PR99819

YA'AN, China, March 23, 2023 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

The 19th Mengding Mountain Tea Culture Tourism Festival, co-organized by the

Ya'an Municipal People's Government and other units, is to be held in Ya'an,

China on March 27. As a local brand event for tea culture, the Mengding

Mountain Tea Culture Tourism Festival has been held for 18 consecutive years.

This year's event has been expanded and combined with the Ya'an Tea Expo,

providing visitors with a rich and diverse range of experiences and business

opportunities on tea exhibitions, tea art displays, and sales and procurement,

etc.

This year's event is themed "Mengding Mountain in China - The Origin of World

Tea", showcasing the long-standing history of Ya'an tea culture. According to

the inscription of "The Great Mengshan Mountain in the World" from the Qing

Dynasty, in 53 B.C., a Ya'an resident named Wu Lizhen planted seven tea trees

on Mengding Mountain. This is the earliest written record in Chinese history of

artificial cultivation of tea and the historical evidence of the origin of

Ya'an tea culture. In 2004, the 8th International Symposium on Tea Culture

convened by the China International Tea Culture Institute declared that Ya'an

Mengding Mountain is the birthplace of world tea culture.

Today, tea produced in Ya'an has been sold across China and to 33 countries

worldwide, with an annual sales volume of approximately 100,000 tons. In 2022,

the tea garden area in Ya'an reached one million mu, with tea production of

114,800 tons and a comprehensive output value of more than RMB 22 billion.

In 2022, Ya'an also established the Sichuan Yacha Holding Group Co., Ltd.,

which aims to promote the development of the local tea industry by building

high-standard tea garden bases, upgrading modern production standards, building

well-known local tea brands, and increasing market share.

The development of the tea industry has led to the prosperity of Ya'an's tea

culture tourism, attracting visitors from home and abroad to pick tea, taste

tea, watch tea art performances, and learn about tea-making skills. Among them,

tea-making skills are the highlight of Ya'an tea culture. In November 2022,

"Chinese Traditional Tea-making Skills and Related Customs" were listed on the

UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The green tea making skill (traditional Mengshan tea making skill) and dark tea

making skill (Nanlubian tea making skill) from Ya'an are both included in the

list.

The 19th Mengding Mountain Tea Culture Tourism Festival will also launch a tea

culture tourism route investigation activity, inviting guests to fully

experience and appreciate the culture. It is hoped that it can be developed

into a unique tea culture tourism route, attracting more domestic and foreign

tourists to Ya'an and driving the development of local cultural tourism.

Source: Ya'an Municipal People's Government