- Longjing (Dragon Well) and Meijiawu are tea-farming villages in the hills southwest of West Lake, both roughly 10 km from central Hangzhou and reachable in about 20-30 minutes by taxi, DiDi or local bus.
- The China National Tea Museum is free to enter and sits on Longjing Road; its Longjing branch opened in May 2015, and it is the only national museum in China devoted to tea.
- The prized ‘Mingqian’ (pre-Qingming) harvest runs from late March to just before the Qingming Festival around April 5, when the village is at its most atmospheric but also most crowded.
- Entry to the villages and tea hills is free; budget roughly CNY 10-80 for a cup of tea and CNY 50-100 to join a tea-picking session during harvest.
- Genuine West Lake Longjing is limited and expensive, so taste before you buy, agree the grade and the price per jin (500 g) first, and treat cheap roadside ‘authentic Longjing’ with suspicion.
Most visitors to Hangzhou spend their day circling West Lake and never climb the few kilometres into the hills behind it, which is exactly where the city’s most famous export actually grows. Longjing, or Dragon Well, is the green tea that ranks first among China’s most celebrated teas, and the villages that produce it sit close enough to West Lake to make an easy half- or full-day trip. This guide is about that day trip: reaching the tea villages, walking the terraces, visiting the national tea museum, and tasting and buying Longjing without falling for the well-worn tourist traps.
Where the tea grows: Longjing and Meijiawu
West Lake Longjing refers specifically to tea grown within the Xihu (West Lake) District of Hangzhou; tea produced outside this protected area cannot legally be labelled West Lake Longjing. Within that zone, a first-tier core production area covers the villages of Shifeng, Longjing, Yunqi, Hupao and Meijiawu, with a second-tier area beyond. For a day-tripper, two of those names matter most.
Longjing Village is the historic heart and the source of the name. It is a compact settlement of around 800 residents ringed by roughly 53 hectares of terraced tea gardens, named for a local well whose water was said to be so dense it moved like a dragon. Meijiawu, a few kilometres to the west, is the larger and more visitor-oriented of the two, with a tea-farming history of more than 600 years and a long main street lined with farmhouse teahouses. Both lie in the hills immediately southwest of West Lake, the band of slopes that gives Longjing its diffused light, frequent mist and sandy-loam soil.
It is worth knowing one quirk of the area’s status. When the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in June 2011, the Longjing tea-plantation area and its associated villages, covering roughly 1,100 hectares, were removed from the final nominated area. The terraces you walk are part of the same cultural landscape that inspired Chinese poets and painters for centuries, even if they sit just outside the inscribed boundary.
How to get there from Hangzhou and West Lake
The villages are close. Longjing and Meijiawu both sit about 10 km from downtown Hangzhou, and from the West Lake shore you can reach the China National Tea Museum and the villages in roughly 20-30 minutes depending on traffic.
| Getting there from West Lake | Route | Approx. journey | Approx. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxi or DiDi | Direct to Longjing Village | 20-30 min | CNY 30-40 |
| Bus to Longjing Village | Bus 27 (classic route past the tea museum), or 87 / 318 | 20-30 min | Standard city-bus fare |
| Bus to Meijiawu | Bus 12, 180 or West Lake Shuttle Bus Line 3 (bus 103 to Meiwu South Entrance) | 20-30 min | Standard city-bus fare |
By taxi or DiDi
The simplest option is a taxi or DiDi straight from the city centre. A ride from West Lake to Longjing Village runs about CNY 30-40 and saves you puzzling over bus transfers, which is worth it in the spring crowds or if you are short on time. Have your destination written in Chinese characters or pinned on a map app, since several tea stops share similar names.
By public bus
Buses are cheap and frequent. For Meijiawu, you can take bus 12, bus 180 or West Lake Shuttle Bus Line 3; bus 103 also runs to the Meiwu South Entrance. For Longjing Village, bus 27 is the classic route, running from the north shore of West Lake past the China National Tea Museum and on towards the village, and buses 87 and 318 also stop nearby. One common routing for Longjing is to take the 1314 bus to Maojiabu Station, then transfer to bus 87 or bus 27 towards the Longjing teahouse stop and walk the last stretch uphill.
What to do in the villages
Walk the tea terraces
The single best thing to do here costs nothing. From the entrance of Longjing Village, the path climbs the mountain and the tea fields fan out across the slopes in long curving rows. Around Meijiawu you can wander straight into the fields or follow stone paths up the hillside. Serious walkers can pick up Shili Langdang, a stone-paved trail several kilometres long that links Tianzhu, Lingyin, Longjing, Yunqi, Jiuxi, Meijiawu and Wuyun Mountain; it is one of Hangzhou’s most popular mountain walks and was originally a pilgrims’ route.
See the Eighteen Imperial Tea Bushes
In Longjing Village stand the famous Eighteen Imperial Tea Bushes, the specific plants said to have been singled out by the Qianlong Emperor. As the story goes, he was served a cup of Longjing near Hu Gong Temple below Lion Peak, was impressed, and conferred imperial status on these eighteen bushes. They are still living, and the tiny annual harvest from them is auctioned for extraordinary sums. Nearby, the spring water from the Dreaming of the Tiger Spring is traditionally held to be the best water for brewing Longjing.
Visit the China National Tea Museum
The China National Tea Museum is the anchor cultural stop and entry is free. It is the only national-level museum in China dedicated entirely to tea — a must-visit for anyone interested in Chinese tea culture, with exhibition halls covering tea history, varieties, tools, customs and preparation. Its Longjing branch, on Longjing Road in the Xihu District, opened in May 2015 and stands among the gardens themselves. Opening hours are 9:00-17:00 from May 1 to October 7, and 8:30-16:30 from October 8 to April 30; it closes on Mondays but opens on public holidays. Allow two to three hours, and use the museum shop and teahouse as a lower-risk place to taste and buy.
