The Country Walk held at Longwu
Trends
By Lyu Weiyi
As the tea-producing area of the West Lake Longjing tea, one of China's top ten famous teas, Hangzhou will host various events to promote sales and showcase the new ecology of this intangible cultural heritage.
On Mar 18, an event named "Country Walk" was held at Longwu village in Xihu district to welcome the Hangzhou Asian Games and promote the village. Thirty hikers, including tea culture science bloggers and outdoor sports enthusiasts, strolled by the tea fields and the Reservoir of Guangming Temple. After getting hand-on experience of picking tea leaves, they visited the nearby artist market and Hejia village, and were invited by the hospitable villagers to their homes to watch the process of tea frying.
The event includes a prelude to the West Lake Longjing Tea Festival, which will kick off on Mar 25 and last until May 30. The opening ceremony will feature a tour around Longwu, the "Grandpa's Tea" breaker show, and the launch of online spring tea sales.
In addition, a tea-culture themed salon is to be hosted on the Great Lawn of Jiu Street, centering on the heritage and planting of the West Lake Longjing tea, followed by various activities such as tea-themed poetry and painting presentations, tea frying contests, wood handicrafts, and other visual creation competitions.
The event also includes a tea-themed feast exclusively for Generation Z to resonate with tea culture through popular activities such as coal stove-boiled tea, and promotions of intangible cultural heritages via performances, bazaars, and online livestreaming.
The festival is expected to attract 10 million domestic and foreign participants online and offline.