“The fragrance of Wenling Tea has been enchanting for a thousand years.” In recent years, Wenmao Village in Mawan Town has leveraged its resource advantages, using the 1,100-plus mu organic tea garden in the ancient Wenling tea garden area as a carrier. With a new development model of “Party organization + enterprise + cooperative + households,” it has developed and nurtured distinctive industries, constantly explored new paths for integrated development of tea and tourism, broadened channels for farmers to increase their income and become prosperous, enhanced the soft power of rural collective economy, enabled farmers to find employment nearby, and significantly improved living standards.

Firstly, transforming thinking to achieve a leap in management. Unlike the past practices of self-management, self-picking, self-processing, and self-sales, in the ancient Wenling tea garden area, the owners of the thousand-mu tea gardens lease their land to enterprises. The enterprises then manage and pick the ancient tea gardens uniformly, employing local residents to pick tea from individual trees and large trees, and processing and selling the tea according to different categories of tea trees. This management model reduces production costs and increases income for tea farmers, gradually changing their operating methods and concepts, and enhancing their enthusiasm for developing the tea industry. By April this year, the thousand-mu tea garden had brought more than 170,000 yuan in income from tea picking, processing, and other labor activities to 137 households, with an average monthly income per household more than doubling compared to the previous self-pick and self-sale model.

Secondly, cooperation among multiple parties to achieve a leap in production. Guided by promoting the development of the tea industry among surrounding residents, Mawan Town's integration of tea and tourism has introduced Puer Zhanfutang Tea Co., Ltd., which collaborates with local cooperatives to explore and improve the innovative model of “tea industry + internet + finance + modern logistics.” This realizes an integrated production model encompassing management, picking, processing, and sales, driving the transformation of new agricultural business entities in Mawan Town towards large-scale, standardized, and intensive production mechanisms. This not only strengthens the tea economy but also advances the adjustment of the local characteristic advantageous industrial structure.

Thirdly, improving facilities to achieve a leap in operations. To better enhance efficiency and optimize operational management, and to build the “Wuliang Eight Divisions – Wenling” special brand, since October 2025, Puer Zhanfutang Tea Co., Ltd. has signed leases for 1,100-plus mu of tea land from 137 households, with a lease term of 15 years, paying nearly 4 million yuan for the first five years' rent. The company expanded the Tea processing factory by two additional floors, covering a total area of 1,600 square meters, with an investment of over 700,000 yuan in the factory and more than 500,000 yuan in equipment. The factory prioritizes solving some of the employment issues for local residents, dispatching professional technical guidance personnel within the company to provide specialized training for local tea farmers, hiring them to process tea at the factory, thereby increasing the efficiency of factory operations while enabling local employment.

In the next step, Mawan Town will follow the path of integrated development of tea and tourism, turning tea areas into scenic spots, tea gardens into parks, and tea mountains into gold mines. It is dedicated to developing rural tourism, utilizing existing resources, exploring new models of integrated development of tea and tourism, continuously opening up new consumer markets, enhancing the “gold content” of the regional public brand of Wuliang Mountain Puer tea, and striving to promote the “Wuliang Eight Divisions – Wenling” ancient tea garden “calling card” beyond Jingdong and Yunnan Province.

Scenic views of the tea garden

Text: Mi Chun

Images: Comprehensive adoption