Gongpai West Lake Longjing (Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Co.)

Gongpai is the tea brand of the Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Company, founded in 1984 as a township enterprise at the foot of Shifeng (Lion Peak) in Longjing village, inside the protected core growing zone that runs from Longjing and Shuangfeng villages toward Meijiawu. The company restructured into a shareholding enterprise in 1998, jointly owned by individuals, the local township government and an employee stock association. Its founder, Qi Guowei, registered the character 'Gong' (贡, meaning tribute) as a trademark and became the first producer approved to carry the official geographical-protection mark for West Lake Longjing tea, tying the brand directly to the region's own certification system rather than a generic 'Longjing-style' label. The company now farms roughly 88 hectares of core production land, has been named a Zhejiang provincial famous-brand product and a China famous agricultural brand, and supplied the official tea for the 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit. Spring leaf is picked and graded by harvest date, with the earliest pre-Qingming flush — flat, jade-green tips prized for their chestnut aroma — sealed and sold separately from later-season picks. The company also runs its own West Lake Longjing Tea Museum on site, tying retail directly to the growing region's own history.