Buying Tea in China: A Traveler's Guide to Leaf, Grade and Price

A Simple Skill, Worth Having

Tea in China ranges from a few dollars a bag to more than most travellers will spend on a hotel night, and the difference is not always visible from the packaging. The useful skill is smaller than it looks: know what you like, taste before buying, and understand what the price is paying for — freshness, leaf grade, and hand-processing rather than a brand name.

Reading the Leaf

Grades describe the leaf, not the flavour: buds only, one bud with a leaf, or older leaves, with the first-flush pickings of spring usually costing most. Shape matters less than freshness — a green tea loses brightness within a year, so a 2026 spring Longjing bought in 2026 is a different product from last year's stock at half the price. Ask when the tea was picked, not just where.

Tasting Before Buying

Any serious shop will brew for you, and the tasting usually says more than the packaging: smell the dry leaf, then the wet leaf after brewing, and taste the second infusion rather than the first. Note how the flavour holds across three or four pourings — good leaf keeps giving, while mediocre tea fades. Expect this to take twenty minutes; it is the normal way to buy in China.

Where to Buy

Buy in the producing region where possible: Longjing in Hangzhou, jasmine in Fuzhou, oolong in Fujian, pu-erh (a dark, aged tea) in Yunnan, and green teas in Anhui and Jiangsu. City tea markets are cheaper but require confidence; the safest compromise is a village shop where you have watched the tea being fired, or a specialist shop with a tasting room.

Frequently Asked Questions