Pu’er tea enriches local farmers

In the ancient tea gardens of Luojia village of Zhenyuan Yi, Hani and Lahu autonomous county, southwest Yunnan’s Puer city, the ancient tea trees are sprouting shoots, while tea farmers are carrying bamboo baskets picking tea. 56 households of tea farmers are expected to produce around 20 tons of spring tea this year, with an estimated output value of about 5 million yuan.

On the tea mountains of Lianhe village of Pu’er’s Jinggu Dai and Yi autonomous county, ancient tea trees grow alongside jujube trees. At the jujube tree tea market, the tea brewed from jujube tree leaves carries a slight fragrance of jujube flowers, attracting many tea lovers.

With the diversity of tea varieties and excellent quality, the Pu'er tea is sold global-wide, and the tea industry has become the leading pillar industry of Pu'er city. The total tea plantation area in Pu'er city has reached 2.09 million mu (about 139333.33 ha) nowadays, with a comprehensive output value of 45 billion yuan.

At present, there are 2,192 tea processing facilities, 387 tea companies with SC certification, and 20 large-scale enterprises. The number of tea farmers is 1.11 million, with an average annual income of nearly 7,000 yuan per person. The tea farmers, therefore, enjoy increase in income.

What’s more, Pu'er tea not only thrives in the tea gardens but also can be found in bustling urban areas. Currently, Pu'er City has 30 tea estates and 9,800 tea houses and shops, with estate consumption, specialty tea spaces, cafes, and market consumption all starting to flourish in Pu'er.

Source: Yunnan News; trans-editing by Wang Yunya