Travel
Hanoi promotes West Lake lotus tea
A project designed to introduce and promote “Tra Sen Tay Ho” (West Lake lotus tea) has been approved by the People’s Committee of Tay Ho District in Hanoi.
West Lake Lotus tea.
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A tea space will be built on an area of 4ha on Thuy Su lake, including an artificial island and a lotus pond. It will link with other famous historical sites nearby like Tao Sach pagoda, Tay Ho temple, Tran Quoc pagoda and Quan Thanh temple.
Aside from learning about traditional lotus tea, visitors will also be able to enjoy a number of traditional art performances such as Quan ho (love duet singing), Chau van (ritual songs), Ca Tru (ceremonial singing) and water puppet shows.
Every Summer season, lotus ponds next to West Lake are a meeting place for a lot of Hanoians who want to relax and cool off. Lotus ponds are assigned to households to grow lotus and do business. Hence, in afternoons, when the weather is not so hot or on weekend mornings without sunshine, people gather here to enjoy the cool air.
It's not coming out of the blue that Lotus has become Vietnamese national flower, Lotus represents for beauty, purity and good fortune in considering of Asian ancient concept. Lotus can be found everywhere in this S-shaped nation, but ones in Hanoi West Lake was regarded to be the best which nowhere else could ever compare. In other places, Lotus has only a few layers of petals with yellowish nectar, unlike its siblings from the West Lake, which was called “Sen Bách Diệp”, means a hundred petals Lotus.
The scent of West Lake Lotus is also different from other, yet it’s subtle but linger-able and especially unforgettable. The ancient Hanoians had found the way to bring all the quintessence of this flower into the art of tea, by making fresh, premium green tea naturally embalmed with the fragrance of Lotus. By its careful consideration in each and every step of the dainty, time-consuming process, Lotus tea is considered as an indispensable art form of the Hanoians.
Old villages lie around the bank of the West Lake are places where the most skillful tea makers could be found. The people in Quang Ba, Tay Ho and Nghi Tam village are famous for being the best Lotus tea embalmer in Hanoi with inherited family’s secret receipts for hundred years. In the time of the monarchy, Lotus tea was served only to high-class nobles or the Royals hence it was considered to be luxury and opulent, therefore only limited amount was produced. Later on, Lotus tea is still regarded as precious tea which is used in special occasion or ceremony only, to express the host’s hospitality.
Lotus tea is jade green in color, with tightly twisted leaves and with a pale, amber colored infusion. It has a crisp, clean flavor, vanilla hinted and the great scent of Lotus blossom lingering in the mouth. Premium green tea manually embalmed with the scent of famous West Lake Lotus blossoms.
In addition, you can take photos, hire a small boat to see lotus blossoms, enjoy a cup of lotus tea or simply enjoy lotus fragrance at West Lake. You can taste delicious rural dishes such asball cake and peanut candy. Each teapot costs from VND30,000 to VND50,000. While sipping tea, you also have a chance to see people here separate the pistils to marinate tea in the traditional way.
