Longjing Tea Village (龙井村)

Open neighbourhood · Hangzhou. The village where West Lake Longjing tea grows: free terraces, tea houses and a spring.

Source: https://chinafootnotes.com/places/longjing-tea-village · Data checked 2026-10-08 · Rendered for 2026-10-09 (Asia/Shanghai). Facts carry their status; "not found yet" means we searched and found no reliable source.

Notices in effect

• 2026-09-01 to 2026-11-30: Autumn season traffic rules in West Lake: odd-even plates on weekends and holidays, taxi transfer points for the Lingyin area.

Why go

Longjing Village (龙井村) sits in hills southwest of West Lake and is the heart of the area that grows West Lake Longjing, one of China’s best-known green teas. There is no gate: you walk lanes of farmhouses and tea shops, then onto terraces of clipped tea bushes. Sit in a farm courtyard for a glass of fresh tea, and take care with purchases, since prices vary hugely by tier.

What to do

• Walk the tea terraces. Follow the terrace paths above the lanes for views of rows of clipped tea bushes on the hillside.
• Taste fresh Longjing in a farm courtyard. Ask the per-person price first; it normally includes refills. Order one standard Longjing as a beginner.
• Find the Dragon Well spring. The village is named after the Dragon Well, a round stone-rimmed spring among carved rocks on the hillside.
• See the Old Longjing garden. At the back of the village, the Old Longjing garden holds the eighteen trees said to have been named imperial tea by the Qianlong emperor.

• Don't miss: The Dragon Well spring and its inscribed rocks.

• Best time: Spring for picking; autumn for quiet
• Skip if: The middle of a hot day, when the terraces have little shade; or the three-day Qingming weekend in spring.

Practical details

• Hours: Lanes always open; the garden keeps its own hours
• Tea houses and shops keep their own hours.
• Ctrip lists the Old Longjing garden as open 08:30 to 17:00. No operator page was found.
• Admission: Village free; Old Longjing garden RMB 10
• Old Longjing garden (eighteen imperial tea trees): ¥10 — Paid at the entrance by Nick Kembel; a March 2024 news item gives the same price. No operator price list found.
• The village lanes and terrace paths have no ticket. The enclosed Old Longjing garden charges RMB 10, the price in a March 2024 news item, and one visitor paid it at the entrance.
• Booking: No booking; walk in
• Passport accepted: not_applicable — No ID or passport is checked to walk the village.
• Visiting the village and walking the terraces needs no reservation or ID.
• Last admission: No last entry for the public lanes
• Time to allow: 2–4 hr
• Getting there: No metro; bus 27 or 87 or a taxi
• Show a taxi driver: 杭州市西湖区龙井路 龙井村
• Taxis and ride-hailing cars may drive Longjing Road, which the weekday Lingyin-area taxi ban excludes. The ban began as a trial in November 2025 and its current status is not confirmed.
• Foreign visitors: No ID or booking needed to walk the village

Not found yet

• foreignVisitors.payment: No source says whether tea houses take foreign cards, cash or phone payments. (searched: web search (English), personal blogs, reddit)

