Dragon Well & Longjing Tea

Dragon Well (Long jing) is located on the Fenghuang Hill to the west of Xihu (West Lake), one of the good attractions for your Hangzhou tour. It is actually a spring and known as one of the three most famous springs of Hangzhou (the other two are Jade Spring and Tiger Running Spring).

This well was found in the Three Kingdoms' Period (221-280 A.D.), and from that time the local people began to come here to pray for rainfall whenever there was a drought. According to the legends, the well is connected to the rivers and the sea, and so it is believed that there are dragons reside and is named Dragon Well. It is said that the famous alchemist and taoist Gehong (284-364 A. D.) want to become the immortal once made the magic drug here.

The Dragon Well is around by many grotesque rocks and old trees. Its water is clear, and drinks sweet. A wiggling water parting line will appear in the water surface if you disturb the well with a small stick, it looks like a swimming dragon, very interesting. This curious phenomenon has definitely caught the tourists' eyes. Around the well, there are the famous Eight Sights of the Dragon Well which include the Crossing Brook Pavilion, Shenyun Rock, A Cloud, Longhong Cave, Tiaoxin Zhao, Fenghuang Hill, Fangyuan Temple and the Cuifeng Pavilion.

On the near west of the Dragon Well is a small village named Longjing Village. It is deeply buried in the trees with its mysterious springs and streams. In this village, there is a site where 18 tea trees were planted by the Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). The tea trees still grow well there today. If you visit the village in spring and summer, you can visit the green Longjing tea plantations, pluck the tea leaves, know more about the Chinese tea culture, see the tea makers dry the tea leaves and process the tea products, taste different grades of tea and buy the one you like.