STORY: How technology boosts tea industry in China's Wuyishan
DATELINE: June 19, 2023
LENGTH: 00:04:28
LOCATION: WUYISHAN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of tea plantations in Wuyishan City, China's Fujian Province
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): Tea farmers in Wuyishan City
3. various of tea farmers
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): Tea farmers in Wuyishan City
5. various of Wuyishan's scenery
6. various of tea processing
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): WEI LINING, Head of Yanzike Ecological Tea Farm
8. various of tea making
9. photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting a team farm
10. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): FAN ZHENKUN, Vice mayor of Wuyishan City
11. various of tea picking
12. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): WEI LINING, Head of Yanzike Ecological Tea Farm
13. various of tea picking and tea making
14. various of sci-tech experts promoting eco-friendly tea farming
15. photos of Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting a team farm
16. SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): LIAO HONG, Professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
17. various of tea processing and distribution
18. SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZHANG JIANQIANG, Head of a tea purveyor in Wuyishan City
19. various of tea plantations in Wuyishan City, China's Fujian Province
20. SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): FAN ZHENKUN, Vice mayor of Wuyishan City
21. various of tea plantations in Wuyishan City, China's Fujian Province

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): Tea farmers in Wuyishan City
"The tea is sprouting."

Caption:
In Wuyishan City, China's Fujian Province,
tea farmers would shout out their wishes
to the mountains for a bumpy harvest.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): Tea farmers in Wuyishan City
"The tea is sprouting."

Wuyishan in China's Fujian is known as the birthplace of oolong and black tea, as well as the hometown of rock tea.

Tea is an integral part of life here throughout the year, from tea picking, tea making, to tea competitions.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): WEI LINING, Head of Yanzike Ecological Tea Farm
"The ecological tea plantations here cover an area of nearly 1,000 mu (about 66.67 hectares). There's also a tea garden homestay. If tourists come here during the picking season, they can pick tea leaves on the mountain themselves or try making tea at our intangible cultural heritage workshop. We hope that tourists can have an immersive and comprehensive experience of tea culture and enjoy wonderful things about tea."

In March 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Yanzike ecological tea farm in Xingcun Township of Wuyishan.

He called for coordinated efforts to promote the tea culture, development of the tea industry and use of technology in the sector.

Caption:
March 22, 2021
Xi Jinping learns about local efforts
to develop the tea industry
while visiting a tea farm in
Wuyishan City, Fujian Province.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): FAN ZHENKUN, Vice mayor of Wuyishan City
"Wuyishan City has 148,000 mu (about 9,867 hectares) of tea farms, with 120,000 locals directly or indirectly employed in the tea industry. When President Xi visited Wuyishan, he said that the tea industry should become a pillar industry of rural vitalization in the future.
By promoting the tea culture, development of the tea industry and use of technology, we'll continue to cultivate leading enterprises and boost the incomes of small and medium-sized tea enterprises and tea farmers."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): WEI LINING, Head of Yanzike Ecological Tea Farm
"We are building a national demonstration zone of coordinated development of 'tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology.' In the next three years, we will promote industrial standardization and establish standards for various aspects such as ecological tea farming and tea garden homestay construction, so as to create replicable models and better contribute to rural revitalization."

Science and technology have played a significant role in boosting the growth of Wuyishan's tea industry.

In recent years, sci-tech experts have been sent to help with eco-friendly tea farming, which has improved the quality of tea and increased farmers' incomes.

During his visit to Wuyishan, President Xi called for efforts to sum up the experience and system of sending sci-tech experts to rural areas, and continue to improve, consolidate, and adhere to it.

SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): LIAO HONG, Professor at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
"Across the city of Wuyishan, different areas, and even different hills, have different soil conditions and soil composition. So each hill produces its own unique Wuyi rock tea. The phosphorus in the soil directly influences the aroma of the tea. If too much phosphate fertilizer is used, the tea will lose its fragrance. The nitrogen in the soil affects the shape of the leaves and the growth of the buds. I'm trying to determine the type of soil that would yield even better leaves for Wuyi rock tea.
Our job is to bring science and technology to the fields. We need to understand the actual challenges and requirements of a specific field or industry. And with the support of science and technology, we can collaborate to fully leverage the distinctive features and advantages of each field."

Tea technology is applied in the whole industrial chain, encompassing not only cultivation, but also deep processing and distribution.

SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): ZHANG JIANQIANG, Head of a tea purveyor in Wuyishan City
"We aim to build a highly modernized tea enterprise in the future. We'll try to incorporate more advanced technologies to enhance the automation level in our workshops and various other aspects. We may expand our business to make products of other industrial chains, and further drive the development of the tea industry."

SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): FAN ZHENKUN, Vice mayor of Wuyishan City
"Based on Yanzike Ecological Tea Farm, we have promoted the application of eco-friendly technologies in nearly 100,000 mu (about 6,667 hectares) of tea plantations nearby. Through technical integration, we have worked out a guideline for the construction standards of eco-friendly tea farms. We also plan to build logistics and packaging parks, and integrate the two industries, which can not only reduce production cost, but also improve efficiency."

Tea farming technologies are reviving the vast tea plantations on the mountains of Wuyishan, and an eco-friendly tea industry is blazing a promising path towards rural revitalization.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Wuyishan, China.
(XHTV)