At the age of 18, just after graduating from high school, Su came to Beijing to make a living. From the beginning, she worked as a waiter, network administrator, and also as a security guard.
When asked why he had traveled so far from Guangxi to Beijing in the first place, he smiled shyly and said, “I didn’t love study since I was young. I managed to survive until I graduated from high school and wanted to take a break. At that time, a girl I met at a Tieba and worked in Beijing.”
One is always homesick when he is away. At this time, he would call home or brew some Jasmine tea from home. Su said, “I like this taste, it’s like returning to my hometown.
After wandering around like this for three years, Su felt that this was no solution, so he began to look for a more stable job.
By chance, he met his fellow villager Zhang, who had already owned a tea shop in Beijing at that time, doing both retail and wholesale, mainly selling jasmine tea. “Although Beijing does not produce tea, people in Beijing love tea, especially jasmine tea.”
So Su became interested, and through the friendship of his fellow villagers, he began working in Zhang’s store. “I was capable of sales, reception, and unloading,” he said, “At that time, when I was young, I felt like there was endless energy on my body.”
Su, a native of Hengzhou, grew up with the fragrance of jasmine from childhood. When he talked about jasmine tea, he was very excited and knowledgeable. The sales performance is very good. Customers like to buy tea from him. By the way, they can listen to the story of Hengzhou jasmine tea.
At the age of 35, Su had already achieved success in his business in Beijing, and the girl he met at the Tieba that year also became his wife. “Twenty years ago, when I returned to Nanning by high-speed railway, I unexpectedly took the high-speed train named Jasmine Flower in Hengzhou, Guangxi. There was a big slogan of” What a Jasmine Flower in Hengzhou “on the train. It was strange, a little unexpected and proud.”
“What a beautiful jasmine flower, what a beautiful jasmine flower. It is fragrant and beautiful all over the branches, and everyone praises its fragrance and white”. Su’s children recently learned this song from kindergarten, and they kept going to bed after singing it.
Each city has its own unique smell, and for Hengzhou people living on the banks of the Yujiang River, the scent of jasmine flowers in the summer evening wind is their exclusive memory.With jasmine flowers blooming, many foreigners also came here, and people in the whole city began to get busy, and Hengzhou officially entered a fast pace.
Wang from Hengzhou, Guangxi
In the summer, the jasmine flowers field, where the shadows of sunlight trees are scattered and staggered, is covered with brilliance. At two o’clock in the afternoon, it is the hottest time of the day and the best time to pick jasmine flowers..
In the flower field next to Xiaren Village, Xiaoyi Town, Hengzhou City, Wang is picking jasmine flowers in her hat and homemade sunscreen. Her fingers are fast and sensitive, and delicate jasmine flowers fall into the blue net bag in front of her. “It is only when picking in hot weather that the aroma of jasmine flowers will be strong, and it is only when picking this kind of flower bud that has not yet opened”. Wang’s years of picking experience can help her quickly see which jasmine bud will open tonight.
It often rains rainstorm in summer of Hengzhou. Sometimes the sun shines brightly at the first second, but then it rains heavily. At this time, Wang will hide in the small house in Huatian to take shelter from the rain, and can also sit down and rest for a while. Wang said, “If it rains for a long time, it won’t be worth the money.” She took off her hat and wiped the rain on her head. She was sure that the rainstorm would end in 20 minutes at most.
Wang will finish the day’s work before evening, and then send the jasmine flowers to the trading market for sale. In recent days, the price of jasmine flowers has been around 18 yuan per kilogram, while Wang can pick 30-40 kilograms per day, and her income is still very considerable.
“Seven or eight years ago, our family lived by growing some corn and sugar cane and doing odd jobs. In recent years, our family has been able to earn 60,000 to 70,000 yuan a year depending on the four mu jasmine fields. Our life has been much more comfortable. In another two years, we will save enough money to build a house, and we are going to tear down our old house and rebuild it. My child will soon graduate from college, and I will have less pressure and live a better life.”
