On the morning of May 21st, the 8th China International Tea Expo officially opened in Hangzhou. With the theme of "Tea Connects the World, Sharing for Development", this year's Tea Expo innovatively adopted a "One Exhibition, Two Venues" linkage model. Both the Hangzhou International Expo Centre (the Expo Venue) and the Hangzhou Tea Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre (the Longwu Venue) opened simultaneously. The total exhibition area reached 77,000 square meters, gathering six major types of tea from around the world, over 1,500 branded tea enterprises from 13 countries and regions, and more than 100,000 tea products. It launched a grand tea-industry event in the new era with a more diverse business format, more varied scenarios, and a more youthful approach.
On the morning of the same day, the opening ceremony was grandly held at the Longwu Venue. Relevant leaders from the China International Tea Culture Research Association, the Hangzhou Municipal Government, and Xihu District, as well as tea-industry experts, academic scholars, and representatives of participating enterprises and guests from various sectors, attended the event, jointly celebrating this grand occasion in the tea industry. Six authoritative industry reports were released on-site, covering key areas such as tea culture, tea industry, tea-related technology, brand value, industrial standardisation, and the development of new-style tea drinks, providing strong support for the innovative, standardised, and high-quality development of the tea industry.
On the first day of the Expo, the Longwu Venue was bustling with an overwhelming crowd, and its popularity soared, becoming a popular attraction at this year's China International Tea Expo. This fully demonstrated the new trend of the Chinese tea industry keeping pace with the times and breaking through traditional boundaries for development.
Scene Renovation
Longwu Tea Town Brings "Tea Life" Closer to the Youth
The debut of the Longwu Venue is far more than just an "expansion of the exhibition space". It holds the exhibition deep in the tea mountains and brings the tea-centric lifestyle from the traditional exhibition booths into more vivid consumer scenarios.
Entering the Longwu Venue, a diverse mix of business forms, such as new-style tea drinks, cutting-edge tea technologies, traditional Chinese-style elegant utensils, and immersive cultural experiences, is presented in an intertwined manner. The Tea Science and Technology Museum has been transformed into a "creative laboratory" for young people who love new-style tea drinks. Refreshing bubble teas, mellow cold-brewed teas, and creative special blends with floral and fruity flavours are all on display. In the new tea-food exhibition area, cross-border products like tea-scented chocolates, matcha desserts, and tea-flavoured pastries attract many visitors to stop and take a look, extending the presence of tea from cups to more "sweet economy" scenarios.
Tea is no longer just for sipping and tasting. It has become a lifestyle that can be explored, eaten, purchased, and photographed. The "More Than Drinking · Tea Bazaar" outdoor market brings together emerging young entrepreneurs. Creative tea drinks, handmade tea snacks, and intangible cultural heritage handicrafts collide, interweaving ancient charm with modern trends in the aroma of tea. Inside the venue, tourists dressed in Hanfu (traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group in China) shuttle among the tea fragrance and the charm of calligraphy. Their flowing sleeves create a picturesque scene at every step, adding a touch of flowing oriental ancient charm to the Tea Expo.
The popularity of the Longwu Venue is deeply rooted in the unique natural and cultural heritage of Longwu Tea Town. As one of the main producing areas of West Lake Longjing tea, Longwu boasts ten-thousand-mu tea plantations. The White Dragon Pool is as clear as a mirror, and the West Mountain Hiking Trail winds its way through the mountains. In the past, when tourists came here, they mostly came to admire the tea mountains and taste Longjing tea. Now, new business forms such as tea-mountain camping, mountain biking, tea-based food and drinks, and outdoor markets are emerging continuously. Longwu is evolving from "selling tea leaves" to "selling a lifestyle".
Revival of Ancient Charm
When Song-Dynasty-style Tea Banquets Meet Cutting-edge Technology
If the Hangzhou International Expo Centre represents the breadth of the tea industry, then the Longwu Venue interprets the depth of tea culture and the warmth of technology.
In the Tea Culture Museum, the special exhibition A General Treatise on Tea: The Elegant Realm of Song Dynasty became a popular attraction on the opening day. Inspired by A General Treatise on Tea, a classic work on tea studies in the Song Dynasty, the exhibition uses digital lighting and shadow technology to recreate the aesthetic of the Song-Dynasty tea ceremony. Visitors can immerse themselves in a "palace tea banquet" that traverses a thousand years. The sense of ritual of the Song-Dynasty tea banquet is completely replicated. Through activities like diancha (tea-whisking), doucha (tea-competition), and fencha (tea-pouring), every utensil and object exudes ancient charm, and every scene and setting showcases elegance.
