City takes a stand against counterfeit Longjing tea
Hangzhou government will officially implement the Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Protection Regulation on March 1 to protect the authentic Longjing brand, since fake Longjing tea has affected Hangzhou local farmers' profits in recent years.
The regulation calls for the management of special identification codes for the tea, including company information, production year, unique serial numbers and anti-counterfeiting measures.
Local authorities have launched a digital management platform, ensuring that every production and sales procedure is under the government's supervision. The platform can track every code, and all statistics are shared among different authorities.
Local companies, workshops and farmers can apply for identification codes at a set time. However, they are prohibited from transferring, giving away or loaning the codes to others. Also, codes must be clearly labeled on tins.
Farmers who illegally use similar codes and names to mislead consumers will be fined up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,572). The punishment for companies is up to 50,000 yuan.
A file photo of farmers picking Longjing tea leaves during the harvest season in March
Hangzhou rigidly designate the production area of authentic Longjing tea – extending to Hupao Pagoda and Maojiabu Village in the east, Yangfu Temple and Longmenkan and Hejia villages in the west, Shejing and Fushan villages in the south and Laodongyue Temple and Jinyujing Community in the north.
In a bid to protect tea plantations, Hangzhou will conduct a census every 10 years to supervise natural resources and set up archives for each piece of land. The regulation also stipulates fertilizer types that can be used on tea plantations. Farmers are encouraged to use organic fertilizer instead of synthetic ones.
The harvest season for Hangzhou Longjing tea officially begins in March, and the most tender leaves must be collected within several days. In order to protect farmers' interests, an image of legitimate codes will be disseminated to the public after the harvest.
Farmers pick fresh tea leaves in a Longjing tea plantation in Hangzhou.
Longjing tea has been on the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage for years. As a time-honored brand, its long-term development cannot carry on without the participation of skilled craftspeople. The new regulation clarifies the standards of tea-frying techniques and the qualification of top-notch craftspeople.
During the harvest season, tea leaves go through 10 hours of processing, including ventilating, drying, screening and frying, before being packaged in tins. Frying tea leaves by hand is considered the core of processing, since hand-fried leaves are more aromatic than their machine-fried counterparts.
After decades of practice, veteran farmers have devised a smooth and effective processing system. The new regulation authorized the government certified workers as "Hangzhou Craftspeople."
