Highest village in China's Jiangsu embraces prosperity after developing local tea industry

Standing at an elevation of 581 meters above sea level, Dazhuyuan is the highest village in east China's Jiangsu Province. Every household there engages in the planting of tea trees, with over 3,000 kilograms of high-quality tea being transported out of the village each year via a paved road connecting the village with the outside world and markets across the country, generating several million yuan in income for local tea growers.

Photo shows a road winding down a mountain in Dazhuyuan village, Lianyun district, Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Lianyu district committee)

The paved road, which winds along in 36 turns and stretches out to reach a total length of 18.7 kilometers, is also a route along which tourists can appreciate the beautiful scenery in the area, and not only the primary thoroughfare that has delivered the prosperous and happy life local villagers live nowadays.

"In the past, the roads would become muddy when it rained. Nowadays, there is a paved road on which vehicles run, with pavement that leads to our tea gardens and concrete doorsteps paved in front of our houses. As the road going up and down the mountain has been widened, we have been able to gain access to more channels to increase our incomes," said Xia Shaoqin, who started to plant tea trees 30 years ago and has witnessed all of the changes in Dazhuyuan village, Lianyun district, Lianyungang city of Jiangsu.

"Many elderly tea growers in our village are also skilled tea makers," introduced Zhai Enchun, secretary of the Party branch of Dazhuyuan village.

"I remember that when I was young, my family members always processed tea leaves with their own hands, and then they would carry the tea leaves down the mountain for packaging, with an oil lamp lighting the way for them," said Zhang Zifan, a local farmer.

To change the situation in which tea leaves were processed at home-based decentralized processing workshops, members of the Party branch of Dazhuyuan village were sent to learn about tea processing techniques in other localities.

In 2019, an ecological tea cooperative was built in Dazhuyuan village. A tea factory, covering 210 square meters and equipped with various processing machines, was also built.

"After we employed machinery for tea processing, we've managed to expand the production of processed tea leaves by 20 percent, while in the meantime improving the quality and reputation of our tea products," said Zhang, who is also head of the tea cooperative in Dazhuyuan village.

Villagers pick tea leaves during the spring harvest season for tea in Dazhuyuan village, Lianyun district, Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Lianyu district committee)

In recent years, Dazhuyuan village has been pushing ahead with rural revitalization after taking many firm steps. The collective annual operating income of the village increased to 1.7 million yuan ($246,600) in 2021 from a mere 200,000 yuan in 2018, and with the annual per capita income of the villagers having exceeded 30,000 yuan in the same period of time.

Dazhuyuan village has allocated a total of 640,000 yuan to build a sightseeing platform where tourists can enjoy a view of the tea gardens, a base promoting tea culture, and a hall popularizing the history of tea cultivation. In addition, a tea picking festival has been held on a regular basis in the village.

As the collective economy of the village has continued expanding, many projects have been implemented to improve public welfare in the village. In 2019, a project was carried out in the village to improve its lighting system; while in 2021, the village gained access to tap water and the village's sewage system was upgraded.

The village has also set up a special poverty relief and assistance fund, having granted living subsidies worth over 70,000 yuan in total to elderly villagers, villagers in poor health and villagers living in difficult circumstances.