Why the date matters so much
A description of something people do now, compiled from published accounts rather than from practice.
Longjing picked before the Qingming festival in early April commands a substantial premium over tea picked days later, and pre-Qingming is stated on packaging as a selling point. The economics of a few days shape planting decisions, cultivar choice — Longjing 43 is planted largely because it buds early — and the labour market for pickers during the window.
Hand firing as a visible craft
A description of something people do now, compiled from published accounts rather than from practice.
High-grade Longjing is fixed and shaped in one continuous set of movements by hand in a heated wok, and the pressing is what produces the flat blade shape. The technique is demonstrated publicly and is part of how the tea's value is communicated. Most Longjing is machine-processed, and this is not a defect so much as the ordinary case.
The authenticity problem, stated plainly
TeaHQ's own reading of well-attested general knowledge, with no single source behind it.
Far more tea is sold as West Lake Longjing than the protected area could produce. Longjing made elsewhere in Zhejiang is legitimate tea under a broader name and is frequently very good. TeaHQ records the distinction because the price gap is large, not because the wider-region tea is inferior.