隨著一聲京味十足的吆喝聲：“歡迎——樓上請，您吶!”2005年4月28日晚，北京老舍茶館迎來了海峽對岸的貴客，時任中國國民黨主席的連戰(zhàn)攜夫人和部分國民黨大陸訪問團團員數十人來到茶館品茶聽戲。

是日晚，老舍茶館充滿了迎賓的喜慶氣氛。茶館1000平方米演出大廳紅燈高掛，黑褐色八仙桌上擺放著黃白花紋的細瓷蓋碗，身著長袍馬褂和旗袍的服務員來回穿梭，這里雖是古色古香的道地茶館，但茶館內的雕花屏風、京劇臉譜、古樂編鐘，則讓人覺得它猶如一座民俗博物館。貴賓們在這里品上好名茶、賞古風國粹，個個臉上洋溢著喜悅之色。當服務員首先為連戰(zhàn)等客人斟上了千元一斤的大佛龍井茶時，老舍茶館總經理尹智君說：“這是老北京最喜歡品嘗的茶?！?/p>

談到連戰(zhàn)一行在老舍茶館品嘗大佛龍井的情形，茶館一位服務員回憶說，連戰(zhàn)先生落座老舍茶館后，她便向連戰(zhàn)先生介紹了大佛龍井名茶，爾后燙杯沏茶，頓時茗香四溢。連戰(zhàn)先生品茶賞戲后，題了“振興茶文化，祥和兩岸情”，現場頓時響起一片掌聲。

事后，當有記者問到為什么在無數名茶中選擇產自浙江新昌的大佛龍井作為綠茶代表時，老舍茶館總經理尹智君說：“經過多年的市場檢驗，大佛龍井茶以其色、香、味俱佳優(yōu)異表現，征服了北京市民和國內外來賓?！?/p>

追溯新昌“大佛龍井”和老舍茶館的茶緣，這與浙東名茶市場牽線搭橋密不可分的。茶葉界有一條不成文的規(guī)則，要想把茶葉賣向全國，就必須首先在北京、上海、廣州等大城市打響。在這些大城市中，北京的重要性自不待言。京城的大小茶館有五六百家，張一元、吳裕泰等老字號茶莊早已與西湖龍井合作，并有獨家銷售的約定，而當時大佛龍井一時還無法跨過其銷售門檻，若要在北京城打響大佛龍井品牌，只能另辟蹊徑。

然而當時他們沒有想到的是，老舍茶館此時也正在四處尋找綠茶的合作商。盡管北京人歷來愛喝茉莉花茶，但隨著生活水平、知識水平特別是保健意識的提高，許多北京人一改以往的飲茶習慣，開始紛紛喝起綠茶來。老舍茶館順應這一潮流，決定加大綠茶的供應，并在天南地北刻意選擇色、香、形俱佳的上好綠茶。

2002年秋，老舍茶館尹智君經理帶隊南下江蘇探尋綠茶，到了鎮(zhèn)江她聽到一條重要信息，說是全國名茶浙江新昌的名氣很大。隨行的《中華合作時報》茶葉周刊記者安明霞，此時向她詳細介紹了新昌的大佛龍井茶，于是尹智君一行臨時改變行程來到新昌。浙東名茶市場辦公室主任趙玉汀熱情接待了北京客人，親自陪同北京客人考察名茶市場和茶葉良種場，還游覽了大佛寺。新昌優(yōu)越的地理環(huán)境、繁榮興旺的名茶交易和科學的制茶管理體系以及當地政府對大佛龍井茶的戰(zhàn)略扶持，這一切讓尹智君下了決心，她決意要在老舍茶館“做大佛龍井茶這篇文章”，于是浙東名茶市場與老舍茶館簽訂了協議，大佛龍井茶從此便源源不斷地在老舍茶館和顧客見了面。

老舍茶館在北京可謂婦孺皆知，就是在國外知道這個字號的人也不少。老舍茶館以其濃郁的“京味兒”，無可爭議地成了北京這座六朝古都和國際大都市的一張“城市名片”，它是游客品茶的首選之地。浙江新昌大佛龍井茶能夠與老舍茶館合作，這就等于拿到了進入北京市場的金鑰匙，于是2003年上半年，新昌縣副縣長徐良平和名茶市場趙主任一行趕赴北京來到老舍茶館，對大佛龍井的銷售進行磋商。

2004年4月又是春茶飄香時節(jié)，北京老舍茶館與新昌大佛龍井攜手舉辦了一個名為“老舍茶館·大佛龍井茶文化節(jié)”茶事活動，“大佛龍井”開始在老舍茶館隆重掛牌，這是新昌大佛龍井立足北京的正式宣言。不僅如此，新昌大佛龍井在北京的第一家形象店以及北京首個封閉四合院茶藝館也同時在老舍茶館二層開張營業(yè)。

