Inside China’s Tea Heartland: Life in the Mountains of Sichuan

In the north of Sichuan province, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, lies Jiuzaigu Valley, which takes its name from the nine Tibetan villages along it. This remote area has been inhabited by Tibetan people for centuries. Before the mid-70s, it was largely unknown. In 1982, the Chinese state made it a national park open to the public. It's been inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The valley is known above all for its beautiful waterfalls and lakes. According to a Tibetan legend, a god gave a mirror to the goddess he loved. The goddess dropped the mirror, which shattered into 118 pieces, and these became lakes. Fu Ying Yong has worked in Jiuzaigu Valley since it was opened to the public. This lake is called Five Flower Lake. The water mainly reflects shades of blue, but if you look in the middle, the water is different shades of green. There are three main reasons for this. The first has to do with the lake's biology. You can see many sorts of algae in the water, algae with jagged edges, green algae or chlorophytes, and cyanophytes, which is blue algae. There are over 200 species of algae. Even though the lake is said to be multicolored, its main color is actually green. The second reason has to do with the sky. Jiuzaigu Valley straddles the Tibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin. The air is extremely pure here. It contains very few suspended particles and almost no fine particles. As we say here in China, high plateau lakes such as those of Jiuzaigu are the sons of the sea. Look, this is coral that's formed in the water, and this is a fossilized tree which has been covered by limestone over time and now resembles a deer's antlers or a dragon's horns. The main color of Jiuzaigu Lakes is green. The seven colors of the spectrum of sunlight, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red, penetrate the air and reach through the water's surface. There are very few living organisms in this water. Consequently, it mainly diffuses indigo and violet, which explains the emerald green color. This is the valley's highest tourist attraction, at 3,102 meters above sea level. Just behind us is the high mountain lake whose waters also feed all Jiuzaigu Lakes. It was formed during the Quaternary Ice Age and extends across a trough-shaped valley. There are many currents under the water. All the water flowing through the karst rocks feeds the lakes downstream. Of all the sea's suns we've seen, this is the largest and highest. It's very dark in color. In the south of Sichuan Province, where the climate is milder, tea fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Tea originated in China. The tea plant has existed for 70 million years. More than a drink, tea is an institution in China. It's a central part of daily life and one of the country's main crops. In many villages, all the inhabitants make a living from tea. Tea plantation is like a huge forest made of small bushes kept at a height of about 1.2 meters by regular pruning. They form what is known as a plucking table, which makes hand harvesting easier and promotes bud growth. As the tea plant is an evergreen, its leaves can be picked all year round. Mianlin Chen is the plantation's owner. He took up tea growing 20 years ago. The soil in this field is especially suitable for tea cultivation. A moist soil which produces very high quality leaves. The yields are huge every year. It means I can sell the leaves at a high price. That's why I ask the pickers to pick the leaves correctly at every harvest. It is the only way to ensure consistently high quality. Look at this wonderful soil. See how moist it is? That's why tea grows so well here. It's thanks to the quality of the soil. I was born and bred on this land. My whole family grows tea. We have worked in the tea field since we were born. We pick the leaves in the morning and sell them in the afternoon. That's how we earn our living every day. I'm picking buds with one leaf. We only pluck the small leaves. We don't touch the large leaves. If you take the lower part of the stem, the tea leaves will have less taste. When we pick the leaves on the buds, we only take the top leaves. We ignore the lower leaves. The more you pick, the more you earn. If you work hard, you earn more. That's the way it works in the fields. The spring harvest is the most important in the year. There's a lot of work. It's the best time to pick the first buds. So we start work at 7 in the morning and finish at 7 at night. All day, without stopping. We work so hard in spring because for tea growers, it's the most profitable season. There is a Chinese proverb that says, spring yields, the years profits. When they've finished, I go back over to make sure they've picked all the young shoots. Here, look. They've forgotten some. Look at this stem. The leaf has already grown too big. If they don't pick the leaves correctly, it's simple. I lose money. You have to taste the tea to know whether it's good or not. It's like good wine. The taste depends on the quality of the product.