A farmer picks tea in Pingyang county. [Photo/WeChat account: pyfb2016]
The arrival of spring means tea-picking season has also arrived at the tea gardens in Datun village, Pingyang county, Wenzhou.
It is common to see skilled tea pickers carrying bamboo baskets, moving through tea fields, and expertly picking "Mingqian tea", a variety of green tea picked before Tomb Sweeping Day, which usually falls in early April.
Despite her age, Zheng is a proficient tea picker, earning more than 100 yuan ($14.55) a day last year in a local tea garden.
This year's spring tea-picking season began on March 2 and is expected to last until May.
According to Zheng Xuejun, the village head, nearly 100 villagers from Datun and surrounding villages are employed daily to pick fresh tea leaves, with an average daily harvest of 100 kilograms and a current price of 130 yuan per kg of tea leaves.
In recent years, with the increasing popularity of Pingyang Yellow Tea, many customers have booked the tea in advance of tea-picking season. Local tea processing workshops have also entered a busy season as workers sort, fry and dry the freshly-picked tea leaves every day.
The total area of tea gardens in the county is 3,400 hectares, with 2,400 ha for tea-picking, of which 1,400 ha is dedicated to the cultivation of very early species. It is estimated that this year's spring tea production will reach 150 metric tons, with a total output value of 100 million yuan.
