“The Xihu District of Hangzhou City should earnestly implement the important concept of ‘two mountains' put forward by President Xi Jinping and accelerate the industrialization work of Xihu White Tea. Further efforts should be made to speed up the construction of ‘Hangzhou standards,' incorporating Xihu White Tea into a high-standard system, achieving precise management of production data and online digital management of labels; realize high-level management by including Xihu White Tea in a sound institutional protection system, strengthening administrative law enforcement and collaborative protection; particularly strengthen high-quality promotion by establishing and improving inspection, testing, and quality management systems, formulating a series of standards for ‘one green, one red, and one white.'” This is the suggestion from Li Hong, a member of the CPPCC Xihu District Committee.
Tea is the national drink, and Hangzhou is its capital. As one of Hangzhou's ‘golden business cards,' the Zhuantang Subdistrict, known as the birthplace of West Lake Longjing tea, has long been referred to as a ‘century-old tea town with a myriad-tan tea country.' Tea has become an important carrier for the high-quality development of local agriculture. On the afternoon of August 1st, a thematic consultation activity titled “Promoting the exploration and extension of Longwu tea culture and enhancing the brand of West Lake Longjing” was held at the ‘Consultation Station' in Changdian Village, Hangzhou City. The consultation aimed to boost the exploration and extension of Longwu tea culture, enhance the brand of West Lake Longjing, promote the spread of tea culture, deepen the integration of tea tourism, tea brand protection, and the tea industry.
The ‘Consultation Station' is an exploratory initiative to establish a grassroots consultation and deliberation mechanism, innovatively establishing a governance system with diverse participation, addressing community residents' concerns through deliberative consultation. This consultation activity, centered around the theme of “Promoting the exploration and extension of Longwu tea culture and enhancing the brand of West Lake Longjing,” covered three major areas: tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology. The consultation was chaired by Li Weidong, Secretary of Changdian Village and President of the West Lake Longjing Tea Farmers Association, where participants pooled their wisdom to discuss the prospects of tea industry development.
“We need to consider the consumption mindset of young people, produce small single-item gifts, combine one red and one green, achieve product diversification, lower the unit price, and attract young people to try them out; we must fully learn from the ways in which Fujianese incorporate tea culture, creating a relaxing atmosphere for tea drinking.” Jiang Sujin, a member of the CPPCC Xihu District Committee, proposed suggestions from the perspective of the industry's potential for development.
Yang Xing, a member of the CPPCC Xihu District Committee, combined his professional expertise to offer four recommendations: develop a green and organic model; create our own brand; do good marketing, keeping up with new media trends such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu; protect the West Lake Longjing brand, eliminating fake teas and substandard products.
Flora Xu, a member of the CPPCC Xihu District Committee, stated that the tea gardens in Longwu Tea Town cover over 15,000 mu, but they are in an awkward position, with large yields and good quality but low prices. During spring tea season, when locals sell tea, she suggested that tea companies purchase summer and autumn teas to make tea polyphenols, tea beverages, and other derivatives, thus extending the industry chain.
Huo Xifeng, a special guest and representative of Yueshan Cui Tea, reported on this year's sales situation of West Lake Longjing tea and pointed out the existence of fake West Lake Longjing and substandard products in the market, suggesting that government departments increase regulatory efforts, control the source, and consolidate the hard-earned image of Longjing tea.
Artist Teacher Li Lan shared a variety of tea-related derivative products rich in Chinese elements with the committee members, such as tea soap, essential oils, lip balm, lady candles, car fragrances, and other tea culture derivative products.
The Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the “Opinions of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Deepening the High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry” (hereinafter referred to as “the Opinions”), proposing that by 2025, the scale of tea production in the province will remain basically stable, with distinct characteristics in advantageous production areas, significant growth in production benefits, and stable tea garden areas of around 3 million mu, with output around 200,000 tons, and primary industry output value exceeding 30 billion yuan. The pace of tea science and technology Innovation will accelerate, the standardization, ecological, and scale of production, and organizational levels of operation will be significantly improved, and the mechanization and intelligent level of tea garden management, tea picking, and processing will be greatly increased, with the qualified rate of tea quality safety monitoring reaching over 98%. The layout of tea varieties will be more reasonable, and the structure of tea types will be further optimized, forming a pattern dominated by famous and high-quality green tea, with black tea, Yellow Tea, white tea, Oolong tea, dark tea, flower tea, matcha, and other tea types developing in a coordinated manner.
“A leaf enriches the people. In today's prosperity, how can West Lake Longjing tea further develop? ‘Increase the construction of smart tea gardens and product research and development, turning tea into gifts. Currently, Hangzhou has two brands, ‘West Lake Longjing' and ‘Jiuqu Hongmei,' one green and one red, with unique characteristics and advantages in the tea industry. West Lake Longjing tea, as a specialty with deep historical and cultural significance, is renowned for its ‘four excellences': green color, rich aroma, sweet taste, and beautiful shape, and is hailed as the ‘Queen of Green Teas.' Given the fixed time of West Lake Longjing tea picking and its extensive production volume, it is recommended to utilize both spring and autumn seasons for production, actively promote Xihu White Tea, making it a new ‘white' for Hangzhou, and promote farmers' income, local tax revenue, corporate efficiency, and the beauty of West Lake.” This is according to Li Hong, a member of the CPPCC Xihu District Committee.
Gao Xiaoyan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Zhuantang Subdistrict, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, expressed gratitude to the committee members, entrepreneurs, and artists for their contributions and affirmed their unified goals and thinking. She also suggested that committee members integrate more deeply into the grassroots level to assist in the exploration and extension of Longwu tea culture; vigorously promote Longwu Tea Town, the tea industry, tea technology, and tea culture to enhance its influence nationwide, hoping that committee members would actively offer suggestions to jointly assist government departments in strengthening relevant work, promoting the exploration and extension of Longwu tea culture, and enhancing the brand of West Lake Longjing.
Reporter: Bao Manhua Correspondent: Lin Binwei
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