Steeping the leaves

Monks hold a cleansing ceremony before picking tea at a garden at Fajing Buddha Temple in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo by Liu Yunlong/China Daily]

Longjing, or Dragon Well, tea, is grown in Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, and is believed to have been introduced to the country by the Buddhist monks of Fajing Temple. The monks follow a long and rigorous process to make the tea, beginning with the blessing, cleansing, picking and drying of the leaves.