Meijiawu Tea Plantation

About 10 kilometers (6 miles) from downtown Hangzhou, Meijiawu Tea Plantation, also called Meijiawu Tea Cultural Village is not far from West Lake. It's a village with 600 years' history and famous as one of the main growing areas of Longjing tea. In the village, you can not only taste tea, but also participate in picking up tea leaves and making new tea if travelling there in spring! Besides, the Longjing tea is a great gift for your friends and family.
 

Meijiawu Tea Plantation

Actually, Meijiawu village used to be unknown for a long time. Zhou Enlai, a former Chinese premier, brought attention to the area after a visit. Later, it was set up as one of the attractions for international visitors and has received more than 100 international celebrities and heads of state.  Now, you can still see Wufu Bridge and a memorial hall in Meijiawu Tea Plantation built in memory of Zhou Enlai.

Now, as a key attraction in Hangzhou, Meijiawu Tea Plantation has become a peaceful leisure place.
 Surrounded by hills and full of tea trees, Meijiawu Tea Plantation is a great place to wander around. Nearly all the villagers make their living by working in the tea trade, and over 160 tea houses can be found here. Besides, many multilingual exhibitions halls were built for international visitors, showing the tea history and culture of Meijiawu Tea Village. Some halls also provide wonderful tea art performances.

In addition, a Ming-Qing style building, Ligeng Pavilion, now serves as a tea house and restaurant. It adds more fun to enjoy the tea here!
 Since it's not far from downtown Hangzhou, many people like to drive to the tea village to spend their weekend. When travelling in the Meijiawu Tea Village, visitors can't miss these three things: drinking Longjing tea; tasting local farm foods and playing or watching others play Chinese mahjong. In the village, you can totally experience the locals' life!

Besides that, you can walk south for several minutes to Yunqi Bamboo Forest, the most gorgeous forest in the West Lake scenic area, where the famous film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon by Li An was filmed.
 The best time to visit Longjing tea village is March to May. March and early April is the time for picking tea leaves. During this period, all the farmers are busying themselves with the work in their tea fields. If you come to Meijiawu Tea Plantation during this time, you can join and pick up tea leaves!

Learning to Make Tea

Meijiawu Tea Field

After picking up the leaves, they will start to make new tea. When you walk to the village during this time, you will be surrounded by the special smell of fried tea. If interested, you can walk into their houses and try making tea yourself.

Later in April and May, the new Longjing tea has just been made and it's a great time to visit and buy some.

Although it's a great time to the village from March to May, you should notice that the traditional Qingming Festival happens around early April, which brings a peak tourist time to Meijiawu Tea Plantation. We suggest that if you want to avoid the crowds, skip this time of year.

Fresh Tea Leaves

Longjing Tea Making Process

 Take bus 12, 180 or West Lake Shuttle Bus Line 3 to Meijiawu.
Hangzhou Bus / Metro Search
 

Entrance Fee	Free
Opening Hours	All day

Tips: It may charge some money for picking up tea leaves and making tea, and a cup of tea costs CNY 10 - 80.
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