Villagers in S China's Hainan embrace a better life through tea cultivation

Photo taken on June 29, 2023 shows Maona village, located at the foot of the Wuzhi Mountain in south China's Hainan Province. (China News Service/Luo Yunfei)

Maona village, located at the foot of the Wuzhi Mountain in south China's Hainan Province, is inhabited by people of the Li ethnic group. And the water and mountains there are conducive to tea cultivation.

In the past, due to their inability to develop and utilize natural resources, local villagers were impoverished.

To lift the residents out of poverty, the local government encouraged them to develop under-forest industries, including tea cultivation, while protecting the ecological environment.

Wang Baihe, an entrepreneurial villager in Maona, owns a tea garden covering over 40 mu (2.67 hectares). Tea cultivation generates more than 30,000 yuan ($4,143) for him every year.

Women of Li and Miao ethnic groups weave and do needlework in Maona village, Shuiman township, south China's Hainan Province, on June 29, 2023. (China News Service/Luo Yunfei)

As an increasing number of villagers have started to grow tea, the size, output and sales of tea in Maona village have continued to expand.

In 2022, the tea planting area in Maona village reached 1,800 mu and fresh tea leaves generated 2.46 million yuan for the village, an increase of 150 percent year on year.

In the meantime, the local government provided training on tea cultivation, the picking of tea leaves and tea making for local households through a mechanism that involved the villagers' committee, enterprises, cooperatives, and farming households, according to Wang Ying, an official in Shuiman township, which administers Maona village.

Maona village also combines tea cultivation with tourism to help local villagers gain wealth. According to Wang Ying, the per capita disposable income of Maona village increased to 17,681 yuan in 2022 from 6,359 yuan in 2013, and is expected to surpass 20,000 yuan in 2023.