The Beauty of Pu'an's Tea Gardens: “Little Tea Trees” Turn into “Money-Making Trees”

The revitalization of rural areas hinges fundamentally on the prosperity of local industries. President Xi Jinping has emphasized that industrial revitalization should be a top priority in rural revitalization.

Guizhou's mountains and waters are blessed with natural beauty, concealing treasures and wonders. On the hillsides, over seven million mu (about 466,667 hectares) of Tea gardens have become a “green ATM” for the people. Tea is the “ancient divine tree” of the East and the “green treasure” of Guizhou. Guizhou, with its eight parts mountain, one part water, and one part field, possesses excellent ecological conditions for tea cultivation, being the only high-altitude, low-latitude, misty, and pollution-free plateau tea region in the country.

Guizhou has a long history of tea cultivation and has become a major tea-producing province through years of relentless effort. It continues to optimize its marketing and distribution environment while making significant strides in Tea culture, industry, and technology. The tea industry has achieved remarkable results, bringing about prosperity for the people and beauty in the ecology. This harmonious coexistence of green mountains and Silver mines has laid a solid foundation for rural revitalization.

“Though short, they sprout white flowers; they green the hills and enrich countless homes.” As the spring breeze brings the fragrance of tea, let us delve into the world of tea in Guishan and uncover the secrets of tea prosperity, sharing the laughter that permeates the entire tea industry chain.

*The beautiful scenery of Pu'an's tea gardens, where “little tea trees” have become “money-making trees.” Image courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Qianxinan Prefectural Committee.*

Pu'an is a place of marvels: Around New Year's Day, while other places experience snow and rain, Pu'an sees alternating rain, mist, and sunshine, which silently nurture the new shoots of the “Wuniu Early” tea plants on the tea mountains, attracting thousands of out-of-province tea merchants to “snatch up the tea.”

Pu'an is a place of wonder: On the second day of the first lunar month, tea farmers already rush to the tea mountains to pick tea. When asked why they can't rest even during the festive season, some tea farmers express: “Picking early is like finding a treasure; picking late is like gathering grass. Once the spring tea sprouts, it must be picked promptly, without delay or laziness. It's as if money grows in our own tea gardens, and if we don't withdraw it in time, it will expire; we can't sit still.”

Thus, while others are immersed in the songs of the Spring Festival Gala, Pu'an's “spring mountains” have been uniquely painted with a lively scene a month earlier. Tea farmers, companies, masters, and merchants are busy from morning till night, day after day, even during the Spring Festival.

Focusing on tea as a local specialty, Pu'an has united efforts at all levels, both internally and externally, and worked persistently to expand the “snowball” of the tea industry. Not only has it welcomed an early “spring opening,” but it has also achieved continuous income growth, creating the “Pu'an Red” brand for rural industrial revitalization.

Statistics show that in 2023, Pu'an had 183,000 mu (about 12,200 hectares) of tea gardens, with 131,000 mu (about 8,733 hectares) in production, producing 9,500 tons of dried tea, generating a dried tea value of 1.295 billion yuan, a comprehensive value of 1.759 billion yuan, benefiting 18,000 households and more than 70,000 people, with an average household income increase of over 17,000 yuan.

What force has unlocked the “door to wealth,” allowing Pu'an's tea to shoulder the “golden yoke” of farmer income growth and “grow” the “breadwinner” for a quarter of the county's population? Before and after the Spring Festival, reporters visited Pu'an, known as the “source of the world's tea,” in Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, to uncover the secrets.

## Tea Merchants “Snatching Up Tea” Wake the Spring

Before the spring wind arrives, the guests come first. Pu'an's tea gardens welcome spring early, awakened by the “snatching up of tea” by merchants.

From February 1st to 3rd, reporters visited Jiangxipo Town and Chaoyuan Street in Pu'an. On the tea mountains, women, the elderly, and children were busily picking tea. At dusk, traffic jams formed at key intersections, with lively tea leaf transactions underway. Many vehicles bore license plates from other provinces, and the merchants' mixed dialect-infused Mandarin amused observers. According to insiders, this was the peak period for “snatching up tea,” with thousands of tea merchants from provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, and Chongqing active in Pu'an.

*On February 22nd, the tea mountains of Pu'an are dotted with the busy figures of women, the elderly, and children picking tea.*

“The tea gardens of Pu'an are among the earliest to begin picking tea in the country throughout the year. The Shen Valley of Pu'an is the permanent site for the ‘First Harvest of Guizhou Green Tea,' thanks to its unique natural endowments,” explains Kuang Zhongchao, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the Pu'an County Committee. Every winter, the Siberian cold front and the southeast trade winds meet in Pu'an, forming the “Yunnan-Guizhou quasi-stationary front” with intermittent drizzle and bright sunshine. Combined with natural geothermal resources and excellent tea varieties, these conditions create the unique advantage of early spring tea picking in Pu'an.

“Pu'an's tea is ancient, early, pure, and fragrant,” Kuang Zhongchao proudly states. “Ancient, it has the most unique charm. The ancient tea trees of Pu'an are the oldest and largest discovered in China and form the largest wild *Camellia tetraptera* population. Early, it has the most prominent advantage. Pu'an's unique environment allows the ‘Wuniu Early' variety introduced from Zhejiang to be harvested 20 days earlier than other regions, entering the picking period around late December every year. Pure, it is the most distinctive feature. Guizhou has the strictest regulations on tea planting. Fragrant, it embodies the practice of the ‘Two Mountains' concept, enriching Guizhou with good tea nurtured in green mountains and clear waters.”

Rare things are precious, and those who know best are the first to benefit. Pu'an's genuine early tea has become a target for out-of-province tea merchants. With limited supply and high demand, everyone wants a share, making “snatching up tea” a common occurrence.

In Chaoyuan Street's Xizhai Village, tea merchant Liu Guoxing from Songyang, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, rented a small courtyard in mid-January to set up camp. Last year, Liu Guoxing ventured alone to Pu'an to “snatch up tea,” tasting the sweetness and discovering the secret to Pu'an tea becoming a popular high-quality tea. This year, he brought two Tea processing masters and 40 machines to Pu'an ahead of time. “Pu'an's ‘Wuniu Early' spring tea can be marketed before the Spring Festival, just in time to become a gift tea during the festival, and it sells very well.” Attracted by the lure of purchasing “Wuniu Early,” Liu Guoxing chose to spend the Spring Festival in Pu'an. After the festival, he plans to continue buying fresh tea leaves of Longjing 43 and Fuding Dahao to process high-quality tea, ensuring his machines “earn more money.”

## Tea Farmers Enrich the “Gold Mountain” Through Tea

Relying on “market traction” and “government support,” Pu'an has composed a symphony of “prosperous tea industry, prosperous people, and beautiful ecology.”

In the early spring of February, on the tea mountains of Jiangxipo Town, a thin mist hangs over the slopes, and the tea plants sprout new buds. The tea gardens are filled with the aroma of tea. Every morning, the sound of car and motorcycle horns heading toward the tea mountains awakens the quiet of small villages. In the verdant tea gardens, tea pickers move between rows of tea plants, their nimble hands flying as they pluck the fresh spring tea.

“Yesterday, three of us picked four jin (approximately 2 kg) of fresh tea leaves