“Life is indeed getting better and better.”
In recent years, the Hengzhou government has vigorously promoted the development of jasmine flowers industry and issued many supporting policies. By 2023, Hengzhou will have 128,000 mu of jasmine gardens, with an annual output of 100,000 tons of jasmine flowers and 80,000 tons of jasmine tea. Each mu of flower field has increased the income of flower farmers by more than 20,000 yuan, and the total comprehensive value of jasmine flowers industry has reached 15.27 billion yuan, driving 340,000 flower farmers to become rich.
The fragrance of ten thousand jasmine flowers wafted into every family in Hengzhou, nourishing people’s livelihood.
The fragrance of ten thousand jasmine flowers wafted into every family in Hengzhou, nourishing people’s livelihood.
Director Chen,from Hengzhou,Guangxi
In the evening, the orange sunset falls on the jasmine field. The flower farmers in Hengzhou all rode electric bikes or tricycles to the same place – the Jasmine Flower Trade Market.
Lao Chen runs a large tea factory in Hengzhou. From May to October every year, he comes to the flower market to buy jasmine flowers to make Jasmine tea. “Now I get up early every day, the first thing is to check how much money is on the account, and then go to the bank to withdraw cash. At most, I spent 200,000 yuan a day to buy jasmine flowers.”
Lao Chen said, “The amount of money needed for the purchase of jasmine flowers is very large. When the money is not enough, the local Agricultural Bank will help. I often cooperate with them. The loan is received very quickly, which really solves the urgent needs of our tea plants.”
In the trading market, flower growers carry blue net bags filled with jasmine flowers. Some didn’t even have time to take off their helmets, with their pants were still tied. Some children who spend their summer holidays also help their parents sell jasmine flowers.
Lao Chen said, “Because of the weather, production and other reasons, the price of jasmine flowers will fluctuate every day. We will use the dialect to shout the price, and the flower growers will compare the price of each house and choose to sell jasmine. But now the price of jasmine flower is very transparent, and the price of each house is almost the same. But even if it is only a dime short, the flower growers can earn several more dollars.”
Here, there is no trace of convenient and fast mobile payments, and people make direct payments on delivery, using only cash transactions. The farmers place bags of jasmine flowers on the scale, and the purchaser quickly counts the cash based on the weight and hands it over to the flower farmers. The flower farmer go to the market outside with warm and fragrant cash, buy some fruits, cooked food, and braised dishes to reward his day’s hard work, and then go home with the sunset.
Lao Chen will also load the purchased jasmine flowers and send them to the tea factory before the buds open.
Until today, there have been more than 130 flower tea enterprises in Hengzhou and more than 50 local famous brands of jasmine tea have been cultivated. Last year, the total output of Jasmine tea was 80,000 tons, with a total output value of 9.7 billion yuan.
Zhang Shifu, from Fuzhou, Fujian
It is on such a hot night that the fragrance of jasmine is wafting from all sides of Hengzhou. Tonight, jasmine will usher in the most perfect encou.
Zhang Shifu is the most experienced in the factory, and his also leads several young apprentices. Every year from May to November, he would come from Fuzhou to Hengzhou to scent jasmine tea.
At seven o’clock in the evening, a large number of jasmine buds were sent to the tea factory. During transportation, the flower buds will generate high temperature and humidity. Zhang Shifu will lead the workers to spread and air the flowers in the factory. In order for the flower buds to open, they must control the temperature between 35 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius. This requires workers to constantly flip the flower pile and maintain ventilation and dryness.
Afterwards, workers will screen and mix flowers, selecting healthy buds that are ready to bloom, and mixing them with various types of tea leaves to create a fragrant encounter between tea and flowers. At that time, the scenting officially began.
