Zhijin county in SW China's Guizhou turns barren mountain into green tea garden

Tourists sightsee at a tea garden on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhijin county, Bijie city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (People's Daily Online/Chen Jiequan)

An ecological tea garden on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhijin county, southwest China's Guizhou Province turns into a sea of green in June. The tea garden, covering over 10,000 mu (666.67 hectares), is also a water and soil conservation technology demonstration garden, and where the first tea garden carbon sink coupon in Guizhou was issued.

The tea garden was transformed from a forest farm, which had been destroyed by fire. In the past, the mountain was barren and the water was muddy.

While implementing a water and soil conservation project on Fenghuang Mountain, Zhijin county cultivated the tea industry and took strict measures to control water and soil erosion, improving 21,600 mu of land plagued by water and soil erosion.

A view of Fenghuang Mountain before a water and soil conservation project was carried out. (Photo/Shi Zushu)

In 2012, Zhijin county began developing the ecological tea industry. It planned to build an ecological tea garden on Fenghuang Mountain to be jointly operated by enterprises, farmers' cooperatives and farming households. The tea garden was designed to cover 14,700 mu and play a role in controlling water and soil erosion.

"Due to infertile land, a lack of water for irrigation and steep slopes on the mountain, the yield of tea was low, the tea trees grew slowly, and the tea was difficult to harvest," said Cai Jing, head of the ecological tea garden.

Thanks to nearly 10 years of efforts to improve the ecological environment of the tea garden, including building roads, drainage ditches and reservoirs, and planting trees of economic significance, the mountain has taken on a new look.

Today, the forest and grass coverage rate in the area has increased to 86.7 percent from 46.67 percent. The tea garden is able to preserve 44,700 tonnes of soil and store 281,000 cubic meters of water a year.

The tea garden is a 3A-level scenic area, China's third highest level for tourist sites.

A tea garden on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhijin county, Bijie city, southwest China's Guizhou Province. (People's Daily Online/Chen Jiequan)

Many locals who used to work outside their hometown have returned and found jobs in the tea garden. More than 1,000 people are shareholders of the tea garden and over 200 people have found jobs in the tea garden.

An industrial chain involving several tea varieties has been established in the tea garden, and local tea brands have gained fame in other places.

"This March, the tea garden embraced a bumper harvest of 'Huangjinya' tea, during which it produced and sold over 2,000 kg of tea to east China's Zhejiang Province," said Cai.