Tasting and a tea-picking experience
The villages are built around hospitality, and tasting is the point. In Meijiawu, the tea-culture village counts roughly 160 teahouses where you can sit, watch a simple tea preparation and drink Longjing by the cup; a cup typically runs CNY 10-80 depending on the grade. The classic local day combines three things: drinking Longjing, eating farmhouse food, and lingering over a game of mahjong.
During the spring harvest, many farmers welcome visitors to join the picking. Expect to pay a small participation fee, commonly in the region of CNY 50-100 for 30 to 60 minutes; you gather a small basket of leaves, carry them back to the farmhouse, watch them pan-roasted by hand, and taste the result. It is the most direct way to understand why fresh Longjing tastes the way it does, with its flat, smooth leaves and a soft emerald liquor.
When to go: the Mingqian season
Timing changes the whole experience. For a broader look at when to visit tea regions worldwide, see our seasonal guide to tea plantation visits. The best window is March to May, the tea-picking season, when the hills are green and active. The most prized tea of all is ‘Mingqian’ or pre-Qingming Longjing, made from the first spring shoots picked before the Qingming Festival, which falls around April 5. In that short, cool, low-rainfall window the bushes grow slowly and the buds concentrate the amino acids that give the tea its sweet, umami character, so yields are small and prices high.
The trade-off is crowds. The Qingming Festival period brings a peak of domestic tourism to Meijiawu and Longjing, so if you want the atmosphere of harvest without the crush, aim for late March or visit on a weekday. By later April and May the new tea has been made and is easy to buy as a gift, with thinner crowds.
How to taste and buy without getting scammed
Longjing’s fame makes it a magnet for fakes, and this is the area where day-trippers most often lose money. Genuine West Lake Longjing grows only on these hills southwest of West Lake, the spring harvest is small, and real leaf is expensive; tea sold cheaply as ‘authentic West Lake Longjing’ to passing tourists usually is not. A major source of imitation Longjing is the Wuniuzao cultivar grown elsewhere in Zhejiang, and some tea sold as Longjing in Hangzhou is grown as far away as Sichuan.
A few habits protect you. Taste before you buy, and agree both the grade and the price per jin (500 g) before any leaves are weighed. Be sceptical of pushy roadside sellers and bargain prices, since cheap ‘authentic Longjing’ is almost always ordinary tea from elsewhere. Ask whether the seller can provide the official West Lake Longjing origin label, which is authorised by the Hangzhou government and carries the words ‘West Lake Longjing’, the production year, a serial number and a QR code you can scan to verify authenticity. A settled teahouse or the museum shop is a far lower-risk place to buy than a hard-sell stall on the path.
Practical day-trip notes
A half day is enough to pair one village with the tea museum; a full day lets you add a hillside walk, a tasting and a farmhouse lunch. Wear shoes you can climb stone paths in, bring cash for small teahouses and picking fees, and start early in spring to beat the tour groups. If you would rather base yourself among the terraces overnight rather than commute out, see our companion guide below to staying near the Longjing fields. Pairing the trip with a stroll around West Lake itself makes for a full, classic Hangzhou day.
Related Guides
- Luxury Tea Retreats in Hangzhou: Staying Near the Longjing Fields
- China Tea Travel Guide: Exploring the Birthplace of Tea
- Chinese Tea Culture: History, Traditions and Modern Practices
- How to Taste Tea Like a Pro: A Beginner’s Guide
- Uji Tea Fields: A Day Trip to Japan’s Most Famous Tea Region
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get to Longjing tea village from Hangzhou?
Longjing and Meijiawu villages sit about 10 km southwest of central Hangzhou, roughly 20-30 minutes away. A taxi or DiDi from West Lake to Longjing Village costs around CNY 30-40. By bus, take route 27, 87 or 318 towards Longjing, or bus 12, 180 or West Lake Shuttle Bus Line 3 for Meijiawu.
Is the China National Tea Museum free, and when is it open?
Yes, entry to the China National Tea Museum is free. Its Longjing branch on Longjing Road opens 9:00-17:00 from May 1 to October 7, and 8:30-16:30 from October 8 to April 30. It closes on Mondays but stays open on public holidays. Plan about two to three hours, as it is China’s only national museum dedicated to tea.
When is the best time to visit the Longjing tea fields?
The best time is March to May, the tea-picking season. The most prized ‘Mingqian’ (pre-Qingming) Longjing is picked from late March until just before the Qingming Festival around April 5, when the villages are liveliest but most crowded. For harvest atmosphere with fewer people, visit on a weekday or in later April and May once the new tea is made.
How do I avoid buying fake Longjing tea?
Taste before you buy and agree the grade and price per jin (500 g) before leaves are weighed. Genuine West Lake Longjing is limited and expensive, so distrust cheap roadside ‘authentic Longjing’, which is often Wuniuzao or tea from outside Zhejiang. Ask for the official Hangzhou origin label with its serial number and scannable QR code, and prefer the museum shop or a settled teahouse.
Can I pick tea myself in the Longjing villages?
Yes, during the spring harvest many Meijiawu and Longjing farmers let visitors join the picking for a small fee, commonly around CNY 50-100 for 30 to 60 minutes. You gather a basket of leaves, carry them to the farmhouse, watch them pan-roasted by hand, and taste the fresh tea. It runs only during the March-to-May season, so plan a spring visit.