STORY: GLOBALink | Tea-oil tree enhances rural charms, fuels local industry in China's Jiangxi
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Dec. 30, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:47
LOCATION: YICHUN, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP 1 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
2. STANDUP 2 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
3. STANDUP 3 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
4. STANDUP 4 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
5. STANDUP 5 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
6. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHENG YANTAO, Owner of an oil pressing workshop in Liaoshi Town
7. STANDUP 6 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
8. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LIU RUIQI, General manager of Jiangxi Xinghuo Agriculture and Forestry Co., LTD
9. STANDUP 7 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
10. STANDUP 8 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University

STORYLINE:

STANDUP 1 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
"Hey, Janet. Is this tree leaf used to make Chinese tea?"

STANDUP 2 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
"Oh, it's more like a close relative. It is a kind of tea-oil tree, and the fruit of this tree can produce oil."

STANDUP 3 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
"So it's basically like Chinese olive, so we can make delicious food with that oil?"

STANDUP 4 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
"Sure, let's go and taste it."

STANDUP 5 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
"Let's go."

The tea-oil tree is widely distributed in southern China. Liaoshi town boasts a long history of tea-oil tree cultivation and tea oil processing.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): ZHENG YANTAO, Owner of an oil pressing workshop in Liaoshi Town
"We started pressing oil in 2012 and it has been about 12 years now. We press approximately 100,000 kilograms of tea oil each year. In the past, tea oil was just an agricultural product. Now, it's more like an industry. Every time we pick up tea seeds we can also provide our workers with an opportunity to earn some extra money."

Winter is the harvest season for tea-oil trees, and the locals hold a food festival to celebrate the bounty. Many of the dishes are prepared using freshly pressed tea oil, with ingredients that include chickens, ducks, and yellow cattle raised by local villagers.

STANDUP 6 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
"Compared to normal oil, I feel like frying the food in this oil, you can tell it has a very distinct taste. That's really good."

In addition to cooking delicious dishes, tea oil has become an important industry for wealth generation in the local area.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): LIU RUIQI, General manager of Jiangxi Xinghuo Agriculture and Forestry Co., Ltd.
"This is our tea oil production and processing workshop. Our production is organic, and our raw materials are also organic. We can produce up to 500 tonnes per year, and our level of automated production is particularly high. The tea oil that has gone through our set of refining equipment is drinkable. Moreover, it maintains the activity of our tea oil to the greatest extent, along with various nutritious components."

STANDUP 7 (English): PENG JING, Xinhua correspondent
"We are now standing on the top of the tea-oil tree mountain. By the end of 2023, the national planting area of tea-oil trees has reached about 5 million hectares, with an annual output of more than 800,000 tonnes of tea oil."

STANDUP 8 (English): TYLER GREGSKI WALCZEWSKI, American student at Yichun University
"Today, I see here that the tea oil industry has formed a complete industrial system, providing ecological, economic, and social benefits. The Chinese countryside has taken on a brand new look."

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