West Lake Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea — Mingqian grade, 250g

China's most famous green tea, bought in the village where it's picked — with the grade honesty no airport gift shop will give you.

Price: 600 CNY (250g of genuine core-area pre-Qingming (Mingqian) harvest direct from growers; ordinary Zhejiang-grown longjing runs ¥50-150/250g)

Where to buy: Meijiawu or Longjing village tea houses around West Lake, Hangzhou; taste before buying, watch it brewed in a glass

Price checked 2026-07-03

• Grades honesty: 'Mingqian' (pre-April 5 harvest) from the West Lake core zone is rarely under ¥1,000/500g — a ¥100 tin labeled Mingqian Xihu Longjing is regular Zhejiang longjing in a fancy box. Still nice tea, just don't pay core-zone money
• Pair with a pu'er cake from a reputable factory (Dayi/Xiaguan, ¥100-300 for 357g) — and treat any '30-year aged' cake sold to tourists as fiction unless you're an expert
• Village growers take Alipay only and don't do tax refunds; city tea shops with Tax Free signs do