GUIYANG (CHINA): As the morning light of early summer broke over the misty hills of Jiangkou county in south-west China’s Guizhou province, tea farmers began their day among rows of tea trees, skillfully plucking tender green buds.
By way of more than 20 processes, including steaming, drying, sterilising and grinding, these fresh leaves are refined into premium matcha, destined for teacups around the world.
Nestled at the foot of Mount Fanjing, a Unesco World Heritage Site, Jiangkou is home to over 10,000ha of tea plantations, nearly one-fifth of which are dedicated to matcha production.
Today, Jiangkou has emerged as a global matcha powerhouse. Last year alone, the county sold more than 1,200 tonnes of matcha, the highest in the country, generating an output value of over 300 million yuan or about US$41.7mil.
Its products have reached numerous overseas markets including Japan, the United States and France.
Once a poverty-stricken mountainous region, Jiangkou designated tea as its key industry in 2007, leveraging its favourable tea-growing conditions such as high altitude, low latitude, frequent fog and cloud cover, and limited sunlight.
An important step forward was taken in 2017 through cooperation with Guizhou Gui Tea Group Co Ltd, a leading provincial tea enterprise, which helped set up a high-quality matcha industrial park in the county, introducing advanced technologies in the process.
A comprehensive industry chain was soon established, with local farmers focused on tea planting, allied enterprises handling initial processing and Gui Tea Group managing refined production. The efficient model has boosted the incomes of nearly 100,000 tea farmers. — Xinhua