“The mixed flowers and tea should first be stacked for about 4 hours. After that, Zhang Shifu must always observe the changes of jasmine flowers, spread it out in time to dissipate heat, maintain appropriate temperature and humidity, and avoid excessive temperature to produce burnt flowers, stuffy smell, and affect the quality. When the temperature drops, jasmine flowers will change from white to yellow, and then be mixed and stacked. After 4 hours, tea and flowers will be separated, and tea will be dried, and the first cellar will be completed. The process of one round of scenting usually takes about 10 hours.
In order to grasp this crucial scenting, 55 year old Zhang Shifu cannot sleep whole night. He not only needs to constantly observe the tea pile, but also frequently reminds his apprentices of the key operating points. I was also instructed by my master when I was young. If I teach them more, they will do well and earn a higher income in the future. It’s no worse than working outside.”
In the local area, an experienced scenting technician can earn around 100,000 yuan per year, which is a considerable amount of income.
“After scenting, the fragrance of jasmine flowers permeates into the tea, and the sweet and light fragrance of green tea and the quiet fragrance of jasmine flowers intertwine. A tea variety, Jasmine Tea, was born. The birth of a batch of Jasmine tea needs to go through several times of scenting. The number of times and the grade of tea body also determine the quality of the final scented tea. “
Beside the stacked scented tea, a row of automated mechanical equipment are also operating in an orderly manner. Originally, the tea factory had already achieved semi-mechanized production in the past few years, introducing advanced flower scenting equipment.
These equipment can automatically separate scented tea from jasmine flowers, realizing the cleaning and automation of jasmine tea scenting process, reducing production costs, and improving tea quality. “
Director Chen introduced to us that in recent years, while expanding the planting area of jasmine flowers, Hengzhou City has gradually improved the jasmine flowers (tea) processing standard system, introduced a series of policy measures, guided enterprises to carry out standardized production and management, and strengthened quality and safety certification. In 2022, the comprehensive brand value of Jasmine flowers and Jasmine tea in Hengzhou City reached 21.814 billion yuan.
Wang Xue, Shanghainese
Jasmine is the plant that best represents the characteristics of Hengzhou, and a group of tea drinkers bring its fragrance to every mall in big cities and every student street outside universities. The fragrance of Hengzhou’s flowers is destined to belong to you and also to me.
Wang Xue just graduated from college last year, but the gentle girl born along the Huangpu River loves jasmine flowers alone.
She has loved jasmine flowers since she was young, and everything related to jasmine flowers. ”When I’m tired, just smell the jasmine flower and you’ll feel very comfortable and peaceful, “Wang Xue said.
When she graduated from a tea major, she joined a tea R&D position in a new tea brand enterprise.
In July, she, together with the company’s quality control and procurement teams, came to Hengzhou to stay in the factory. “This time, we will mainly review whether the supplier’s production environment and hardware equipment meet the standards, observe how the relevant process details in the production process of jasmine tea are controlled, and also go to the local flower market to investigate.”
In recent years, the scale of the new tea beverage market has rapidly expanded, with numerous new tea beverage brands emerging in large numbers and market competition becoming increasingly fierce. As one of the core elements of tea drinks, tea raw materials have gradually become the starting point for various tea brands to seek differentiation, and new tea brands are also more cautious in selecting tea raw material supply chains.
The natural latitude climate, unique lighting, and soil in Hengzhou, Guangxi make the local jasmine flowers have the characteristics of early flowering, long flowering period, high yield, large and plump flower buds, snow-white flowers, and rich fragrance. Therefore, it has become the first raw material origin for jasmine tea for new tea brands in recent years.
At the end of the day’s work, Wang Xue and his colleagues went to the local specialty store to taste Yusheng, which is called “County Dish” by Hengzhou people, and is the highest standard for local guests. More than ten kinds of ingredients mixed with special oil are put into the mouth, which is spicy, sour and fresh, with strong fragrance. After chewing, the fish is fresh and sweet, and the taste remains fragrant.
