently picked. We left there about 9:00 pm and got back in a short time, traveling thru several tunnels that were cut thru the mountains.

Tom and Linda Rasmussen