為了讓京城百姓了解大佛龍井茶的制作過程和品質，新昌浙東名茶市場還與有關單位配合，特意將連續(xù)兩年榮獲“大佛龍井茶王炒制大賽”狀元稱號的兩位龍鳳茶王請到北京現場炒茶，免費請市民品嘗。從浙江空運過來的青葉被放置在光滑的特制鐵鍋中，經過大師一番“抖”、“搭”、“捺”、“抹”、“抓”、“扣”等十多道技術工藝，轉眼就變成了扁平翠綠的大佛龍井，這讓人們的眼睛亮了起來。緊接著，茶鄉(xiāng)人民的“大佛龍井之春”文藝演出等活動一個接著一個推出，新昌與老舍茶館的合作也更為緊密了。

茶得山川之勝而顯風流，山川得茶之養(yǎng)而顯人文神韻。產于高山云霧之中的大佛龍井茶品質超凡，色澤綠翠勻潤，嫩香持久沁人，葉底細嫩成朵，是典型的高山風味。輕抿一口，你仿佛能聽到那“江南第一大佛”寺中悠悠的暮鼓晨鐘?，F在，老舍茶館在新昌縣建立茶葉基地，嚴格把關茶葉的栽培和制作質量，以使每一位到老舍茶館喝茶的人都能品嘗到“大佛龍井”非凡的品質和韻味。北京人愛喝大佛龍井茶，大佛龍井也成了傳播文化的使者：2003年7月14日塞爾維亞黑山共和國久卡諾維奇總理接受老舍茶館贈送的大佛龍井禮盒；2003年8月29日尹智君又把大佛龍井作為饋贈禮物送給匈牙利總理邁杰西；2004年2月23日大佛龍井又成為送給蘇里南總統(tǒng)費內西恩的禮物。

Giant Buddha Dragon Well Tea in Beijing

By Huang Zhiyi

The Laoshe Teahouse is a well known leisure hangout in Beijing. Even state guests often visit the teahouse to experience one of the Beijing's traditional delights. Nowadays Giant Buddha Dragon Well Tea is served at the teahouse. Actually， the green tea is not the Dragon Well Tea from the West Lake in Hangzhou. It is from Xinchang， a county in Zhejiang province， and named after the county's most famous cultural icon: Giant Buddha.

The bond between the teahouse and the tea brand was initially set up in 2002 and officially formed in 2004. The story behind the bond is interesting.

One of the unwritten laws for tea marketing in the country is that you must conquer the largest cities such as Beijing， Shanghai and Guangzhou before you can promote your tea across the country. Among the large cities， Beijing is particularly important and influential where there are about 600 teahouses.

By the time the Giant Buddha Dragon Well Tea marketing team began to promote the tea， some big names in Beijing's teahouses had had exclusive partnerships for West Lake Dragon Well Tea with producers in Hangzhou. But the team did not know that the Laoshe Teahouse， a heavy-weight player in the tea market in Beijing， was looking for a new partner of green tea. After decades， Beijing locals finally began to turn from jasmine tea to green tea. In order to cater to the changing trend， the teahouse determined to find a good green tea.

In the autumn of 2002， Yin Zhijun， general manager of the Laoshe Teahouse， led a team to tour the southern provinces in search of a green tea. They did not plan to visit Xinchang， for they had never heard of the green tea produced there. But a reporter recommended Xinchang to them and thus changed their visiting schedule.

The visit opened their eyes to Xinchang and enriched their knowledge of green tea. The visitors from Beijing were deeply impressed and encouraged by what they saw at the tea farms in the county's mountains， a flourishing tea marketplace， and a sound system adopted by the county government to promote the local product. An agreement was signed and the teahouse began to introduce the Giant Buddha Dragon Well Tea to its clients.

In April 2004， the Laoshe Teahouse and Xinchang jointly hosted a tea festival in Beijing， marking the official beginning of the partnership between the teahouse and the tea producer. In order to show Beijing residents how tea is made， two champion tea makers invited from Xinchang showed their art on the spot. Visitors saw for the first time in their lives how fresh tea leaves， airlifted from Zhejiang， were processed in a flat iron wok and turned into tea as can be seen in teashops.

Nowadays， the Laoshe Teahouse has their exclusive tea production bases in Xinchang and supervises the plantation and manufacturing quality to ensure that every client can enjoy the unusual quality and taste of the Giant Buddha Dragon Well Tea. Several foreign state leaders who visited the teahouse have received the tea as gifts.

(Translated by David)