The 2023 West Lake Longjing tea roasting contest was recently held in the West Lake scenic spot. A total of 40 young trainees from 21 training sites of a Longjing tea frying training program attended the contest. 

At the event, trainees in their respective team shirts masterly fried the tea leaves and finished making 200g of West Lake Longjing tea in three hours. They applied the 10 skills of Longjing tea frying, which include grabbing, shaking, pressing, pushing and rubbing.    

In recent years, the West Lake has been bringing more young people to its tea gardens to protect and pass down the technique of West Lake Longjing tea processing. The new-generation tea farmers are confident and innovative and are making continuous contributions to the protection and inheritance of the technique. The contest is not only a platform to showcase the trainees’ skills, but also an opportunity for them to exchange and get encouragement for harder work. 

“Last year, we just collected tea samples made by students at each training site. We had reform this year, and invited the students to a contest. It’s a way to check their learning achievements in a fairer and more transparent fashion,” said the organizer. 

Three judges selected top 10 trainees and presented the up-and-rising tea making technique inheritor award to two trainees.