West Lake Longjing Tea King

Huang Zuhua

One of the five tea-frying masters in Xihu District, and an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of hand-frying West Lake Longjing tea, he has been deeply involved in hand-frying tea for nearly 40 years. He has won many honors, including "Master of West Lake Longjing Tea Frying" and holds a senior tea-frying technician qualification certificate.

As a third-generation tea master, he was immersed in the aroma of tea from Longwu Tea Town from a young age. He officially entered the tea-making business at the age of 18 and deeply understands the ancient essence of "tea never leaves the wok, hands never leave the tea." Facing the high-temperature iron wok of 150℃~200℃, he uses ten techniques such as grasping, shaking, draping, and pressing with smooth and flowing movements. He can also "make tea according to the tea"—adjusting the strength and heat according to the condition of the tea leaves each year, so that the finished product has both a "flat and smooth, pointed and elegant" appearance and a "fragrant and sweet aftertaste".

On the path of inheritance, he has taken on more than six apprentices, emphasizing that "learning to stir-fry tea requires two or three years of experience in controlling the heat and seven or eight years of honing the skills." He once led a team to win an award in the West Lake Longjing tea-stirring competition. Now, he leads the tea-stirring master studio to supervise the production of tea products and participates in innovative practices such as "making old tea new," which not only protects the authenticity of handmade Longjing tea but also revitalizes intangible cultural heritage techniques in the contemporary era.

Teacher Huang Zuhua and Master Zhao Qingtao of Daya Hall