After dinner, walk on the streets of Hengzhou. Unlike the high-rise buildings and reinforced concrete in big cities, Hengzhou gives people the feeling of ease and simplicity. The buildings here are not too tall to be oppressive. Local people still ride old style electric motorcycles. The yellow peel and litchi sold on the street are very sweet, and the air is full of jasmine fragrance.
“I like this place.”said Wang Xue
Li Ming, from Fuzhou, Fujian
In the jasmine blossom season, the traffic surges on Hengzhou Avenue. When the vehicles drive into the core area of jasmine town, opposite to the China’s Jasmine Garden, they see a new scene – tall buildings standing beside the flower fields.
Fujian Minlifeng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., to which Li Ming belongs, is the one in charge of the Guangxi Hengzhou Benny Tea Industry Park project.
It is reported that the total investment of the project is 1.0673 billion yuan. The planned land for this project is approximately 69.28mu, with a standard factory building of 60，000 square meters. The main investment for the project is 150 million yuan, with a total supporting facilities of 6，000 square meters and a total construction area of approximately 70，000 square meters. It is a major project of Nanning in 2021 and the fourth batch of major projects of Hengzhou’s “Presenting Gifts for City Establishment” Project.
Li Ming introduced, “We started construction in December 2021, and now the entire project has reached its later stage. The buildings in the production area have been fully roofed, and we are currently working on the exterior facade construction. At the same time, we are also carrying out the interior design of the comprehensive building and the standardized design of the workshop.
The summer in Guangxi is very hot, and we all avoid working during the peak noon temperature period. We also need to prepare more heatstroke medication. Li Ming’s construction team includes people from Guangxi, Fujian, and Anhui. They have been in Hengzhou for over a year now, and usually eat and live on construction sites. During their breaks, they will go to the streets of Hengzhou together to have some barbecue and drink some beer.
As builders, they witnessed the scene where this place has transformed from a wasteland into a towering skyscraper.
“We expect to complete the overall construction of the project in October, and then hand it over to the construction party (Zhongken) for interior construction. We expect to conduct equipment trial operation from September to October, and expect to complete production in the first quarter of 2024, “Li Ming said.
In the evening, after finishing the day’s work, the evening breeze of the China’s Jasmine Garden blew towards the construction site and the people here. Li Ming said, ” I will go home and have a good rest and accompany my daughter when this project is done.”
Guarding this strand of flower fragrance and jointly
creating a new future for the jasmine flower industry
In September 2019, Hengzhou Municipal Government and our factory reached an important cooperation agreement – Tea Research and Development Experimental Center Project. This signing brings new development opportunities for both parties. Prior to this, both parties had conducted multiple in-depth discussions and inspection activities for the investment and development of tea industry, which contributed to the success of this cooperation.
The upcoming Tea Industry Park in Hengzhou, Guangxi integrates tea R&D center, flower scenting production line, automatic canned tea production line, jasmine gift tea packaging line, and world tea and coffee exhibition center. It is a tea industrial zone with both traditional characteristics of tea culture and modern development direction.
Traditionally, there have been issues with efficiency and optimization in the production process of jasmine tea. Whether it is traditional gift tea or current beverage tea supply, there are differences in the corresponding processes, and corresponding standardization and flowability require separate sections. The Hengzhou industrial park in Guangxi will implement more industrial production functions, including tea production lines, gift tea packaging lines, and automatic canned tea production lines.
Under the guidance of the General Secretary’s development concept of industrial innovation, scale and specialization, Benny Tea Industry Park of Hengzhou, Guangxi will closely cooperate with Hengzhou, the capital of jasmine, to jointly provide a broader and clearer development prospect for Hengzhou Jasmine, and will also help Hengzhou jasmine industry transformation, so that Hengzhou jasmine industry can achieve innovative development. It is more in line with the modern industrialized production model and empowers Hengzhou’s economic development.
It is the time of jasmine blossom again. People come from all over China and the whole city is busy again. Hengzhou is once again moving into a fast rhythm.