Belt and Road International Youth Experience Team Gets to Know Tea Culture of Xinyang

On June 1, international youth and foreign experts from more than 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, etc., visited Wenxin Tea Village, Shihe District, Xinyang City, Henan Province, where they saw large tea gardens, experienced traditional tea roasting, and learned about the tea culture of Xinyang.

The gorgeous landscape of the tea village [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

Along the road of the tea garden in Wenxin Tea Village, Liu Wenxin, president of Wenxin Company, led the participants of the Belt and Road International Youth Experience Team to gaze at the scenery and drink tea. "My tea hills are my invaluable assets," said Liu. Upon hearing that words, Irnazarow Robert Maciej, a foreign teacher from Poland, exclaimed approvingly: "This place possesses lucid waters, lush mountains and gorgeous landscape, which all are the treasures of the locals of Xinyang."

The young international participants taking a photo with local tea-picking girls [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

The young international participants experiencing the tea roasting process [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

Maojian tea of Xinyang  [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

At a traditional handmade tea workshop, the participants of the team were attracted by the demonstration of the traditional handmade stir-frying skills of the native Maojian Tea by Chen Zhengjun, a renowned tea-making master in China. "Only after the tea leaves we pick are processed through spreading, fixation, rolling, etc., can we gain the tasty dry tea," said Chen.

The international participants drinking Maojian tea of Xinyang [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

An international participant showing his harvest [Photo by Jia Qinqin]

"I think the tea industry here is well-developed, which not only helps tea farmers to find jobs, but also changes the local landscape," said Boukete Grace, an international student from the Republic of Congo. He thinks that such a development model can encourage the rural residents to invest and start their own businesses, and enable them to live a better life. "That's what I understand about the rural revitalization," said Grace.