Guangxi Liupao Tea Borrows the "Belt and Road" to Go to Sea Again The Ancient Tea Boat Trail has revived

Source: China News Network

Wuzhou, China News Network, November 7 Title: Guangxi Liupao Tea borrowed the "Belt and Road" to go to sea again to bring the ancient tea boat road back to life

Author Lin Hao Huang Wenlian Ma Chaolong

"We have customized liupao tea with a smoky flavor for Malaysian customers, and at the same time, according to the traditional production process, we have developed a liupao tea processing line, and the products are now in short supply." Tan Aiyun, a non-hereditary inheritor of Guangxi Liupao tea making skills, told reporters recently.

Guangxi Liupao Tea is a famous overseas Chinese tea in China, with a development history of 1500 years. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, a large number of Chinese workers went to Nanyang to make a living, due to the local humid, sweltering heat, resulting in many Chinese workers unwell, they carried the Liupao tea, can cool down the humidity, moisturize the stomach, after drinking, the symptoms of physical discomfort disappeared, so the Liupao tea was named "life-saving tea".

Because it is deeply loved by Chinese workers, Liupao tea once became a famous overseas Chinese tea in China, and created the prosperity of the "Tea Boat Ancient Road".

The picture shows tea farmers using mechanical equipment to fry Liupao tea Lin Hao

Liubao Town, Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, where Tan Aiyun is located, is the birthplace of Liupao Tea and the starting point of the "Tea Boat Ancient Road", and the Town's Hekou Wharf still tells the story of the rise and fall of the "Tea Boat Ancient Road". Ma Shicheng, deputy secretary of the Cangwu County CPC Committee, told reporters that during the prosperous period of the Liupao tea trade in history, tea merchants lined up here and transported boxes of tea to ships, transferred to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and then sold to Southeast Asia.

However, due to the gradual decline of waterway traffic and the low price of tea purchases, the ancient town of Liubao, which flourished because of the water, once lost its former glory. Since the 1950s, tea factories have closed down and tea mountains have been deserted.

Nowadays, with the China-ASEAN Expo settled in Guangxi and successfully held for 18 consecutive sessions, the economic and trade cooperation between Guangxi and ASEAN countries has become increasingly close, and Liupao Tea has gone to Nanyang again, attracting merchants from ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to come to purchase.

Liang Weilong, deputy director of Wuzhou Tea Industry Development Center, introduced that since 2017, Wuzhou City has continued to carry out the "Tea Boat Ancient Road • New Silk Road" Wuzhou Liupao Tea Marketing Global Activity, with footprints throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries, and at the same time, cooperating with ASEAN countries to jointly formulate international and regional standards for Liupao Tea. Wuzhou Customs strives to set up a black tea tax number for Liupao Tea, solves the problem of no special tax number for export customs declaration and inspection, and improves the international influence of the brand.

In order to better promote the standardized development of the Liupao tea industry and ensure the safety of Liupao tea food, the market supervision department of Wuzhou City applied for the registration of the "Wuzhou Liupao Tea" geographical indication certificate and the "Tea Boat Ancient Road" trademark, compiled the local standards for Liupao Tea in Guangxi, and realized standardized production from tea seedlings, cultivation management, tea picking, Liupao tea processing, packaging, storage and transportation.

"Liupao tea is known for its 'red, strong, aged and mellow', the taste is very mellow, and now, it is increasingly loved by overseas Chinese, and its sales in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and other countries have gradually increased." Liang Weilong said.

According to statistics, in 2020, the annual output of Wuzhou Liupao tea will reach about 20,000 tons, and the public brand value of Liupao tea will be 3.234 billion yuan. According to Wuzhou Customs, from January to September 2021, Wuzhou Liupao Tea exported a total of 6.786 million yuan, an increase of 24% over the same period last year.

"We have a good ecology, high altitude, and a unique Liupao tea making technique, and the tea produced is mellow in taste. Now that the transportation is convenient, many ASEAN merchants come to purchase, and I can directly deliver the goods to their doorstep through e-commerce. Tan Aiyun said.

Optimistic about the development opportunity of Liupao tea, Tan Aiyun led 56 villagers to form a cooperative and planted more than 1,500 acres of tea gardens. In order to overcome the shortage of labor and improve the production and quality of tea, with the help of the local agricultural machinery department, she purchased and used new picking machines, screening machines and other machinery to improve the level of mechanization application in tea picking, tea garden management, production and processing, and create a mechanized innovation demonstration base for the whole process of traditional Liupao tea production.

"Farmers' tea industry, how much we collect." Tan Aiyun told reporters that the production method of Liupao tea has developed from traditional handmade tea to mechanized production, and 3 workers can fry 10,000 kilograms of raw tea per day, which has greatly improved market competitiveness.

Yi Dantao, a young man who had gone out to work, also returned to his hometown, took over the old tea garden that had been operating for more than 100 years from his father, and served as the chairman of Baji Tea Industry Co., Ltd. in Liubao Town, Cangwu County. Yi Dantao said that in recent years, the market for Liupao tea has been very good, and the purchase price of fresh tea has risen from less than 5 yuan per catty to nearly 20 yuan. At present, the company has expanded the scale of tea plantations to 350 mu and hired more than 60 villagers to manage and protect.

Similar to Yi Dantao, more and more young people are returning to Liubao Town to start a business and work, dozens of tea houses have opened for business, the "Tea Boat Ancient Road" is regaining vitality, and the lively scenes of the past have reappeared.

According to the Wuzhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, in order to better explore the overseas market, Wuzhou Liupao Tea Processing and Export Enterprises have also set up product display windows in Hong Kong, and applied for Hong Kong's high-quality "positive" printing certification, breaking through the technical trade barriers of relevant countries and regions, and selling Liupao tea to Europe, India and other places.

How to make more young people fall in love with Liupao Tea? Wuzhou people develop new products such as Liupao Instant Tea, Jasmine Liubao, and Xiaoqing Orange. At the same time, liupao tea is combined with food processing, and liupao tea wine, liupao tea lai and liupao tea ice cream are developed to create "net red cuisine".

Today's Liupao Tea is setting sail again along the "Tea Boat Ancient Road" and continuing to write a new chapter in the Guangxi Maritime Silk Road.

Next, we will launch the '100,000 Mu Tea Garden Planting Conference Battle' of Liupao Tea, make full use of the advantages of the birthplace of Liupao Tea, and build a rural revitalization demonstration belt of 'Tea Boat Ancient Road • Baili Tea Corridor' with Liupao Town as the center. Promote Liupao tea to go to sea along the 'Tea Boat Ancient Road' and accelerate the development of the Southeast Asian market. Ma Shicheng said. (End)