The Wuyi Mountains, the starting point of a centuries-old tea trade route, has emerged as a popular destination for youths from around the world to learn and spread tea culture.
Located in east China's Fujian Province, the Wuyi Mountains boasts a suitable climate and landform for tea growing, rich tea resources as well as fine tea traditions and techniques. It's best known for its black tea and oolong tea, such as rock tea Da Hong Pao.
The region has launched a project recruiting international volunteers after tea culture and tea technique tests to engage more people around the world in promoting local tea culture.
It also holds a Da Hong Pao cultural festival in late spring every year and livestreams the event globally, attracting tea fans from many countries across the world such as South Korea, Poland, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
"We have established 16 Da Hong Pao tea promotion centers around the world and recruited more than 80 international volunteers from over 30 countries to restructure a modern tea road and promote global cultural and economic integration using tea as a medium," said Jiang Jiadao, a council member of the China Tea Marketing Association.
The tea road linking the Wuyi Mountains to the Russian port city of St. Petersburg came into being some 400 years ago. With a total length of around 14,000 km, it is the longest land trade artery in history.
While boosting the development of tea service industries along the route, the tea road also brought customs, religion, culture, and ideas from south China and the central plains to the countries in the north and Europe.
"The decline of the Silk Road coincided with the beginning of the Age of Exploration. It was also an important time when the West was advancing industrial globalization. A major significance of this tea road was to promote China's participation in globalization," said Huang Boquan, dean of the Tea Road of Thousands of Miles Research Institute and the School of History and Culture at Hubei University.
Today, after more than a century of dereliction, the tea road is regaining its former importance as China, Russia and Mongolia join forces for closer cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
On June 5, 2021, the first "Da Hong Pao" freight train carrying tea products departed from northern Fujian, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the tea road.
Wednesday marks the International Tea Day, which is observed annually on May 21 to promote awareness of the global cultural and economic importance of tea. This year, the day highlights tea's significant contributions to livelihoods, sustainability, and well-being.
China's centuries-old tea road regains glory in promoting tea culture, trade
