Our History

For more than four generations, lei family has been in tea growing and production and supplying,dedicated to making quality tea with character and flavor. Family legend told that in 1868, Lei Yi, my mother's great grandfather joined Hu Yuanlong (who was considered as the father of Keemun Black Tea) in traveling to Fujian province to learn the secrets of black tea production. Absorbing their production know-how and going through a number of trials, they finally succeeded in making Keemun Black Tea in 1874.

Fruity, toasty, full-bodied and orchid fragrant, Keemun Tea appreciated by oversea people quickly gained popularity in the international tea profession. It is said that Keemun Mao Feng became one of the favorite tea of the Queen of Victoria. During 1939-1940, the price of premium Keemun Tea at the New York trade center recorded the highest figure. In 1880, my great-grandfather Lei Kuanwu established his first tea house in Hangzhou, mainly selling Keemun Black Tea,Huangshan Mao Feng,Taiping Houkui(Monkey Chief Tea),Liu An Gua Pian(Melon Seed Tea) and Longjing Tea(Dragon Well).

His business prospered. By the end of 1915, he had already owned two tea gardens, one tea factory and five tea stores. My grandmother told me that he was a traditional well-educated Chinese who followed Confucianism all his life. Even in business, he adhered to his principles and beliefs of a Confucian. I think that these ideals and beliefs contributed to his business success.

As the old saying goes "tide ebbs and flows", My family's business suffered terribly during the Second World War and the ensuing civil war. At the end of 1940s, it was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Our Tea Business

But family genes survived and passion passed down. In 1995, my father restarted tea business. Through a long tough period, he finally overcame difficulties and earned a reputation.

Now, our teas are sold well not only domestically but also internationally. We are proud that our most talented tea professionals can tell the small difference between Huangshan Maofeng produced from neighbouring hills and find out the minor dissimilarity in fermentation levels of each batch of Keemun. We even travelled to each tea producing area throughout China to unveil the secret in every Chinese famous tea and ensure authenticity.

Our Experience Store		Our Office		Our Tea Tasting Team

Now we made our website in English version hoping to better promote our teas as well as our values and commitments. Don’t ever hesitate to contact us- whether you’ve got a question, a concern, or a suggestion for improvement - we’d love to hear from you. Thank you so much for your patronage. It means a lot to us.