The Tea mountains are fresh and clean after the rain; the summer heat does not deter the tea farmers from their diligent work. In the verdant tea gardens, villagers can be seen everywhere, busy picking tea leaves.
Recently, when reporters visited Mannuodazhai in Mangwang Township, Manghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, known for its ancient tea trees, they saw Yu Bing, a 100-year-old resident living at No. 33, sitting under her eaves, carefully sorting out yellowed leaves from raw tea.
“In the past two to three years, we haven't let her do any work, but she still thinks we're not serious enough in our sorting and insists on doing it herself,” said Tao Haiying, the elderly woman's daughter-in-law. Currently, her family has an annual income of more than 400,000 yuan. Not only have they moved into a spacious house, but they also own two cars. Their life is prosperous, and they don't lack for labor. Although her mother-in-law now has seven generations under one roof, she can still see well enough to thread a needle and do needlework. The clothes she wears, traditional Bulang attire, are made by herself.
“I'm 86 this year, and I still go up the mountain to pick tea. It feels uncomfortable if I don't visit the tea garden every day.” As if to prove that the elders in the Village love working, Elder Yu Zhuang, who had just returned from picking tea with her 71-year-old cousin Tao Siquiang, joined the conversation with the reporters in the courtyard.
“There are many long-lived elders in our village, all of whom are sharp and spirited,” said Yan Mai, the Party branch secretary of Mannuodazhai. The two elderly people mentioned are his aunt and uncle. Mannuodazhai has a history of over 400 years and is a village primarily inhabited by the Bulang people, who have traditionally grown and processed tea. With 2,223.5 mu (approximately 148 hectares) of ancient tea gardens and 6,497 mu (approximately 433 hectares) of ecological tea gardens, the village enjoys a distinct advantage despite its remote location.
In recent years, to strengthen the backbone of industrial revitalization, the Party branch of the Mannuodazhai Villagers' Group has led villagers to participate in various tea-related activities and skill training sessions, involving over 1,000 people. This has achieved the goal of “everyone being skilled at tea picking and processing.” By continuously improving the tea garden management and production skills of the villagers, the brand “Mannuo Ancient Tea” has gradually gained recognition.
To develop the tea industry in Mannuodazhai further, Yan Mai, the Party branch secretary, took the lead in establishing a tea cooperative, providing tea cultivation, picking, processing, and marketing techniques to the villagers free of charge. He encouraged them to invest in the cooperative, enabling them to participate in the development of the industry through a model where “farmers become shareholders and the public become workers.” This changed the previous face of a “poor mountain village” and an “empty shell village,” injecting vitality into rural revitalization and achieving a win-win situation where “the Party branch takes action, Party members play a role, the public benefits, and the collective gains income.”
By building a demonstration village with a focus on a single product, the village promoted the modernization and efficiency of the tea industry, realizing its scale and branding, thus supporting the “money bag” of rural revitalization. Since 2021, the value of the tea industry in Mannuodazhai has reached over 26 million yuan for two consecutive years, with the annual per capita net income of villagers exceeding 50,000 yuan.