Accompanied by the morning mist, Wang Wanguo and his fellow villagers weed and pick tea in the tea garden, with the verdant and towering Wuzhishan not far away, its main peak appearing and disappearing in the clouds and fog.
The ecologically friendly organic tea garden in Wuzhishan's Shuiman Township. Photo by Niu Liangyu, People's Daily Online
High mountains and cloud-covered mist produce fine tea. The Wuzhishan large-leaf tea hidden in Hainan's tropical rainforest has long been a local calling card and a vivid testament to Wuzhishan's practice of “industrialization of ecology” and “ecologization of industry.” Focusing on ecology to grow good tea, how is the quality of this “ecological tea” from Wuzhishan? Recently, reporters went “into the mountains” to investigate.
Core Competitiveness Lies in Ecology
Following the winding mountain road, the reporters arrived at the Wu Zhai Organic Ecological Tea Garden in Wuzhishan's Shuiman Township. What caught the eye were tea plants, ground cover film on the Soil, and insect traps between the tea plants.
Tea farmers picking tea in an organic tea garden in Wuzhishan. Photo by Niu Liangyu, People's Daily Online
“We are going ‘organic.'” Wang Wanguo is a resident of Fanghao Village, Shuiman Township, Wuzhishan City, Hainan Province, and also the person in charge of Wuzhishan Shuiman Tea Co., Ltd. The 80-plus mu Wu Zhai Organic Ecological Tea Garden is jointly managed by him and several other villager shareholders. The “organic” he refers to is “organic certification.”
When talking about growing tea, what Wang Wanguo mentions most is the greenness and ecology of Wuzhishan. Wuzhishan City is located at 18 degrees north latitude and is known as the “Jade Mountain City.” It has abundant rainfall and a humid climate. The unique natural ecological conditions form a solid foundation for the development of Wuzhishan large-leaf tea.
Wang Wanguo processing fresh tea leaves. Photo by Niu Liangyu, People's Daily Online
“Now we rely on manual labor to weed our tea gardens; the decomposed weeds can provide fertilizer for the tea plants.” Manual weeding requires a lot of work and is costly. Why do it? “Of course, it is to reduce ecological damage and ensure the quality of the tea,” said Wang Wanguo.
So why must they go “organic”?
Deputy Mayor Huang Yewei of Wuzhishan City provided the answer – the government is leading the push for “organic” to lay the groundwork for improving the quality and added value of Wuzhishan tea in the next step. Huang Yewei stated that for a long time, due to the lack of organic certification, the large-leaf tea in the Wuzhishan area was “sold like radishes instead of ginseng.” “Now, Wuzhishan is planning to make the large-leaf tea planting in Shuiman Township fully organic. In the long term, the plan is for the entire Wuzhishan City to achieve full organic certification. In the future, any tea produced in Wuzhishan will be organic.”
Mentioning organic certification, one cannot help but mention Zheng Lijuan, known as “Sister Tea.” She has been growing tea in Wuzhishan for over twenty years and has persisted in organic certification for more than a decade. Her company, “Coconut Fairy,” is one of the first tea companies in Hainan to obtain organic certification.
“Hainan's tea production is small in scale, so we cannot compete in quantity, but we have a unique ecological advantage, so we compete on quality.” Years of persistence have earned Zheng Lijuan a loyal following of “tea enthusiasts.” “Our organic tea comes with a quality guarantee,” said Zheng Lijuan. To her delight, more and more tea farmers are starting to grow “organic tea” under her influence.
Currently, there are three tea companies in Wuzhishan that have obtained organic certification. In 2023 and 2024, they plan to build 1,000 mu and 250 mu of organic tea planting demonstration bases respectively. At present, more than ten tea companies in Wuzhishan are applying for organic certification.
Tea farmers picking tea in an organic tea garden in Wuzhishan. Photo by Niu Liangyu, People's Daily Online
Small Tea Leaves Aim to Build a Big Industry
“Low industrialization level, huge development potential!”
In 2023, Huang Yewei came to Wuzhishan for a temporary assignment in his role as a “tea doctor” from Yunnan Agricultural University. “One low and one big” was his first impression of the tea industry in Wuzhishan.
“Unlike other places, the tea gardens in Wuzhishan are mainly in the hands of many tea farmers. Since most tea gardens are scattered on steep slopes, the tea farmers generally adopt relatively crude and primitive management methods. Although it is green cultivation, there is a situation of low yield and income,” said Huang Yewei.
How can we increase production and efficiency while protecting the ecology?
To plan for the long-term “tea article,” based on the current state of the industry, Wuzhishan has promoted the high-quality development of the tea industry through four steps: census, pure breeding, expansion, and increment. At the same time, continuous efforts are being made in the formulation of group standards, the establishment of traceability certification platforms, and brand building.
“We have already completed gene sequencing of the large-leaf tea, confirming from the source that the Wuzhishan large-leaf tea belongs to a new species within the Camellia genus. We are steadily advancing the ‘pure breeding' and ‘expansion.' Currently, the planting area has increased from 0.98 thousand mu in 2022 to 1.6 thousand mu,” introduced Huang Yewei.
In December 2022, the “Three-Year Action Plan for the Full Industrial Chain Development of Hainan Large-Leaf Tea Industry” was issued, and the regional public brand “Hainan Rainforest Large-Leaf Tea” was successfully applied for. The “Management Measures for the Use of the Hainan Rainforest Large-Leaf Tea Regional Public Brand” was formulated, and the standard system for Hainan Rainforest Large-Leaf Tea was released.
To standardize the construction of the Rainforest Large-Leaf Tea market, Wuzhishan City has formulated and released three group standards, which define terms and definitions for Wuzhishan Tropical Rainforest Large-Leaf Tea (green tea, Black Tea, white tea), as well as requirements for raw materials, processing procedures, sensory quality, and other related content. Products produced according to these standards can use the officially authorized standard logo, indicating their certified status on product packaging.
“Our future plan is to reach 5 thousand mu. With a certain scale and protection of the ecology, our tea industry has a promising future.” Huang Yewei revealed that Wuzhishan is accelerating the construction of refined and deep processing production lines for tea, expected to be put into operation in October this year. “At that time, we will not only be able to produce traditional teas such as black tea, green tea, and white tea, but also process products like Matcha and instant tea according to market demand, further enhancing the quality of Wuzhishan tea, enriching the range of Wuzhishan tea products, and tapping into the potential of Wuzhishan tea.”
Data shows that there are 131 tea-related business entities registered with the Wuzhishan market supervision bureau,