One local villager in Anhua county carries two baskets of dark tea from Hunan Provincial Baishaxi Tea Industry and attracts lots of tea lovers in Beijing on April 28, 2018. [Photo by Zhang Xingjian/chinadaily.com.cn]

“Nowadays, most people may prefer to drink green tea, oolong tea or black tea. To be honest, dark tea is not one of the top choices for many tea lovers. The reason that we come to Beijing to promote dark tea is that we want to let more people know the magic of dark tea. Healthy and cost effective, dark tea has great potential in the market,” says Wang Shuangru, executive director of Hunan Provincial Baishaxi Tea Industry.

He also mentioned that the festival would further the spread of local tea culture and increase the awareness of tea brands.

“Brand building is also key to sound growth for Anhua’s tea industry, so tea producing enterprises should keep a close eye on the market and learn to promote their tea efficiently. Also, tea products should be tailored to local conditions while also ramping up more efforts to promote overseas,” echoes Liu Bo, director of Hunan Yunshang Tea Industry.

The event proved to be a huge success, drawing numerous visitors with activities highlighting singing, dancing, tourism and some sacrificial ceremonies related to local tea culture.

According to Xiong Zhewen, Anhua's Party secretary, thanks to the government's great efforts, the development of the tea industry in Anhua has gained strong momentum in recent years.