Farmers pick spring tea leaves at a tea garden in Dazhang township, Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Laibin city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Photo/Gao Rujin)

Farmers were busy harvesting spring tea leaves at tea gardens in Sangu village, Dazhang township, Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Laibin city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on March 4.

Tea leaves have gradually become one of the main income sources of residents in the village in recent years. The village is home to over 700 mu (46.67 hectares) of standardized tea gardens.

The purchase price of a variety of spring tea leaves is 32 yuan ($4.45) per kilogram, and that of a variety of premium spring tea leaves is much higher.

Hu Xiali, a major tea grower in the village, has more than 100 mu of tea gardens. Hu expects a good harvest thanks to the excellent growth of spring tea leaves this year. His tea gardens have provided employment opportunities to local tea farmers and driven the development of the tea industry in surrounding areas.

The head of a local tea factory said the factory purchases tea leaves from nearby villagers and can process over 1,500 kilograms of fresh tea leaves daily. Dazhang township has over 4,000 mu of tea gardens and 16 tea processing enterprises. The output value of tea gardens per mu exceeds 10,000 yuan, making the tea industry one of the pillar industries for the township to increase people's incomes.

The township plans to expand the area of tea gardens to 10,000 mu in two to three years and integrate tea, culture, tourism and educational tours to help boost rural revitalization.