Tea roasting competition held in E China's Zhejiang

Contestants roast tea leaves during a tea roasting competition held in Shengzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 21, 2023. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Yongtao)

A tea roasting competition was held in Shengzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province on March 21.

During the competition, contestants roasted Longjing tea leaves, a popular green tea grown in the mountains around the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, by hand and with the help of machines. The various methods of roasting aim to pass on manual tea roasting techniques, as well as emphasize the importance of technology and machinery in agriculture.

Home to over 3.1 million mu (207,000 hectares) of tea plantations in 2022, Zhejiang produced 193,000 tonnes of tea leaves with an output value of 26.4 billion yuan (about $3.83 billion) last year. Tea has become a pillar industry, generating wealth for local farmers.