In recent years, Xiaojiaping Village has made efforts to build a tea and tourism integration base with the theme of tea culture, covering tea garden sightseeing, tea tasting, health preservation, tea customs experience, tea art appreciation, agricultural tourism study tour, and tea product shopping.
“The land used to be barren mountains. I purchased and transferred some land from villagers. The tea seedlings planted have gradually grown up,” said Xiang Minghai, head of Tianyi Tea Co., Ltd.
A few years ago, villagers in Xiaojiaping Village worked outside and elderly people and children were left at home. The local government began to develop tea cultivation on a large scale in 2018, so as to boost villagers’ income.
Due to the development of the tea industry, the barren mountains of Xiaojiaping Village have become vibrant tea gardens. Tianyi Tea Co., Ltd., located in Xiaojiaping Village, can provide jobs for over 1,000 villagers living nearby every year.
At present, Xiaojiaping Village has a tea planting area of over 500 mu (about 33.33 hectares). In 2023, the village achieved a collective economic income of 65,000 yuan from the tea industry.
“We aim to build tea gardens integrating tea and natural scenery, allowing tourists to experience the beautiful ecological natural scenery up close all year round,” said an official of Hongyanxi Town, adding that Xiaojiaping Village is stepping up efforts to explore tea culture. This year, the first Tea Culture Festival will be held to expand the influence of golden tea.
Besides, agricultural experts are assigned to provide professional technical training to tea farmers in a bid to improve the level of tea cultivation. Tourists can learn about the tea making process in Hongyanxi Town through on-site observation and practice, getting a sense of experience and achievement.
Government leaders at all levels have inspected Tianyi Tea Company multiple times, and there are more and more tourists here. The brand influence of the Xiaojiaping Tea and Tourism Integration Demonstration Area is increasingly evident.
“The first batch of tender tea leaves cost 80 yuan per kilogram, and the fresh tea leaves now cost 40 yuan per kilogram. Skilled farmers can earn up to 180 yuan per day, and ordinary workers can earn around 100 yuan,” said a villager who has harvested a bamboo basket of golden tea leaves.
“The tea produced here has a good taste and a strong aroma,” said a businessman from Sichuan, who specifically came to purchase golden tea.
The tea planting base in Xiaojiaping Village is surrounded by water on two sides, with the Changtan River passing through. With weakly alkaline soil and good natural environment, it’s very suitable for tea cultivation.
In 2022, Xiaojiaping Village was rated as a national demonstration village for one product in one village. As a pillar industry in Xiaojiaping Village, the tea industry has offered jobs to more than 800 villagers.
Now, Xiaojiaping Village has set up walking trails, observation platforms and other tea cultural landscapes in tea gardens. The beautiful tea gardens have attracted more and more citizens for outings.