Discover Limited Bi Luo Chun: A Rare Tea Treasure
Millions gather each April in China to celebrate “Qingming” (pronounced Ching Ming), also known as “Tomb Sweeping Day,” or the “Pure Brightness Festival.” To celebrate the coming of spring, families visit their ancestors’ tombs to make offerings of favorite foods, rich, fragrant incense, and even tea. This traditional folk holiday dates back thousands of years to China’s Spring and Autumn Period (771-476 BCE).
Apart from its cultural significance, Qingming is an important date for tea lovers, as it marks the end of an important harvest season. The “Pre-Qingming” season is a sign of spring itself — a short window each year when leaves are harvested to produce some of China’s most premium green teas. Like first flush Darjeeling season, the time to harvest pre-Qingming teas, like this Bi Luo Chun selection, is limited. When leaf sets — comprising a single downy bud and a soft, newly opened leaf — are plucked, the nutrients stored in the tender leaf shoots are bursting with flavor. Leaves harvested from the same tea bushes and trees later in the season, once the plant is more mature, produce dramatically different flavor profiles.
Bi Luo Chun is among China's most celebrated teas, highlighted in Roy Fong’s authoritative book The Great Teas of China. This tea is grown in the Dongting region of China’s Jiangsu province, near Lake Tai, the country’s largest freshwater lake. The distinctive terroir of this area imparts a unique flavor. Only teas grown in Dongting may be considered true Bi Luo Chun; teas produced elsewhere do not share the same authenticity and character. Traditionally, Bi Luo Chun is harvested before the Qingming Festival, making the pre-Qingming version the most prized and authentic expression of this tea. When you enjoy leaves processed in this way, you are tasting Bi Luo Chun in its purest, most traditional form.
The name Bi Luo Chun translates to Green Snail Spring or Green Conch Spring — a reference to both the season of its harvest and the distinctive spiral shape of the leaves. This signature shape — reminiscent of a snail or conch shell — is the result of traditional cultivation and careful hand-processing. Our Bi Luo Chun is a tea of exceptional quality, crafted through a meticulous, time-honored process that honors both heritage and craftsmanship.
Each leaf set is carefully hand-plucked in the early hours of the morning. Once picked, the leaves are brought indoors for withering, a six- to seven-hour process that softens and wilts the leaves in preparation for the next stage. A high-temperature firing then halts oxidation, locking in the tea’s fresh character and preserving its vibrant green color. As the leaves cool, they are delicately rolled and shaped by hand, forming Bi Luo Chun’s signature spirals and helping to reduce residual moisture. A final, carefully controlled roasting ensures the leaves are fully dried, developing their complex flavor while preserving the fine, downy hairs that cover their surface. These tiny white hairs are a hallmark of quality, contributing to both texture and appearance.
According to Fong, to produce just one pound of high-quality Bi Luo Chun, over 70,000 hand-picked leaf sets are required. Imagine the incredible care, time, and skilled hands behind every cup—a quiet testament to the dedication of those who bring this remarkable tea to life.
The finished leaves of Bi Luo Chun are slender and tightly curled, their surfaces covered in a distinctive silvery-white fuzz. This fine down is a clear sign of early spring plucking and careful hand-processing.
When steeped, the tea releases a vibrant, aromatic bouquet that blends floral and fruity tones with subtle herbaceous undertones. The fragrance is strikingly intense. According to legend, it was once known as "Astonishingly Fragrant Tea" (bi luo chun xia sha ren xiang) — a name that speaks to the power of its aroma. Steeping a pot fills the room with its heady scent, making it a sensory experience as captivating as the flavor itself.
A tea of this caliber is a rare delight. Treat yourself to a cup of Bi Luo Chun today and savor its exceptional beauty.