China 2006 - Hangzhou Tea & Wine

Hangzhou is famous for its tea, especially West Lake Dragon Well Green Tea

First, here is a tea bush - these leaves are picked off, dried, and pan fried to give a distinctive flat shape

Tea growing in rows on a hillside

Tea is a staple of Chinese life - here a group plays cards (also a staple of Chinese life) in a tea house

More tea on a slope

Traditional tea-drying house in the hills, right next to the tea

The tea fields apparently provide a good backdrop for photos. 
Here a fashion model shows off a heavy winter jacket, in 95 degree humid weather !

I bought tea from these growers, in their house - here is some tea in my cup for tasting,
plus the balance scale to measure (the dish, bar, and weight)

Here the growers package my tea in little packages, sealed in plastic, melted by candle to seal out the air

Hangzhou also had a wine industry long ago and a nice museum showing how it was made - first the nice museum

Men loading materials

A man working hard

Teams hard at work

Delivering the final product

And boys dancing to celebrate, or because they were drunk !

Statues of the wine celebrations

Up close - wine and song !