In the sweltering heat of midsummer… looking out from the vast Tea fields in Yongxing Town, Mtian County, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, all one can see is an endless sea of green.

In recent years, Mtian County, a “top 100 tea-producing county in China,” has leveraged its strong foundation in the tea industry to target the new-style tea beverage market. The county has further increased the utilization of summer and autumn teas, broadened the income chain for tea leaves, and promoted higher yields in tea gardens, greater income for farmers, and better efficiency for businesses.

Tea gardens in Mtian County. Photo by Dong Zhiwen, People's Daily Online.

The tea gardens in Mtian County cover 600,000 mu (approximately 40,000 hectares), with each person having an average of 1.2 mu of tea garden. Relying on its natural endowments, the county has focused on extending the tea industry chain and tapping into the potential of Mtian tea in the new tea beverage market. It has successively attracted several new-style tea beverage companies to establish operations in Mtian.

Guizhou Chunshuitang Tea Industry Co., Ltd. is one such company. In the production workshop, we saw various tea products, including jasmine fragrant tea and peach Oolong, being processed through baking, scenting, blending, and other steps before being packed and shipped to tea shops across the country.

“The production of new-style tea beverages not only requires Spring Tea but also a large amount of summer and Autumn Tea, which significantly increases the local rate of harvesting summer and autumn teas and the added value of the products. This enables tea-producing areas to improve quality and efficiency,” said Xu Feng, general manager of Guizhou Chunshuitang Tea Industry Co., Ltd. He added that this also continuously upgrades the deep processing of local tea, effectively extends the tea industry chain, and enhances the competitiveness of tea products.

“In 2025, the tea production in Mtian County reached 72,000 tons with a value of 7.5 billion yuan,” said Tian Xu, deputy director of the Mtian County Tea Industry Development Center. The production proportions of spring, summer, and autumn teas are 46%, 31%, and 23%, respectively.

“When young people across the country order a cup of Milk tea, they are very likely to taste the flavor of Mtian,” said Wang Zihao, general manager of Chunshuitang Company, with great pride.

Tea raw materials shipped nationwide. Photo by Dong Zhiwen, People's Daily Online.

As a supplier of new-style tea beverages, Chunshuitang has been providing raw materials for well-known new-style tea beverage brands for many years. Among the currently popular new-style tea beverage brands, over 100 brand companies and more than 100,000 stores have established long-term supply cooperation relationships with Chunshuitang, covering the entire country.

Since establishing itself in Mtian, Chunshuitang has continuously innovated its products and expanded production capacity. In early May this year, the company moved to a new factory spanning over 20,000 square meters, adding nearly 20 production lines and continuing to expand its production capacity.

“Since production began at the start of 2025, our company has developed thousands of new tea beverage products. By May of this year, sales had already exceeded 200 million yuan,” said Wang Zihao. He indicated that the company plans to achieve sales of five billion yuan this year, with shipments of new-style tea beverages reaching tens of thousands of tons across the country. The proportion of Mtian tea will exceed 20%, and it is expected to gradually increase in the future.

This is just a glimpse of the development of the tea industry in Mtian. As the industry chain extends, the aroma of tea permeates, and the prosperous industry in Mtian continues to grow.

From “one-way transfusion” to “mutual pursuit,” the “collaboration between eastern and western regions” has injected powerful momentum into the new tea beverage track in Mtian by stimulating “innovative dynamics” with “industrial vitality.”

In May this year, Guangdong Zhuhai and Guizhou Zunyi jointly launched the creation of a “National New Tea Beverage Supply Chain Center.” Zhuhai's advanced management experience, technology research and development, and market advantages will be combined with Zunyi's high-quality tea resources to accelerate the construction of a new tea beverage production center, processing center, research and development center, and distribution center. This aims to create a core node in the national new tea beverage supply chain, helping Zunyi's new tea beverage comprehensive output value to surpass 5 billion yuan and increasing the income of Zunyi tea farmers by one yuan per catty of tea.

Since landing in Mtian, Guizhou HouTang Tea Biotechnology Co., Ltd., another supplier of new-style tea beverages, has partnered with over 100 brands and more than 50,000 physical stores nationwide. By continuously providing these brands with new-style tea beverage ideas and blending solutions, the company achieved a production volume of over 3,000 tons and a value of 87 million yuan last year.

“Moving forward, Mtian County will continue to ‘focus on tea, fully utilize tea, and break through with tea,' constantly exploring in the field of new-style tea beverages. We will encourage newly established new-style tea beverage companies to continuously explore product innovations and develop products that meet health standards and offer rich flavors,” said Tian Xu. He added that the county will also attract and improve supply chain companies, using investment promotion to establish a complete supply chain encompassing packaging materials, fruits, tea, sugar, milk, flowers, and other elements. The goal is to create a national gathering area for new-style tea beverages, driving the improvement and enhancement of the tea industry in Mtian.

In Mtian, small tea leaves drive a big tea industry, and the county's economy continues to rejuvenate with the infusion of tea elements.