During the National People's Congress in March 2014, President Xi Jinping, while participating in a discussion with the Guizhou delegation, made an important instruction: “For Dy Maojian Tea, we hope you can promote the brand further.” For centuries, the lingering fragrance of Dy Maojian tea has transcended history and borders, captivating many. From the principle that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” to “promoting the Dy Maojian brand,” and onto the New National Development Document No. 2 explicitly proposing to “develop modern mountainous characteristic and efficient agriculture,” Dy Maojian shoulders the heavy responsibility of leading Guizhou teas out of the region. The Dy Maojian tea of today is undoubtedly a milestone in the accumulation and development over generations.
Photo by Lu Tao
Focusing on Policy Guidance, Vigorously Developing the Maojian Tea Industry
Over the years, Du Yun City has thoroughly implemented President Xi Jinping's important instructions regarding “promoting the Dy Maojian brand” and the integrated development concept of Tea culture, tea industry, and tea science. It has taken the Dy Maojian as its core industry, focusing on the work philosophy of “year-round picking, full utilization of the tea plant, and full-chain development.” Efforts have been made in key areas such as infrastructure construction, market entity cultivation, marketing promotion, and brand publicity, integrating cultural soul, technological empowerment, and industrial integration. This ensures the unification of ecological protection, green development, and improvement of people's livelihood, driving the high-quality development of the tea industry throughout the entire process and chain. The idea of “promoting the Dy Maojian brand” has been deeply ingrained in every tea worker's heart and in every cup of Maojian tea.
Misty Tea Mountain, Photo by Lu Tao
Currently, Du Yun City has a tea garden area of 378,300 mu (approx. 25,220 hectares). As of 2023, it had produced 11,800 tons of tea with a value of 3.114 billion yuan. In 2024, the spring tea production reached 3,529 tons with a value of 2.195 billion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 3.6% and 8.72%, respectively. The brand value of “Dy Maojian” has reached 4.9 billion yuan, effectively driving the high-quality development of the Dy Maojian tea industry.
Focusing on Infrastructure Construction, Improving Tea Garden Output Levels
To better manage the base and stabilize production areas, Du Yun City has issued the “Three-Year Action Plan for High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry in Du Yun City (2021-2023)” and the “Du Yun City 2023 Tea Industry Development Promotion Work Plan.” A five-level responsibility system from the provincial to the town level has been established to guide tea production and processing. A four-wheel drive synergy of municipal, county, village, and enterprise (farmers) tea garden management has been formed. Key tea production areas covering 50,000 mu (approx. 3,333 hectares) have been delineated around Mount Tuanshan, Mount Luoshike, Mount Doupeng, and Mount Guilanshan. Fifteen demonstration sites for efficient tea gardens have been created, and 71,600 mu (approx. 4,773 hectares) of tea gardens have been managed. Additionally, 29,200 mu (approx. 1,947 hectares) of low-yielding and inefficient tea gardens have been transformed, and 1,470 mu (approx. 98 hectares) of local tea tree varieties have been replanted. 3,544 mu (approx. 236 hectares) of neglected tea gardens have been restored, increasing the single yield of tea by 18.67%. A 200-mu (approx. 13.33-hectare) seedling base for local Dy Maojian tea tree varieties has been constructed.
Tea Mountain in Mingying Village, Yun Dong Town
In addition, following the principle of “connecting points into a network and maximizing service radius,” 35 tea industry roads totaling 76.22 kilometers have been built, increasing accessibility to 61.75%. Support has been provided to 14 companies to build 43 cold storage facilities with a total volume of 5,826 cubic meters. Companies like Baimang Gaozhai and Maojian Group have been guided to implement full cold chain transportation. The refrigerated storage capacity for fresh tea leaves has reached 700 tons, and for processed tea products, it has reached 65 tons, fully meeting production and storage needs.
Harvesting Fresh Tea Leaves, Photo by Xie Zehua
To regulate the order of the fresh tea leaf trading market, Du Yun City has formulated the “Construction Plan for Fresh Tea Leaf Trading Markets” and the “Management Convention for Regulating Fresh Tea Leaf Trading Order.” Measures such as setting labor prices for tea picking, establishing reward and punishment mechanisms, paying deposits, and signing integrity commitment letters have been taken. Seven “one-stop” service counters for tea-related agricultural supplies have been established at the town (county, sub-district) level, and 12 fresh tea leaf trading markets have been set up to cover key tea-producing towns (counties, sub-districts), addressing issues disrupting the order of fresh tea leaf trading. A tea traceability supervision platform has been established, and 31,000 traceability codes have been issued to 17 tea enterprises, achieving quality supervision throughout the entire process from tea garden to Teacup, firmly guarding the baseline of clean tea.
Focusing on Cultivating Market Entities, Extending the Industrial Chain
In recent years, Du Yun City has focused on cultivating and serving market entities. It has attracted external enterprises to establish operations in Du Yun while increasing support for local enterprises like Yun Cheng Chun. A cumulative total of 28 prefecture-level or above leading enterprises and 5 scale-above enterprises have been cultivated. Led by the Maojian Group, five leading enterprises including Supply and Marketing Tea, Guitaihong, Yun Shan, and Nan Shan have formed an industrial alliance. Based on the Tea Association, 55 enterprises have been guided to develop together, adopting mechanisms for sharing orders, brands, projects, and processing capabilities. A development model has been constructed where enterprises lead cooperatives, cooperatives lead major players, and major players lead individual farmers. Cooperation between leading enterprises like Nan Shan and Yun Shan and shareholding economic cooperatives in villages like Jiangbian and Pingyang has been promoted, with 8,630 tons of fresh tea leaves contracted for purchase. The “Du Yun City Tea Industry Property Rights Registration Work Promotion Plan” has been formulated, and 35 enterprises have completed registration for forest land or factory real estate properties.
Photo by Wei Yuxiang
Focusing on Brand Publicity and Promotion, Enhancing the Influence of Dy Maojian
Du Yun City has comprehensively conducted special inspections and consolidations of tea production and processing lines. Four low-yielding and inefficient Tea processing lines have been cleared and integrated, and seven new tea production lines have been built, bringing the total number of tea production lines in the city to 96, with an annual processing capacity exceeding 20,400 tons. A leading enterprise ladder centered around the Maojian Tea Group has been established, with 378 tea enterprises (cooperatives) in the city. 55 enterprises have passed SC certification, and 79 enterprises have been authorized to use the “Dy Maojian” trademark. 55 standardized Dy Maojian stores have been created. “Dy Maojian” was selected as one of the top ten regional public brands of Guizhou Province under the “Guizhou Products Going Out, Trending Worldwide” program in 2023. The Dy Maojian tea from the Maojian Group successfully passed the