Baojing Golden Tea sells well at home and abroad

The production workshop of Mayan Tea Industry Production and Marketing Professional Cooperative in Baojing County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was a hive of activity on May 22. Dozens of workers were busy sorting, weighing, packaging, and pasting express waybills.

“Before the tea picking period this year, the local government took a series of measures such as banning chemical pesticides, unifying tea garden management, training picking workers, and providing financial support to control the quality of raw materials. With excellent tea quality, we have great confidence in the market this year,” said Wen Xingzhong, president of the Baojing Golden Tea Industry Development Association. Baojing County is located at 30 degrees north latitude, with selenium-rich soil, good conditions for microbial fermentation, and linolenic acid-rich plants. The amino acid content of Baojing Golden Tea is as high as 7.47%, more than twice that of other green teas in the same period. It is known as the “green gold mine” and the “best green tea in China”.

The county has made efforts to promote the development of the tea industry through science and technology. It has developed “Dongfanghong” Baojing golden black tea, yellow tea, white tea, and dark tea, which have been put into mass production. At present, it boasts well-known brands such as Mingrui, Chapofeng, and Linyin.

Meanwhile, the county has established 56 flagship stores of Baojing Golden Tea, 143 physical direct sales stores, and 427 marketing outlets. The tea has sold well nationwide and entered the Southeast Asian market. In order to promote the transformation and upgrading of the tea industry, the county has built a Baojing Golden Tea characteristic town and established new business models of “tourism plus intangible cultural heritage” and “tourism plus tea”.

In 2023, the county was included in the top ten demonstration counties for tea and tourism integration in Hunan. It received 3.03 million tourists throughout the year, with a tourism revenue of 2.65 billion yuan and a year-on-year increase of 31% in per capita income of farmers.

Baojing County has 155,000 mu (about 10333.33 hectares) of tea gardens. Since the beginning of this year, the sales revenue of Baojing Golden Tea has reached 600 million yuan. In 2023, the yield of dry Baojing Golden Tea hit 1480.7 tons, with a comprehensive output value of 2.316 billion yuan, increasing income of nearly 100,000 people.