On the other hand, cutting-edge technology is extending from the tea mountains to the urban streets and alleys. At this year's Tea Expo, a tea-picking robot independently developed by the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences demonstrated autonomous picking on-site. Its dexterous robotic arms accurately identified and gently plucked tender buds among the tea bushes, bringing "new tea farmers" to the tea mountains. At the intersection of Zhijiang Road and Liusi Road not far away, robotic "traffic police" were also on duty, orderly guiding the flow of people and vehicles to ensure the smooth operation of the exhibition. From the branches to the intersections, from tea-picking to traffic control, the presence of robots shuttling around has become the most "futuristic" scenic line at this year's Tea Expo.
During the same period, the "West Lake Sentiments: The Aroma of Tea and the Rhythm of Ink" Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition showcased excellent tea-themed works. Renowned artists engaged in on-site exchanges and creations, with the fragrance of books and tea co-existing harmoniously. The Zhejiang competition of the 2026 China Tea Mixologist Skills Competition was themed "Competing Skills in Longwu, Tea Taking on a New Look". Contestants had to create innovative mixed drinks based on the local traditional tea in Longwu, competing in taste, creativity, and cultural connotation, which could be regarded as an "extreme challenge" in the tea-drink industry. The exhibition will last until May 25th. A series of exciting events, such as the 7th "Harmony in Diversity" Online Tea Party, the Future Tea Development Trend Outlook Conference, and the First Longwu Tea Science Popularisation Conference, will be staged one after another.
The New Venue Sets Sail
From the "Ten-thousand-dan Tea-producing Township" to the "No.1 Tea Town in China"
The official opening of the Longwu Venue is significant beyond just this five-day exhibition.
The Conference and Exhibition Centre of Hangzhou Tea Expo is divided into a conference centre and an exhibition centre. It is arranged in a clustered layout to blend into the natural landscape of mountains, waters and tea gardens, creating a landmark space for the tea industry. The venue design reflects the concept of "contemporary garden-style exhibition". The exhibition halls can be partitioned or combined, capable of hosting large-scale exhibitions and events, as well as catering to daily operations and long-term use. As a major newly-opened exhibition venue in Xihu District this year, it marks that Longwu Tea Town now has a permanent platform to host world-class tea events.
Behind this venue lies a solid industrial foundation that Longwu Tea Town has long established. In 2025, the spring tea output in the Zhuantang-Longwu area reached 216.1 tons, with an output value of up to RMB 236 million. It received 6.16 million tourists, and the total revenue from rural tourism was nearly RMB 448 million. One type of tea leaf has enriched the local people, beautified the local landscape, and attracted a large number of visitors.
Based on this industrial foundation, Xihu District has been continuously deepening its systematic layout to cultivate the tea industry and strengthen the tea economy. Longwu Tea Town is one of the first batch of characteristic towns in Zhejiang Province. Aiming at the goal of becoming the "No.1 Tea Town in China", it is committed to making the most of the "tea +" concept. Promoting industrial agglomeration around the themes of "youth-orientation, internationalisation, and digitalisation", developing new business forms of the sweet economy, and building a high-quality live-streaming e-commerce base have become the clear path for the overall upgrading of Longwu Tea Town.
Relying on the spill-over effect of this Tea Expo, Xihu District is accelerating the deep integration of tea culture with new consumption, new technologies, and new cultural and tourism forms. From the National Tea Industry Technology Innovation Center to the New Tea-based Food and Drink Innovation and Development Research Institute, from blockchain-based traceability to smart tea garden management, from tea-mountain concerts to the Global Tea-sea Touring Campaign, Xihu District takes the "co-ordinated development of tea industry, tea culture, and tea technology" as the approach, extending the value of a tea leaf from the tea garden to laboratories, live-streaming rooms, campsites, and even the international stage, truly achieving an upgrade from the "Ten-thousand-dan Tea Township" to the "No.1 Tea Town in China".
"Tea Connects the World, Sharing for Development". The 8th China International Tea Expo is not only an annual grand gathering for tea enthusiasts around the globe but also a collective leap for the tea industry from tradition to the future. With Longwu as a new starting point, it embraces new consumption trends by appealing to the younger generation, reshapes the industrial chain through digitalisation, and opens up new horizons through internationalisation. A more open, collaborative and dynamic tea-industry ecosystem is taking shape at an accelerated pace amidst the tea fragrance in the mountains of Xihu.
From May 21st to 25th, the 8th China International Tea Expo cordially invites guests from all over to unlock trendy tea-drinking experiences, encounter the millennium-old elegant tea charm, and jointly embrace new opportunities in the tea industry.
(Correspondent Liu Jing)
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