Traveler tips

• There is no gate: Longjing Village is a working village you walk into. Longjing Village (龙井村) has no entrance ticket or booking; the lanes and terrace paths are open to anyone. You walk past farmhouses, tea shops and tea terraces on the hillside. Entry to the single enclosed garden, Old Longjing (老龙井), is separate. Caveat: No operator or government page describing the village lanes was found; this is what three visitor guides say. GoChinaTravel says only that the villages and terrace paths are free. Old Longjing's RMB 10 entry comes from a March 2024 news item, Nick Kembel (who paid it) and the Qunar page. source
• Take bus 27 or 87, or a taxi; there is no metro at the village. The simplest public route is bus 27 or 87 to the Longjing Tea Room stop (龙井茶室), then walk in. You can also change from metro at Huanglong Cave or Fengqi Road. A taxi from West Lake takes about 20 minutes; pin the exact village stop in the ride-hailing app. Caveat: Bus numbers come from guide pages and may change by season; no transit operator page was found. Taxi price and time are one guide's estimate. zara (2 Oct 2026) names bus 27 or 87 to the Longjing Tea Room or Longjing Village stop; 古古有力 (5 Dec 2025) takes a taxi to the village car park. (4 travelers) source
• Taxis can use Longjing Road even where they are banned near Lingyin. Since late 2025 taxis and ride-hailing cars are banned from the Lingyin area on weekdays 08:00 to 17:00. The ban zone explicitly excludes Longjing Road (龙井路) and the first stretch of Meiling North Road, so a taxi can still reach the Longjing hills. The rule was introduced as a trial. Caveat: From a November 2025 newspaper report of the traffic notice; the report says the measure starts as a trial, and no source confirms it is still running in October 2026, so check the rule on the day. source
• Autumn weekends and holidays: odd-even plates across West Lake. From September to November, on weekends and public holidays from 08:00 to 17:00, cars follow odd-even plate numbers in the West Lake scenic area. An extra "West Lake pass" (西湖通) must be requested a day ahead for the Lingyin area and part of Nanshan Road. Taxis stop at transfer points for those two areas. Use a bus if you are unsure which side of the line you are on. Caveat: The report names the odd-even rule for the scenic area and the pass for Lingyin and Nanshan Road only; whether each Longjing lane falls inside the odd-even area was not stated. source
• Ask the per-person price before you sit down for tea; garden tea starts at ¥188. Farm courtyards charge a per-person seat fee that includes fresh tea and refills; one commercial guide puts it at about RMB 30 to 100. Ask how much per person before sitting, and leave politely if there is no clear price. Past the ¥10 gate, the garden’s shop is the only place to sit for tea beside the eighteen trees, and it is easy to miss. It charges ¥188 per person for the cheapest Shifeng tea with snacks, and the menu lists three grades at ¥188, ¥288 and ¥388. You get a pot and can top up the water yourself. Caveat: Prices are guide and one-visitor figures with no operator price list, so ranges are rough. Nick Kembel was charged about RMB 80 at a Shifeng Mountain tea centre, waived when leaves were bought. James Peng suggests saying you are only tasting if pressed to buy. A widely shared video from late June 2025 showed an actor being quoted ¥100 a cup at a village shop (No. 144) and told to leave if they did not want it (哈尔滨日报冰城+, 30 Jun 2025; 狂奔的黄牛, 2 Jul 2025; 商学院王老师, 1 Jul 2025). Zmad (16 Apr 2026) paid ¥188 and brewed more than ten infusions; 杨威利喝红茶 (23 May 2026) lists ¥188, ¥288 and ¥388 and did not order. 小胡老西 (6 Apr 2025) also advises watching your wallet at the garden's tea room. (6 travelers) source
• Check origin, grade and price per jin before anything is weighed. West Lake Longjing (西湖龙井), Shifeng and other Zhejiang Longjing sit in very different price tiers. Ask the origin, the grade and the price per jin (500 g) before anything is weighed, and taste first. Quotes seen range from RMB 1,500 to 6,800 per jin across grades at village shops, and early-season hand-made leaf has been quoted above RMB 10,000 per 500 g. Caveat: Nick Kembel bought at two shops in one spring and felt the price was fair; one purchase was RMB 2,600 per jin. The farmer quote is for the first spring batch. Prices vary hugely by season and stall. The RMB 1,500 to 6,800 range was seen by Nick Kembel across grades at village shops, and the 2026 farmer quote is for early-season hand-made leaf. source
• Spring picking is late March to April; autumn is quieter. Picking usually starts in mid-to-late March (17 March in 2026) and picking and pan-frying can be seen through April. Autumn and early winter are the most comfortable walking weather and have fewer visitors, but there is no picking to watch. Avoid the three-day Qingming weekend in spring. Caveat: The first-harvest date is from a government English news item; the seasonal advice is from three visitor guides. (2 travelers) source
• Walk the terraces first, then sit down for tea. Take 20 to 60 minutes to walk the terrace paths before a tasting: you see the fields first and feel less sales pressure. Mornings give quieter lanes and better light; avoid midday heat. A longer option is the Nine Creeks and Eighteen Gullies trail uphill from Jiuxi, which takes two to three hours. Caveat: Walking times and the Nine Creeks trail length are from two guides; neither is an operator figure. source
• Old Longjing and the eighteen imperial trees are a small paid garden. The eighteen imperial tea trees at Old Longjing (老龙井), on Lion Peak at the back of the village, sit in an enclosed garden with a tea room. Entry is RMB 10, and the garden is listed as open 08:30 to 17:00. Caveat: Price comes from a 2024 news item and a 2025 visit; hours come from a Ctrip listing and no operator page was found. GoChinaTravel describes the eighteen bushes as inside the village without giving a separate price. The ¥10 gate is reported by 小强影像日志 (25 Jan 2026), Zmad (16 Apr 2026), 杨威利喝红茶 (23 May 2026) and 小胡老西 (6 Apr 2025, who entered at 07:30). (5 travelers) source
• The village takes its name from the Dragon Well spring. The name comes from the Dragon Well (龙井), a round stone-rimmed spring high on the Fenghuang ridge; the temple, village, old well and tea all take its name. It is counted among the three famous springs of West Lake with Hupao and Yuquan. Caveat: From the West Lake authority history article. The page does not give a walking time from the village. source
• The China National Tea Museum is a free add-on nearby. Start at Longjing Temple and walk about 500 m into the village. The free China National Tea Museum sits near the Green Tea Restaurant on the way. Caveat: Distance and the free-entry detail come from one blog; the museum’s own hours and booking are published separately by the museum. source
• Taste free at the plantation sellers; avoid the tea shops at tourist spots. Where you buy tea, you can usually taste for free, so there is no need to pay for a tea-house tasting. For everyday Longjing, a large supermarket is cheaper than shops at tourist spots, which tend to sell older tea. Buying direct from farmers is only a little cheaper and of similar quality. Caveat: The free-tasting advice is one visitor’s report, and the supermarket tip is a commenter whose family lives in Hangzhou. Neither is an operator statement. (2 travelers) source
• Walk it downhill: Longjing Village, Shili Langdang, then Jiuxi. Walk the route in this direction for a mostly gentle downhill: Longjing Village, the Shili Langdang ridge path, the Jiuxi stream and then the Jiuxi bus stop. A taxi to the village car park saves about ten minutes of climbing, and from the Jiuxi side an electric cart (then about 400 m on foot) reaches the bus stop for West Lake. The paths are stone slabs, so wear comfortable shoes. Caveat: 古古有力 (5 Dec 2025) walked it with parents aged 70 and gave no distance; zara (2 Oct 2026) puts the full route at 10 to 12 km and three to five hours with stops, and warns of insects in April and May. (2 travelers) source
• The hilltop Maoju hotel afternoon tea draws queues and its seats are timed. The hotel tearoom above the village (龙井茂居, Longjing 150) is a popular afternoon-tea stop. Seats can be limited to one to two hours, and the room can be full on a weekday. A dusk visit after walking from Jiuxi in under two hours is calmer, though weekends are busy. Caveat: 哒哒哒哒 (11 Mar 2025) calls a set-price afternoon tea at hundreds of yuan poor value against tea for a few tens of yuan in the village; 废柴小松鼠 (1 Nov 2025) ordered a set. Prices of the sets are not given. (2 travelers) source

