Bi Luo Chun tea
Encyclopedia
Bi Luo Chun is a famous green tea
China Famous Tea
China's Famous Teas or The Ten Great Chinese Teas is a list of ten notable Chinese teas. Contrary to popular belief, there is no steadfast list...

 originally grown in the Dong Ting mountain of Tai Hu, Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Also known as Pi Lo Chun, it is renowned for its delicate appearance, fruity taste, floral aroma, showy white hairs and early cropping.

The name Bi Luo Chun literally means "Green Snail Spring". It is called so because it is a green tea
Green tea
Green tea is made solely from the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures throughout Asia. It has recently become more widespread in the West, where black tea is traditionally...

 that is rolled into a tight spiral, resembling snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

 meat, and is cropped early spring.

Its original name is Xia Sha Ren Xiang . Legend tells of its discovery by a tea picker who ran out of space in her basket, and put the tea between her breasts instead. The tea, warmed by her body heat, emitted a strong aroma that surprised the girl.

According to the Qing Dynasty chronicle Ye Shi Da Guan, Emperor Kangxi visited Tai Hu in the 38th year of his rule. At that time, because of its rich aroma, local people called it "Scary Fragrance". Kangxi decided to give it a more elegant name - "Green Snail Spring".

Chinese tea experts regard it very highly. Zhen Jun (1857 to 1918 A.D.), author of tea encyclopedia Cha Shuo, ranked it first among Chinese green tea. Longjing tea came second, Liu An Gua Pian came third. It is so delicate and tender that one kilogram of Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun has 14,000 to 15,000 tea shoots.

Today, Bi Luo Chun is cultivated in Dong Ting, Jiangsu Province. Bi Luo Chun from Dong Shan (East Mountain) is considered the best. Bi Luo Chun tea is also grown in Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. Their leaves are larger and less uniform (may contain yellow leaves). They taste more nutty than fruity and smooth.

Bi Luo Chun is divided into seven grades in decreasing order of quality: Supreme, Supreme Ⅰ,Grade Ⅰ,Grade Ⅱ,Grade Ⅲ, Chao Qing Ⅰ, and Chao Qing Ⅱ.
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