Wing Hop Fung Edit

This place is like a tea treasure hunt. There are so many wares scattered about the shop. You could spend hours searching the aisles, looking inside various fabric gift boxes, opening and sniffing inside the large glass tea jars and you still won’t have seen it all. The wares are reasonably priced and the selection is vast. The teas are generally reasonably priced as well, but typically I prefer to get my teas from more knowledgeable sources. That said, I almost always walk out of there with a few samples of something or other.

UPDATE: Sadly, the Chinatown location has closed permanently. They still have locations in Arcadia and Monterey Park.
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I visit Wing Hop Fung at least once a month to restock my Longjing supply. I usually leave with some new tea that the ladies there have enticed me to buy. The staff will be happy to allow you to sample most any tea, within reason, at their traditional tasting bar. As other reviewers have pointed out there’s a plethora to choose from. And as I mentioned, they usually turn me on to something new every time. Language is often a barrier, but I find I can decipher most of what I need to know.

For the most part the staff is friendly, greeting a smile with a smile, but at times they can be a bit dismissive and impatient. By now they’ve gotten fairly use to me it seems and are not surprised to see me spend an hour or more perusing their selection. There are usually multiple grades of any one loose-leaf tea to pick from. For instance, on my last visit I counted about 6+ different Longjings, in varying qualities and price ranges. They do store their loose-leaf teas in glass jars, which I question, but it’s convenient for eyeballing your options.

From what I understand Wing Hop Fung owns the Bird Pick franchise & carries many of their items, often discounted. This includes boxed teas, tea sets, glassware and loose-leaf teas. I’ve not done a true price comparison between Wing Hop Fung and Bird Pick, but most things appear to be cheaper at Wing Hop Fung, though occasionally you’ll find a better price at Bird Pick (i.e. Organic Longjing). There appears to be no rhyme or reason.

Wing Hop Fung’s tea selection is just part of a large two story building. The first floor is dedicated to medicinal herbs and the second, where the teas are located, is a large grocery carrying everything from cookware to foodstuffs to paper lanterns. Underground parking is available, and if I recall correctly is validated for one hour. They also offer a VIP frequent buyer card that is required for their discounts.

As far as I can tell this is the mother load of Chinese tea in the Los Angeles area. They also offer a smaller selection of Japanese teas and other varieties.

This is one of my favorite places to shop for tea.

Affordable teaware, great selection of loose and bagged tea, and great service.

A great place for a beginner trying to experience what loose tea and Chinese tea culture is all about.

This is an amazing place to buy tea and teawares. There are great glass jars full of teas, dozens or hundreds of them, mysterious piles of puerhs, and a vastness of inexpensive gaiwans, cups, teapots of many shapes and sizes—many unglazed ‘yixings’, tetsubins, glass and porcelain pots, and an amazing array of kamjove devices. Why is it 4 instead of 5 stars? The lack of meaningful English labels for the puerh, the minimal labels for some of the other teas, and those very large glass jars that, though attractive—seductive, even—are not the best way to preserve delicate teas, these have slowed my working my way through their offerings.

Still, it’s my number 1 tea shop for the variety and quality of the offerings—white teas, green teas, green oolongs, darker roast oolongs, and puerhs. I still enjoy the first shu puerh I bought from them very much—a beeng that is now nearly gone. But I am reluctant to explore the higher priced beengs without more information.