Heat to affect Longjing tea in hangzhou

HANGZHOU continues to boil in scorching heat and tea farmers fear the output of Longjing tea will drop next year.

The heat wave swept Zhejiang Province and the entire east China about two weeks ago and shows no sign of retreating as the mercury hovers between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius every day.

Meteorologists said the hot weather would linger until the end of July. “Tea production and quality will decline as a result of the sultry weather,” said Weng Jianguo, who owns a tea farm in Longjing Village in western suburbs.

Longjing tea output is estimated to drop by 10 percent next year, according to the Hangzhou Longjing Tea Administrative Office.

Longjing is the name of green tea produced in Longjing Village and surrounding areas. It is considered the best green tea in China. The 1,400 hectares of Longjing tea fields yielded about 550,000 kilos of tea last year.