Festival to boost tea culture and tourism in Changsha

The 4th Changsha (International) Tea Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off in Jinjing town, Changsha county, a famous tea production base in Central China, on April 14. 

More than 1,000 tea lovers from all walks of life were drawn to the tea garden, lucky enough to pick tea-leaves, take a sip of tea and gain insight into the traditional tea culture of Hunan province.

Sponsored by the Hunan Provincial Consumer Commission, the Changsha Consumer Council, and the Jinjing town government, the activity called on tea producers to offer consumers quality products and services to boost the integrated development of the tea industry and rural tourism.

The opening ceremony of the 4th Changsha (International) Tea Cultural Tourism Festival kicks off in Jinjing town, Changsha county on April 14. [Photo by Liu Qiongping/icswb.com]

Tea is viewed as a calling card for Chinese culture, while Hunan is a major tea production province in China.

Xiangfeng village in Changsha county's Jinjing town has a tradition of tea god worship and ceremonies to pray for good weather for tea production.  

Thanks to governmental guidance, the ancient tea village has become a hotspot for tea culture tourism in Changsha county in recent years.

Tea-lovers pick leaves in a tea plantation in Xiangfeng village, Changsha county. [Photo by Zhou Xin/icswb.com]

To better promote the local tea industry, organizers also held live shows through network platforms and on television, letting viewers get directly involved in the activity.

With an organic tea plantation covering 3,700 mu (247 hectares), Xiangfeng Tea Garden, under a local tea company Xiangfeng Tea Industry, is a national 3A scenic spot as well as a study and research base for primary and secondary schools in Changsha.

It's a good place for visitors in the region to experience tea culture.