Ending poverty is everyone’s ideal cup of tea
Print Edition
AS a tea farmer in the 1990s, it would take Huang Dacan two hours to walk from Hetaoba Village to the town of Meitan in southwest China’s Guizhou Province to sell his tea leaves.
It was an all too familiar way of life for the poor in the past. Unable to afford a car or motorcycle, walking the mountainous 10-kilometer journey to the nearest tea market was the only option they had.
“We had to carry bags of tea and walk to Meitan. And if we were not able to sell our goods, we had to carry them back,” Huang said.
“It was very tough in the past. We only knew how to grow tea but we didn’t even know how to grow tea well. But with economic liberalization and government-led initiatives, we gained knowledge and also obtained technologies to help us grow tea well.”
Since his early days as a tea farmer, the 45-year-old father of two has come a long way. He is now a small business owner with a tea processing plant that provides employment to over 60 people from his village.
It’s a success story that has been repeated across the province.
In Fenggang County, where almost three out of four people work in tea related industries, only 0.2 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
“It is because of the tea industry that we have managed to almost completely eliminate poverty,” says He Bo, head of Fenggang County Publicity Department.
“The income per capita of the farmers in our county is now almost 10,000 yuan (US$144,9.82). And in recent years, their income per capita has increased by more than 1,000 yuan per year.”
In Guizhou, more than half the population of 35 million work in tea related industries. Tea is an undeniably crucial part of life for the people there and it permeates Guizhou culture at all levels.
Towns and villages have been developed for the sole purpose of furthering the tea industry. Tea plantations have also been rebranded as tourist attractions and attract millions of tourists every year.
And at the 2017 Guizhou Tea Expo, it was announced the tea industry experienced a 20 percent year-on-year growth in production in 2016.
Premium tea is not traditionally associated with Guizhou, but the province produces some of the finest tea in China, thanks to its unique location and weather, which create the perfect growing conditions.
High altitude and low latitude coupled with year-found fog gives its tea a subtle sweetness not found in tea from other parts of the country.
Guizhou is the leading producer of tea in China with an annual output worth 29.9 billion yuan, despite it being one of the poorest and most under-developed provinces.
The lack of industrial development means factories are scarce and pollution is low. The resulting clean air, water and soil give Guizhou a distinct advantage in the agricultural sector.
In keeping with strict national standards, farmers are required to use all-natural methods to maintain the quality of their tea. Completely organic and free from chemicals, tea crops in Guizhou are kept healthy with insect traps such as sticky boards and ultraviolet light traps.
It is this combination of a pollution-free environment and exacting farming standards that makes Guizhou tea so highly sought after.
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