Your current location:HOME >politics >Craftswoman Promotes Rural Vitalization by Developing Family's Tea Business 正文
TIME:2024-05-07 14:51:23 Source: Internet compilationEdit:politics
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom
[Xinhua/Wei Peiquan] |
You Yuqiong, a resident of Xingcun (a village in Wuyishan, a city in Southeast China's Fujian Province), is the only woman inheritor of the craft of making Wuyi Rock Tea, which is on China's list of intangible cultural heritage. Three decades ago, You took over the tea plant run by her father, You Yongsheng. Given You Yuqiong and her employees' tremendous efforts to promote the traditional tea-making craft, the small plant has evolved into a leading tea-production enterprise in Fujian.
Wuyishan is not only the birthplace of oolong and black tea, but is also the hometown of rock tea. Wuyishan's time-honored tea culture has been integrated into residents' lives. The city boasts nearly 150,000 mu(10,000 hectares) of tea gardens, which produce more than 20,000 tons of raw tea every year. The local tea industry has grown into Wuyishan's pillar industry, which, in turn, has helped to promote the city's rural revitalization.
You Yuqiong has become known far and wide for her excellent tea-making skills. Making Wuyi Rock Tea involves several complicated procedures, including picking and baking the tea leaves, and then drying the leaves in the sun. Numerous people worldwide have been fascinated by the unique charm of Wuyi Rock Tea, which is not only as fragrant as green tea, but also tastes as mellow as black tea. When she recalls the many sweet, and bitter, experiences in starting and running her business, You Yuqiong says she believes all of her efforts have been worthwhile.
To help the villagers improve their lives, You Yongsheng in 1985 signed a contract with Xingcun Town (where his village lies) to run the tea plant. You Yongsheng hired You Yuqiong to provide support services (including preparing meals for workers) to the plant's employees. "Given the poor production conditions at that time, making rock tea was a miscellaneous, toilsome job. To produce high-quality tea, craftspeople (in our plant) often worked around the clock," recalls You Yuqiong. The hard work left many of the craftsmen feeling tired. However, the strong-willed woman persevered, and she worked diligently, under the guidance of skilled craftspeople (in the plant), to improve her craft-making skills. Eventually, she became a master of the craft.
You Yuqiong's efforts to improve her ability to create wonderful tea, and to develop her business, have paid off, as the tea produced by her enterprise has been well received by customers across the country. In 1998, You Yuqiong established Jinfo (Golden Buddha) Rock Tea Research Institute (in Xingcun Town). She has since employed technical experts to develop new varieties of tea, and they have yielded fruitful results; for example, through unremitting efforts, they developed the Golden Buddha Tea, a new variety of Wuyi Rock Tea, in 2008.
Fang Zhou, the only son of You Yuqiong, returned home in 2016, shortly after he graduated from University of Warwick (in UK), with a master's degree in data science. Within a short time, he picked up the "baton" (of promoting the development of his family's tea-making craft) from his mother. During the past several years, Fang has put much effort into improving his skills of running the enterprise, and into promoting Wuyi Rock Tea worldwide. At present, he is trying to standardize the data, collected during the tea-production process, and to create data models, through which You Yuqiong's enterprise can achieve data governance.
During the past several decades, about 100 people have apprenticed under You Yuqiong, so they could learn how to make Wuyi Rock Tea. Some of her apprentices have become technical heads in You Yuqiong's tea plant, and others have established their own tea enterprises. "As an inheritor of the tea-making craft, I felt obliged to pass on the craft to future generations, and to do something to promote the traditional craft worldwide," You Yuqiong concludes.
(Source: Xinhua/Women of China English Monthly March 2023 issue)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine2024-05-07 14:11
Steve Gleason, 47, reveals his daily 'exorcism' as he battles ALS: Ex2024-05-07 14:02
US judges reject new Louisiana congressional map2024-05-07 13:54
Heat rule rookie forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. out of Game 5 vs. Celtics with hip injury2024-05-07 13:47
Trump's strategist push AI to help conservatives, all you need to know2024-05-07 13:28
US House votes to remove wolves from endangered list in 48 states2024-05-07 13:19
Abuse allegations against former Olympic rower, coach found to be credible, US Rowing probe says2024-05-07 13:04
Horoscope today: Daily guide to what the stars have in store for YOU2024-05-07 12:19
Detroit man sentenced to 80 years for fatal shootings of 2 West Virginia women2024-05-07 12:16
'Shardlake' is a Tudor2024-05-07 12:06
Suspect in custody after video recorded him appearing to steal a police vehicle amid gunfire2024-05-07 14:41
Chris Pine dons plaid blazer to honor his hero Jeff Bridges at 49th Chaplin Award Gala in NYC2024-05-07 14:13
Analysis: McIlroy had a blast in New Orleans. It was just what he needed2024-05-07 14:10
Olympic refugee athlete Lohalith suspended in the team's 3rd doping case ahead of Paris Games2024-05-07 14:07
Russia defends veto of UN resolution to prohibit nukes in outer space2024-05-07 14:03
Google workers fired over Israeli contract protests file complaint with labor board2024-05-07 13:41
Father of former youth detention center resident testifies against him in New Hampshire trial2024-05-07 13:40
Bayern stars Musiala, Sané fit enough to start against Real Madrid in Champions League2024-05-07 12:48
José Ramírez breaks Larry Doby’s team record for go2024-05-07 12:45
Lottery bids for skilled2024-05-07 12:16