In the scorching summer, the Xiuren Tea in Xiuren Town, Lipu City, Guilin, Guangxi has entered its picking season. Within the Lipu City Xiuren Tea Research and Experimental Park, rows of neatly arranged tea plants are staggered in order, with tender green leaves spread out neatly, emitting waves of fresh fragrance. Workers, with bamboo baskets on their backs, pick the tea along the rows of tea plants, with each delicate bud flying into the baskets at the flick of their nimble fingers. Staff members from the experimental park explain that the picked tea must first be classified by grade, washed, naturally air-dried, and then undergo multiple processes such as steaming over a strong fire, hand kneading, pressing into cakes, and baking dry, before a tea cake carrying the local culture can be made.

Staff members picking summer tea within the Xiuren Tea Research and Experimental Park.

According to records in the “Siku Quanshu,” the Xiuren tea, made through steaming, kneading, and baking, became a tribute tea due to its clear, sweet, and rich flavor. Over the years, Lipu City has continuously strengthened research and development of Xiuren tea, gradually restoring its original fame, and it has become a “leaf for prosperity” that helps farmers increase their income.

In Po Village, Niancun Village, Xiuren Town, villager Shaojinju and other tea farmers are picking summer tea. Shaojinju has planted five mu (Chinese unit of area) of Xiuren tea, and she already harvested a batch of Spring Tea this year. The picking of summer tea will add another source of income to her family. According to her, currently, it is the peak season for picking summer tea, and about 10 pounds of fresh tea can be picked every day. During spring, she and her family sold over 20 pounds of dried tea at a price of 120-150 yuan per pound.

Village committee member Li Ling told reporters that the Xiuren tea industry is a characteristic industry in the area. In recent years, under the guidance and support of the local government, villagers' enthusiasm for planting Xiuren tea has been growing increasingly.

Relevant staff from the Xiuren Town government introduced that in recent years, the town has promoted the integration of agriculture, culture, and tourism, driving the leap from tea products to a tea industry. Lipu City has developed Xiuren tea as a key project in “cultural agriculture,” established a wild Xiuren tea tree protection association, designated over 100,000 mu of wild Xiuren tea protection zones, and built two wild Xiuren tea primitive sun-drying tea fields deep in Dayaoshan. Additionally, they constructed a Xiuren tea science popularization park and demonstration park in Licun Forest Farm and Taoshujiatun Village in Pulu Yao Ethnic Township.

With the tea grown, how to sell it? The staff member said that the town has constructed a “collaborative network” and “circle of friends” for Xiuren Tea culture using historical documents like the “Siku Quanshu” as a bond. So far, the town has reached strategic cooperation with the Beijing Lao She Cultural Foundation, China National Commodities Trade Fair Cross-border E-commerce Committee, and the Overseas Warehouse Global Purchasing Platform to jointly build a large platform for the protection and development of Xiuren tea culture. It is reported that this year, the output of Xiuren tea was around 1.8 tons, and it was in high demand.

Notably, based on historical data from the “Siku Quanshu,” Xiuren Town completed the exploration of the “ancient tea ship route” from the depths of Yaoshan to the capital during the Song Dynasty period, effectively promoting the protection, inheritance, and utilization of cultural heritage related to Xiuren tea.

See “China Food News” (August 7, 2024, Page 7)

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