This summer's tea harvest has reached its peak. Workers at Shuangtongjixue Leisure Manor in Songyang county of Lishui, Zhejiang province, are picking tea beneath Chinese Torreya trees.

The tea currently generates an average annual income of 10,000 yuan per mu ($21,040 per hectare), and this earning is expected to reach 15,000 yuan per mu when the Chinese Torreya trees mature and enter stable production.

To address the long cultivation cycle of Chinese Torreya, Songyang county has adopted a multi-layered planting system that combines short-term and long-term crops.

This approach has reduced management costs by 20 percent, improved land use efficiency by 50 percent, and increased Chinese Torreya yields by over 30 percent. The county now has 84,000 mu (5,600 hectares) of Chinese Torreya plantations.

Chinese Torreya trees in Songyang county, Lishui, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Tide News]

The understory economy continues to grow. In Nankengyuan village, farmers are planting Tetrastigma hemsleyanum under forest trees. The village has partnered with pharmaceutical companies that offer price guarantees, reducing market risks for growers.

From medicinal herbs and fungi to forest tourism, Songyang's varied understory models are activating once-idle mountain resources.

The county now has over 1.52 million mu of forested land, with a forest coverage rate of 76 percent. More than 20,000 mu are used for understory farming, with 9 provincial-level demonstration bases and 70 business entities. These activities involve more than 3,000 local farmers and generate a total output value of 146 million yuan ($20.48 million).