Photo shows a tea garden in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Chaohu Municipal Committee)

Around the time of the Qingming Festival, which falls in early April, tea leaves flourish under the nourishment of spring rain in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province.

At the base of the tea mountain, within a tea planting cooperative, the air is filled with the sounds of machines rolling and workers engaged in the processing of tea leaves.

According to the person in charge of a tea garden in Furong village, the first phase of the tea garden started operations in 2018, and is primarily dedicated to the cultivation of a type of white tea. There is also a tea demonstration industrial park covering 120 mu (8 hectares).

Furong village is a major tea growing area in Yinping township, with more than 2,300 mu of tea gardens.

Liu Huisheng, head of the villagers' committee in Furong village, said that out of the 1,276 farming households in the village, more than 800 are involved in tea planting. These households are able to earn an average of over 10,000 yuan ($1,382) annually from their tea production.

The tea gardens in Chaohu city currently cover an area of over 30,000 mu. In 2023, the tea industry achieved an output worth 516 million yuan, and is projected to reach 595 million yuan in 2024.

A farmer picks tea leaves at a tea garden in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Huanhuan)

Photo shows freshly picked tea leaves in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Huanhuan)

Photo shows freshly picked tea leaves in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Huanhuan)

Freshly picked tea leaves are being dried at a cooperative in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Huanhuan)

A worker places tea leaves on a drying machine at a tea cooperative in Furong village, Yinping township, Chaohu city, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Lyu Huanhuan)