Nuoliang Township is renowned as the “Home of Pabei Ancient Tea and Airport Tourism Destination Nuoliang,” with over 2,000 mu of Pabei ancient tea trees within its jurisdiction. To further enhance its reputation as the “Home of Pabei Ancient Tea,” Nuoliang Township has been actively exploring ways to promote farmers' income through the development of ancient tea trees. It has mobilized and guided both local residents and businesses to follow a path that involves understanding resource availability, enhancing protection measures, and making reasonable use of resources, thus firing the first shot in the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors for ancient tea trees.
Utilizing advanced science and technology to strengthen the primary sector. The township collaborates with relevant county-level departments to regularly conduct training on ancient tea garden production techniques. Using a combination of theory and practical sessions, they provide detailed explanations of documents such as the “Lincang City Ancient Tea Garden Production Technical Regulations (Trial),” the “Lincang City Ancient Tea Tree Protection Regulations,” and “Ancient Tea Trees Tell Their Stories.” This helps raise awareness among local residents about the importance and necessity of protecting ancient tea trees. Practical training is also provided on how to effectively manage and maintain ancient tea gardens and how to properly harvest tea leaves, guiding residents to adopt advanced scientific management methods and concepts, thereby continuously increasing the output and value of ancient tea trees.
Strengthening market subject cultivation to boost the secondary sector. Under the leadership of Village party organizations, a development model of “Party branch + company + cooperative + farmer” is adopted. At the township, village, and group levels, efforts are made to integrate village and enterprise development, focusing on the growth of handcrafted Tea processing plants. By the end of 2023, there were a total of 12 small and large tea processing facilities in Pabei Village, 11 of which were established by local residents. These initiatives have effectively promoted the chain development of the tea industry, significantly improving the quality and level of Pabei tea products, and laying a solid foundation for achieving a win-win situation of increased farmer income and enhanced business efficiency.
Exploring the integration of culture and tourism to invigorate the tertiary sector. New development models are being explored, focusing on the development of ecological tea gardens, the preservation of Wa ethnic culture, and tourism. With the Pabei ancient tea garden as the focal point, projects are being implemented with support from Shanghai-Yunnan assistance, including the application for the “Wa Mountain Airport – Sinkhole – Bange – Bankaokao – Pabei” tourism loop project. Efforts are made to explore a rural revitalization path characterized by “promoting tourism through tea and promoting tea through tourism, integrating tea, culture, and tourism.” An investment of 1 million yuan has been made in the implementation and operation of the Pabei ancient tea tree protection project. Leading officials of the township party committee and government have brought Pabei tea to the Yunnan Lincang 2024 Spring Tea Ordering Conference and Premium Famous Tea and Coffee Exhibition, aiming to enhance the brand recognition of Pabei tea.
Author/Yan Shujun