China News Service, Duchang, Jiangxi Province, March 24 (Wu Pengquan and Jiang Jianfeng) Spring is in full swing and the tea gardens are fragrant. Over the past few days, more than 40,000 acres of tea have been mined in Duchang County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, and tea farmers are taking advantage of the favorable season to pick spring tea and supply it to the market.
On the 23rd, at the Guanyin Mountain Organic White Tea Planting Base in Zuoli Town, Duchang County, each tea tree revealed its tender green buds, and tea farmers shuttled among them to skillfully pick spring tea.
On March 23, tea farmers were busy picking spring tea in a white tea planting base in Duchang County, Jiangxi Province. Photo by Jiang Jianfeng
Zhan Wenqin, who has nearly ten years of tea-picking experience, is a well-known local tea-picking expert. "When picking, you need to be gentle and pick according to the 'one bud, one leaf' standard. Don't leave old leaves on top. Hold the young leaves and lift them up. You can't pick them directly with your nails or pinch them with your hands," she said. Picking tea leaves is very particular. You cannot pick tea leaves when the sun is strong. The picking work usually starts at 6 o'clock in the morning.
Founded in 2015, the Guanyin Mountain Organic White Tea Farmers Professional Cooperative in Zuoli Town has a tea planting area of 218 acres. It mainly produces and sells white tea and yellow tea, which are mainly sold to Zhejiang, Shanghai and other markets. It produces about 2,000 kilograms of white tea every year, with an output value of more than 2 million. Yuan. During the spring tea picking period every year, many surrounding households who have been lifted out of poverty are attracted to work nearby.
"The tea garden is in the village. You can earn more than 100 yuan a day by picking tea during the slack season. You don't have to travel far to work, and you can also take care of the elderly and children at home, which is very convenient." said Ms. Yuan, a tea picker.
To ensure freshness and quality, the picked tea leaves are processed immediately. During the processing, the masters strictly control every link and carefully produce high-quality white tea with a fragrant aroma and mellow taste.
"The fresh leaves will be processed into tea within one day after being picked. They can be packaged and put on the market within two days at the fastest, and the price can be sold for up to one thousand yuan per kilogram." said Liu Zhiping, head of the Guanyin Mountain Organic White Tea Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Zuoli Town. Duchang is located on the north bank of Poyang Lake. It has a lake-type climate and belongs to the golden production zone of high-quality tea at 30 degrees north latitude. The tea is of high quality and is very popular.
In recent years, Duchang County in Jiangxi Province has developed tea as a leading industry for rural revitalization based on its ecological background. It has developed more than 40,000 acres of tea. The county's tea output value reached 350 million yuan, of which 160 million yuan was used to pay villagers' wages. The income has led more than 30,000 villagers to participate in the planting, management, processing and sales of tea. The small tea has become a "little golden leaf" that increases the efficiency of the local industry and increases the income of farmers. (over)