STORY: Exploring first tea culture world heritage in China's Yunnan | Sunny's Spotlight
DATELINE: Sept. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:44
LOCATION: KUNMING, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP 1 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
2. STANDUP 2 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): NAN KANG, Local tea farmer
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHOU TIANHONG, Deputy director of the Administration for the Conservation of the Ancient Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er

STORYLINE:

STANDUP 1 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"What comes to mind when you think of tea plantations? Tea bushes neatly pruned in rows with horticultural aesthetics?
Not quite the case here at the forests in Jingmai, a mountainous border area of China's Yunnan, where ancient tea trees coexist with primary forests and age-old villages in harmony -- an impressive landscape."

STANDUP 2 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"A piece of good news from the Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The place I'm at right now, the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er, has been recognized as a UNESCO world heritage.
So what's special about these tea forests? And why does it deserve such an honor? Join me for a first-hand experience at the tea plantations."

The landscape consists of five well-preserved old tea forests, nine traditional villages within them, and three protective-partition forests between them.

The forests have been well managed under a unique conservation system that respects the cultural and biological diversity and sustainable utilization of natural resources, which combines government management and grassroots autonomy, built upon the foundation of traditional tea ancestor beliefs.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): NAN KANG, Local tea farmer 
"These are all tea trees with souls, and the tea possesses a soul as well. We've been protecting the tea gardens in accordance with our ancestral teachings. We have great confidence in preserving this heritage."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): ZHOU TIANHONG, Deputy director of the Administration for the Conservation of the Ancient Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er
The ethnic groups living in the mountains have always held a deep reverence for nature and upheld cultural traditions rooted in respecting it. They cherish every aspect of the mountain, from the peaks and waters to every blade of grass and tree. After the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er was successfully inscribed as a World Heritage Site, we are committed to passing on our cultural beliefs. Together, we will continue to preserve and protect this ancient tea forest for generations to come.

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