In the peak of summer, Pu'an County's summer and autumn Tea harvests are entering their prime picking and production periods. The vast tea mountains present a bustling scene of busy tea picking following the spring harvest. Local tea enterprises and farmers are seizing the golden opportunity of summer tea picking, focusing their efforts on harvesting and processing summer tea to broaden income channels for tea farmers and sustain the release of “dividends” from this green industry.

In the core tea-producing area of Lianmeng Village, Chaoyuan Subdistrict, Pu'an County, the tea gardens undulate along the mountain slopes. Under the humid and hot climate of mid-summer, the tea plants are thriving. Layers of tea rows ripple with waves of green, fresh shoots glisten with verdant drops, and a faint fragrance of tea lingers through the hills as farmers weave between the rows, picking swiftly.

“I can pick about 140 to 150 pounds per day; two people together can likely pick around 300 to 400 pounds. The price is around 1.2 to 1.3 yuan per pound, and we can continue picking until November 15th,” says Pu'an tea farmer Lu Guanshou.

The current summer tea picking and processing not only increases the yield rate of the tea gardens but also provides an additional season of income for tea farmers, allowing them to harvest three seasons of tea annually. This ensures that the green industry continues to release “dividends” while achieving the effect of garden management and pruning.

“Here, our main focus is on tea picking – after spring tea comes summer tea, and after summer tea comes Autumn Tea, so there are three seasons of tea to be picked each year,” says Pu'an tea farmer Luo Qing.

“My family has ten acres of tea fields, and we earn about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan per year, relying entirely on tea for our annual income,” says Pu'an tea farmer Cen Gui.

As the sun sets, the front of Guian Tea Co., Ltd.'s fresh leaf receiving room is brightly lit. Various vehicles laden with freshly picked tea leaves queue up for weighing, recording, and tallying. In the adjacent production workshop, the heat surges as all the tea-making machines operate at full capacity. Conveyors, woks, rollers, and dryers work around the clock, and the rich aroma of tea fills the air. Summer tea is generally used to produce high-quality Black Tea, bulk black tea, dark tea, baked Green Tea, pan-fired green tea, and broken black tea, catering to different market demands. At the warehouse door for preliminary products, packed dried tea is being loaded onto trucks in a tense and orderly manner, ready to be sent to designated locations for further processing before being shipped out of the province.

“We process tea 24 hours a day. This is the peak period, and all the machines are running non-stop. The machines don't stop, and neither do the workers, working in shifts,” says Kong Linglu, a worker at Guian Tea Co., Ltd.

According to Kong Qichao, the factory manager of Guian Tea Co., Ltd., in recent years, Pu'an has been continuously introducing new technologies, utilizing new processes, and developing new products, based on the primary production of bulk tea, to further enhance the comprehensive utilization of summer and autumn teas, extend the tea production chain, increase product value, improve industrial efficiency, and boost the incomes of tea farmers.

“The daily quantity of fresh tea leaves these days is roughly 20,000 pounds. Each month, we pay over 800,000 yuan for tea leaves. From May to the end of July, we produced approximately 120 tons of dried tea, which, after further processing, was shipped to Guangzhou and other provinces across the country,” says Kong Qichao, the factory manager of Guian Tea Co., Ltd.

Currently, Pu'an County has 13 leading enterprises producing summer and autumn teas. Among them, the enterprise with the highest daily purchase volume can reach 30,000 pounds, and seven enterprises have volumes exceeding 10,000 pounds. As of July 30, the county has cumulatively purchased 18,402.98 metric tons of summer and autumn tea leaves and produced 4,230.57 metric tons of dried tea, generating a value of 187 million yuan, demonstrating the robust growth momentum of the tea industry.

A single leaf enriches a community. In recent years, Pu'an County has firmly adhered to the consensus of “the highlight lies in tea.” While strengthening the green management of tea gardens and improving the quality of tea, it actively encourages tea enterprises and farmers to participate in the production and utilization of summer and autumn teas, both enhancing the utilization rate of tea resources and boosting the incomes of tea enterprises and farmers.

In 2024, Pu'an County had a total tea garden area of 183,000 mu, with 131,000 mu under production. By the end of July, it had achieved a total production of 6,227.07 tons of dried tea, with a value of 1.247 billion yuan, and a comprehensive value of 1.583 billion yuan. The tea industry has become a significant engine driving rural revitalization in Pu'an County.

Reporters: Xie Hongmei, Yu Zhejiang, Yang Ying

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