After the Beginning of Spring, the temperature gradually warms up. In Weiyuan County, over 50,000 mu of tea trees have successively sprouted spring buds, and tea farmers are deftly picking the first batch of spring tea this year.

In the "Sweet City Tea Township" at 29° north latitude - Xiaohe Town, Weiyuan County, more than 40,000 mu of tea gardens here are welcoming the first harvest this spring.

On February 27th, when entering the tea planting base in Fulicun Village, Xiaohe Town, one can see that each tea tree is vividly green. Nearly a hundred tea farmers, with bamboo baskets slung around their waists, are shuttling in twos and threes among the tea ridges. Their hands are fluttering among the tea trees. With a pinch, a lift, and a release, the green shoots fall into the bamboo baskets like raindrops.

Zhu Shuqun, a tea farmer, said that picking tea seems simple, but there are actually quite a few nuances. "First, select the first - flush buds with dense fuzz. Pinch them with the pulp of your fingers and gently lift them. Be careful not to use your nails to pinch, otherwise, it will affect the taste."
Before long, the tea farmers have picked a full basket. Although they are still fresh leaves, a faint fragrance of tea can already be smelled.

At this time, the most "precious" snow buds are being picked for spring tea, which are harvested from the middle and late February until around the Qingming Festival.
Jiang Zuguo, the person in charge of the tea planting base in Xiaohe Town, introduced, "The tea has grown very well this year. It is mainly snow - bud Maojian. The market price of fresh leaves is 300 yuan per kilogram, and the made - dry tea is about 3,000 yuan per kilogram."

It is understood that Xiaohe Town, Weiyuan County, takes tea as its characteristic agricultural industry. After years of development, it has introduced large - scale tea enterprises to comprehensively promote the standardized tea - garden planting model and guided large - scale growers to build high - standard tea gardens, providing more than 6,000 job positions for surrounding villagers.
Zhu Shuqun, a tea grower in Fulicun Village, Xiaohe Town, has contracted 20 mu of tea gardens. In addition to the considerable income from tea every year, she also picks tea for large - scale growers in her spare time to get a double income.

Zhu Shuqun said, "Picking tea for others can earn more than 200 yuan a day. Sometimes, I can earn three or four hundred yuan a day, achieving a double income."
The freshly picked fresh leaves still carry the morning dew from the mountains. There are quite a few processes to turn them into mellow - tasting dry tea.

Zeng Cheng, the person in charge of Gaoshan Yunwu Tea Industry Co., Ltd. in Xiaohe Town, Weiyuan County, said that after the fresh leaves are picked from the tea trees and brought to the factory, they need to go through processes such as "withering, fixing, removing fuzz, shaping, drying, and enhancing fragrance" to be made into finished dry tea. It takes 4.6 to 4.8 jin of fresh leaves to make 1 jin of dry tea.
At present, the over 50,000 - mu tea gardens in Weiyuan County have fully entered the picking season, mainly with varieties such as milk - white tea and golden - bud tea. The output value is about 200 million yuan, and it is expected that the per capita income will increase by more than 2,500 yuan. (Text/Photos Zhong Bo, Xiong Xiaoli, Xu Ziyuan)