Longjing tea more expensive than gold

(Ecns.cn)--Though it hasn't yet formally appeared on the market, Longjing tea, or Dragon Well tea grown in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, sold for 180,000 yuan (US$28,499) per 500 grams at a pre-sale bazaar in its home city still surprised the Chinese people, according to the China National Radio Wednesday.

The price of this locally packaged tea by Longjing Tea Group is much expensive than gold which was selling for only 168,500 yuan (US$26,678) per 500 grams by close of day Wednesday. Admittedly, the tea is high quality, but the cost of it is now on par with many luxury goods.

"The package that sold for 180,000 yuan will be sent to a tea art team composed of deaf people in Xihu District as a gift, and other packages will go for 40,000 yuan (US$6,333) per 500g," said Zhu Baichang, chairman of Longjing Tea Group.

"We have the best Longjing in China, because we select one kilo of the best leaves from every eight kilo. We also have very elegant packaging to go with the tea," said Zhu to the China Central Television, " rules about the color are strictly followed; they must be neither too green nor too yellow to ensure that Longjing is the most refined."

The price is too high for ordinary people, so the teas are mainly given as presents between businessmen or officials, after being packaged as a luxury product, Zhu was quoted in the report.

The price of Longjing has boosted expectations in the tea market in recent years. Experts said the average price set by farmers may have increased by 15 percent due to last year's high demand.

Xu Nanmei, analyst of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences said people are driven psychologically to own expensive and rare things. The marketing strategists know this, she says, and actually regular Longjing also tastes good.

Regular fresh Longjing Tea comes with the relatively modest price tag of around 4 to 6 thousand yuan per kilo. Xu suggests people wanting a bargain should wait for the price to start dropping in May.