I bought a commercial package of BiLuoChun which means "Spring Green
Snail" and in one description the leaf is described as the spiral shell
of a snail. That matches the contents of the package. I looked at the
pictures of the tea on the Internet and I don't see the snail. They
seem more like long thin twisted leaves with some curl. I didn't see
the 'snail shell' at any site. I know the tea is graded and the
commercial package is 'Premium'. I'm wondering why the commercial
package looks like a 'snail shell' and the Internet sites don't. Or
how does your version look?

Jim

There are mainly two types of Bi Luo Chun that are sold on the market
nowadays, one is the "snail shell" that you bought, another one is the
"long thin twisted". In fact, the "long thin twisted" one is more
traditional, according to the local tea farmers from Jiangsu province,
the way they describe the Bi Luo Chun is "brass wires stripe, screwy,
full of fine hairs, floral fragrance and fruity taste, refreshing."
The color of the original harvesting area Bi Luo Chun is much whiter
than those are harvested outside Jiangsu province.

About the "snail shell" one is a sort of new technique green tea, it is
pretty close to the gunpowder but much less tight, and it used lower
grade of leaves. Compare these two Bi Luo Chun, the price of the "long
thin twisted" is way higher than the "snail shell". But of course, the
"snail shell" also has its own character and it is indeed a good daily
tea.

Jing

Thanks, Jing. The all Chinese commercial brand is YanXiang packed in
Jiangsu with a date of 2005-01(Jan). It was $7/200g cheap compared to
the much more expensive brass wire versions. I wished there was white
tip on the snail's tail(shell+trailing curlycue). I also suspect the
pack date doesn't represent this year's harvest which I understand is
March, April. The snails open almost immediately and I get a nice
infusion after a minute which can handle another infusion. You drop
them into the water. Each one will float and unfurl on the top, some
full single leaf and some two leaves with a stem making a nice bushy
pot. These are the longest, thinnest leaves I've seen. The infusion
is green with a slight golden hue and a light green mellow taste with
no overtones of any other kind. If I drank green tea daily this would
be it.

Jim

SEb wrote:
> There are mainly two types of Bi Luo Chun that are sold on the market
> nowadays, one is the "snail shell" that you bought, another one is
the
> "long thin twisted". In fact, the "long thin twisted" one is more
> traditional, according to the local tea farmers from Jiangsu
province,
> the way they describe the Bi Luo Chun is "brass wires stripe, screwy,
> full of fine hairs, floral fragrance and fruity taste, refreshing."
> The color of the original harvesting area Bi Luo Chun is much whiter
> than those are harvested outside Jiangsu province.
>
> About the "snail shell" one is a sort of new technique green tea, it
is
> pretty close to the gunpowder but much less tight, and it used lower
> grade of leaves. Compare these two Bi Luo Chun, the price of the
"long
> thin twisted" is way higher than the "snail shell". But of course,
the
> "snail shell" also has its own character and it is indeed a good
daily
> tea.
>
> Jing

Thanks, Jing. The all Chinese commercial brand is YanXiang packed in
Jiangsu with a date of 2005-01(Jan). It was $7/200g cheap compared to
the much more expensive brass wire versions. I wished there was white
tip on the snail's tail(shell+trailing curlycue). I also suspect the
pack date doesn't represent this year's harvest which I understand is
March, April. The snails open almost immediately and I get a nice
infusion after a minute which can handle another infusion. You drop
them into the water. Each one will float and unfurl on the top, some
full single leaf and some two leaves with a stem making a nice bushy
pot. These are the longest, thinnest leaves I've seen. The infusion
is green with a slight golden hue and a light green mellow taste with
no overtones of any other kind. If I drank green tea daily this would
be it.

Jim

SEb wrote:
> There are mainly two types of Bi Luo Chun that are sold on the market
> nowadays, one is the "snail shell" that you bought, another one is
the
> "long thin twisted". In fact, the "long thin twisted" one is more
> traditional, according to the local tea farmers from Jiangsu
province,
> the way they describe the Bi Luo Chun is "brass wires stripe, screwy,
> full of fine hairs, floral fragrance and fruity taste, refreshing."
> The color of the original harvesting area Bi Luo Chun is much whiter
> than those are harvested outside Jiangsu province.
>
> About the "snail shell" one is a sort of new technique green tea, it
is
> pretty close to the gunpowder but much less tight, and it used lower
> grade of leaves. Compare these two Bi Luo Chun, the price of the
"long
> thin twisted" is way higher than the "snail shell". But of course,
the
> "snail shell" also has its own character and it is indeed a good
daily
> tea.
>
> Jing

I was reading, and I found this little bit of information of the tea..

