In recent days, within the nearly 10,000 mu of Tea gardens in Mazhai Village, Longquan Town, Danzhai County, tea farmers have been busily picking tea leaves while carrying baskets on their backs as they move through the tea bushes.

Villager Pan Wanying chatted happily with a reporter while she was picking Autumn Tea, saying, “In the past, this area was just barren hills with little hope for the future, and young people were all leaving. Ever since Secretary Chen led us to plant tea, these barren hills have turned into gold mines, and our lives are getting better every day.”

The “Secretary Chen” that Pan Wanying refers to is Chen Shaohai, who returned to his hometown after serving in the military in 2013 and was elected as the Party Branch Secretary and Head of the Village Committee of Mazhai Village.

To revitalize rural areas, industries must take the lead. “A single planting model cannot last long; we need to leverage our industry advantages to achieve diversified development,” said Chen Shaohai, taking office and focusing on the traditional tea industry based on local conditions.

He proposed a “study + Tourism” development model, deeply integrating Tea culture with rural tourism to create unique tea tourism routes. Under his leadership, village party members and cadres took the lead by learning tea planting, picking, and processing techniques and actively participating in promoting tea tourism.

With the deep implementation of the “study + tourism” model, more and more villagers have responded positively, leasing land and participating in work. “The tea industry is developing better and better, and we have work year-round, no longer needing to go out to find jobs elsewhere,” said Pan Wanying. She added that there are now more visitors coming to the village, and many residents have opened bed and breakfasts and agritainment businesses.

Today, the tea industry in Mazhai Village has grown from an initial few acres of experimental fields to 8,500 mu, involving 1,562 households in the entire village, achieving “dividends from shares, rent from leased land, wages from employment, and management fees from reverse leasebacks.”

“Next, my plan is to transform Mazhai Village into an industrial demonstration park that integrates ‘industry + study + health + mountain biking' for the integrated development of ecological tea tourism, to do well in ‘tea industry plus,' and to help more villagers increase their income,” said Chen Shaohai, full of confidence in the future development of Mazhai Village.