Qingyuan wild tea brews shared prosperity

A tea farmer picks tea in Qingyuan county in Lishui, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

Qingyuan county's wild tea, once a forgotten heritage, has become a model for rural prosperity in Lishui, Zhejiang province. Growing at over 500 meters above sea level on trees older than 50 years, Qingyuan wild tea is praised for its purity, rich nutrients, and lingering sweetness.

The tea was highlighted at a provincial meeting on specialty agricultural products, standing alongside Shengzhou steamed buns as a benchmark product for rural vitalization.

In spring 2025, the variety "Shoujinya" sold for 296,000 yuan ($43,319.22) per kilogram at a Hong Kong auction, while another variety known as "Yeyingbai" sold out within an hour on a livestream, generating over 100,000 yuan.

The industry's output exceeded 96.11 million yuan in 2025, directly raising incomes for over 5,000 households by nearly 20,000 yuan per person annually.

Through a cooperative model involving enterprises, village collectives, and farmers, young entrepreneur Wu Lifang returned from the city to form a tea alliance.

Her efforts boosted product premiums by 200 percent, lifted incomes for over 300 households, added 250,000 yuan to village coffers, created more than 40 jobs, and facilitated over 40 million yuan in sales.

To date, Qingyuan has mapped out 13,000 mu of wild tea gardens and 315,000 ancient tea trees over 50 years old. Each tree has been given an electronic ID, enabling full traceability from mountain to cup under the country's first local technical standard for wild tea management.