Sources

• 杭州西湖风景名胜区管理委员会（杭州西湖博物馆总馆） (published 2024-04-27)
• Hangzhou Municipal People's Government English site (ezhejiang.gov.cn) (published 2026-03-19)
• Hangzhou Municipal People's Government English site (published 2018-08-15)
• 潮新闻／杭州网（杭州交警供图） (published 2026-09-05)
• 每日商报／杭州政协网 (published 2025-11-20)
• 启正网 (published 2024-03-26)
• 去哪儿网（用户内容页） (published 2025-09-19)
• 携程攻略
• Nick Kembel (Nickkembel Travels)
• GoChinaTravel Editorial Team (published 2026-09-21)
• James Peng (Explore with Shanghai) (published 2026-02-02)
• elwenion2 (published 2026-07-05)
• Nilram93 (published 2026-01-18)
• 拿铁吨吨吨 (published 2026-09-20)
• 鸟语茶铺优茗集 (published 2025-04-16)
• Zmad (published 2026-04-16)
• 杨威利喝红茶 (published 2026-05-23)
• 古古有力 (published 2025-12-05)
• zara (published 2026-10-02)
• 哒哒哒哒 (published 2025-03-11)
• 废柴小松鼠 (published 2025-11-01)
• 哈尔滨日报冰城+ (published 2025-06-30)
• 狂奔的黄牛 (published 2025-07-02)
• 商学院王老师 (published 2025-07-01)
• 小强影像日志 (published 2026-01-25)
• 小胡老西 (published 2025-04-06)

More places

• Pair with: China National Tea Museum, Lingyin Temple and Feilai Peak
• More in Lingyin & the tea hills: Lingyin Temple and Feilai Peak, China National Tea Museum