Guangzhou's Tianhe district has been offering assistance to Qixingguan district of Guizhou province in the high-quality development of its tea industry since 2021.

Qixingguan has been a tea plantation area since ancient times. Its Taiji tea was used as a tribute for emperors in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The area is home to more than 300,000 ancient tea trees over 100 years old.

"However, the area still lags behind advanced tea-producing areas in infrastructure, technical personnel, system construction, management and maintenance, which affects the development of the tea industry in Qixingguan," said Lian Huilin, Qixingguan's deputy head.

Equipment at a tea processing plant in the Guangdong-Guizhou Cooperation Modern Agriculture Industrial Park in Qixingguan's Taiji village. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Funds worth 10.48 million yuan ($1.44 million) have been invested by Tianhe to improve infrastructure construction for the tea industry, update tea processing equipment, and build regional tea brands.

"In the past, there was no tea factory, and the tea made by locals could only sell for 5 to 10 yuan per jin (0.5 kilogram) on the market," said Zhao Zhaowen, manager assistant of Taiji Ancient Tree Tea Processing Plant.

"With the upgrading of processing technologies, the purchase price of fresh tea has risen to 20 yuan per jin and that of spring tea produced around the Qingming Festival has reached 120 yuan per jin," Zhao added.

Villagers process tea at the tea processing plant in Qixingguan. [Photo/thnet.gov.cn]

The quality standard and the processing technical regulations for Taiji black tea were respectively released by the Tea Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Guangdong Tea Collection and Appreciation Association in April.

"At present, the average price of dry tea in the spring tea season is more than 1,000 yuan per jin, and the most expensive is over 10,000 yuan per jin," said Xie Tao, vice general manager of Taiji Ancient Tree Tea Development Co.

In addition, Tianhe organized two training sessions for over 50 tea makers in Qixingguan, who all passed the assessment of the Guizhou Tea Association.