Bi Luo Chun - Green Snail Spring

For centuries this very famous aromatic light green tea was known by
the name Xia Sha Ren Xiang (Astounding Fragrance). A legend explains
why. Once in the distant past, some pickers of a particularly good crop
filled their baskets before they were ready to go home. Wanting to
carry more leaves, they stuffed the excess inside their tunics. By
another version they were stealing the tea. Warmed by body heat, the
leaves began to give off a rich aroma. "I was astounded," many pickers
said, and the name stuck. Sometime in the late seventeenth or early
eighteenth century while on an inspection of his realm, Emperor Kang Xi
visited the Lake Taihu area in Zhejiang province and his host, the
governor of Jiangsu, presented him with this tea. Striking the Emperor
as a tea of purity he asked the name. "Astounding Fragrance" was his
host's reply. The Emperor, with disdain, replied that such a name for
this treasure was vulgar and an insult. Ordering the unused leaves
brought for his examination, the Emperor declared that a more fitting
name would be Green Snail Spring because the rolled shape looked like a
snail shell. The original name is most popular, however.

Peach, apricot and plum trees are planted among the bushes. When these
fruit trees bloom, the tender spouts and buds of tea absorb the aromas
to be passed on to those who drink their infusion. The name is now
known all over the world, for this is one of China's famous rare teas.
Its home is two mountains known as East and West Dongting which poke up
out of Taihu, the great lake not far west of Shanghai, and where the
garden city of Suzhou is located. One mountain is an island in the lake
and the other a peninsula. The water evaporating from the lake keeps
them overhung with clouds and mist, thus the young leaves stay moist.
The prime time to pick the tea leaves is during the Pure Brightness
festival when the buds are jade-green tinged with white. Bi Luo Chun is
picked during the spring until April when the spring rains begin. Only
one leaf and the bud are plucked. Harvesting is done completely by hand
and great skill is required to roll and fire the leaves. Bi Luo Chun
was selected as the offering of local government to the emperor in Qing
Dynasty.

Hey teadrinker,

Could you tell me where you got that story because it looks very much
like the one we have on our website except that the trees planted
around are not fruit trees but bamboo, roses, pine trees, osmanthus
bushes, or Yulan (Magnolia heptapeta, only found in China).

by the way, our source for the story is the Cha Jing.

Seb

teadrinker wrote:
> I was reading, and I found this little bit of information of the
tea..
>
> Bi Luo Chun - Green Snail Spring
>
> For centuries this very famous aromatic light green tea was known by
> the name Xia Sha Ren Xiang (Astounding Fragrance). A legend explains
> why. Once in the distant past, some pickers of a particularly good
crop
> filled their baskets before they were ready to go home. Wanting to
> carry more leaves, they stuffed the excess inside their tunics. By
> another version they were stealing the tea. Warmed by body heat, the
> leaves began to give off a rich aroma. "I was astounded," many
pickers
> said, and the name stuck. Sometime in the late seventeenth or early
> eighteenth century while on an inspection of his realm, Emperor Kang
Xi
> visited the Lake Taihu area in Zhejiang province and his host, the
> governor of Jiangsu, presented him with this tea. Striking the
Emperor
> as a tea of purity he asked the name. "Astounding Fragrance" was his
> host's reply. The Emperor, with disdain, replied that such a name for
> this treasure was vulgar and an insult. Ordering the unused leaves
> brought for his examination, the Emperor declared that a more fitting
> name would be Green Snail Spring because the rolled shape looked like
a
> snail shell. The original name is most popular, however.
>
> Peach, apricot and plum trees are planted among the bushes. When
these
> fruit trees bloom, the tender spouts and buds of tea absorb the
aromas
> to be passed on to those who drink their infusion. The name is now
> known all over the world, for this is one of China's famous rare
teas.
> Its home is two mountains known as East and West Dongting which poke
up
> out of Taihu, the great lake not far west of Shanghai, and where the
> garden city of Suzhou is located. One mountain is an island in the
lake
> and the other a peninsula. The water evaporating from the lake keeps
> them overhung with clouds and mist, thus the young leaves stay moist.
> The prime time to pick the tea leaves is during the Pure Brightness
> festival when the buds are jade-green tinged with white. Bi Luo Chun
is
> picked during the spring until April when the spring rains begin.
Only
> one leaf and the bud are plucked. Harvesting is done completely by
hand
> and great skill is required to roll and fire the leaves. Bi Luo Chun
> was selected as the offering of local government to the emperor in
Qing
> Dynasty.

Sure, it was on a site about the history of tea. I've seen a lot of
sites that have copies (or similar) descriptions.

I just happened to be reading it, when I noticed that it was the same
type of tea mentioned earlier.

I noticed you were from France. Have you ever heard of a famous Tea
shop, called Frere Marie?