Wulong Baima Mountain: Alpine "fairy red" paved the way for the integration of agriculture and tourism

Wulong District of Chongqing City is located in the southeast of Chongqing. The Wuling Mountains and the Dalou Mountains stretch vertically and horizontally here. "Seven mountains, one water and two fields" is a true portrayal of this place. Traditional agriculture has always been difficult to achieve here. .

Since it is a "seven-cent mountain", it is better to rely on the mountain to make a living. There are many mountains and little land, and the foundation for agricultural development is weak. However, Wulong is very rich in ecological resources. The "Fairy Red" tea bred in Baima Mountain is one of the treasures.

Gong Tea Garden. Photo provided by Wulong Tourism Company

"Tribute Tea Fairy Red" God-given mountains and rivers breed high mountain tea

Baima Mountain tea production has a long history, and it has become "tribute tea" in the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to historical records, Mao Wenxi, a man of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, once described in the "Tea Book" that there were three kinds of tea in the Fuzhou area that were regarded as high-quality and honored as tribute tea, namely Binhua tea, Baima tea, and Fuling tea. It can be seen that White Horse Tea has become famous all over the world in the Tang Dynasty.

Today, Binhua tea has disappeared, and Baima Tianchi tea has a planting area of ??nearly 5,000 acres. The "Fairy Red" series of organic black teas have won gold medals at domestic tea expos many times and are exported to Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. .

The heaven-given landscape gives Baima Mountain’s “Fairy Red” tea its unique quality. The Baima Mountain Tianchi Tea Area at an altitude of 1,300 meters is located in the T-shaped microclimate zone of Wulong, Chongqing, with steep mountains. Located on the edge of the Wujiang River, almost vertically, the warm water vapor of the Wujiang River rushes straight to the top of the cliff, and the heat does not decrease. It alternates with the cold currents on the top of the cliff. The frequent and sudden temperature differences make the tea produced here richer in internal substances, showing Unique aroma.

"Fairy Red" is rich in amino acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, and contains theanine, theaflavins, thearubigins, theophylline, tea polyphenols and other functional ingredients unique to black tea. The theaflavin content reaches 0.8% and thearubigin content reaches 6.5%. The tea soup is sweet, red in color and has a long aftertaste. It has successively won the national organic food certification, the Chongqing "Three Gorges Cup" black tea gold medal, the "Tea for Tasting" at the 2nd International Tea Expo, Chongqing Foreign Affairs Gift and other honors.

At present, there are 5,000 acres of modern tea gardens in the entire Baima Mountain, forming large-scale production and processing. In April 2017, Chongqing Chiming Agriculture Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary established by Chongqing Wulong Tourism Co., Ltd., a wholly state-owned enterprise with independent legal personality, was launched, marking the beginning of the development of Baima Mountain’s “Fairy Red” tea. A broad road to brand development. The "Fairy Red" tea brand with great product power has already been launched, but the people of Wulong have more than just vision.

Picking tea in the tribute tea garden. Photo courtesy of Wulong Tourism Company

"Dislocated expansion" leads to a new way of integrating agriculture and tourism

Since the discovery of Furong Cave in 1993, successive Wulong governments have "drawn a blueprint to the end, and "We work hard one term after another" and unswervingly develop the tourism industry, making Wulong a beautiful business card that can represent Chongqing tourism. Fairy Mountain Prairie, Tiansheng Three Bridges, Longshui Gorge Ground Seam, Furong River, and Impression Wulong are famous both at home and abroad. However, with the continuous development of domestic and foreign tourism markets, Wulong's tourism market will undergo further changes.

"Plow deeply into Fairy Mountain and expand Baima Mountain in a wrong way." Wulong District Committee and District Government have drawn a new blueprint for the next ten years. Baima Mountain Tourist Resort came into being, adjacent to the central city of Wulong to the east, Daozhen County of Guizhou Province to the south, Nanchuan District to the west, the coast of Wujiang River to the north, and Fairy Mountain National Tourist Resort and Fairy Mountain National Forest Park. Facing each other across the Wujiang River. Develop a health resort with the theme of tea culture and love culture.

From the beginning of planning, Baima Mountain Tourism Resort has thought of a new way to integrate agriculture and tourism with "tourism + tea culture experience". Integrate tea resources, enhance tea landscape, develop tea products, interpret tea culture, and extend the industrial chain of Wulong tourism industry.

Qintai Teahouse. Photo courtesy of Wulong Tourism Company

With Tianchiping as the core, the resort’s Gong Tea Garden, Modern Sightseeing Tea Garden, Crystal Tea Factory, Qintai Tea House and other scenic spots are connected in series to maximize tea raw material resources. Integration not only provides a strong guarantee for tea products, but also brings a different travel experience to tourists.

Qintai Tea House is a landmark building in the scenic spot, as well as the core and spiritual highland of tea culture.

About 90 meters long and 60 meters wide, you can have a bird's eye view of the tea mountain panorama. There are also tea art, tea ethics, tea etiquette, tea theory, tea love, tea talks, tea ceremony explanations and tea art performances, allowing tourists to relax and taste tea and experience tea culture after sightseeing.

"Fairy Red" tea. Photo provided by Wulong Tourism Company

Crystal Tea Factory covers an area of ??1,375 square meters, with a construction area of ??2,412.9 square meters. It is equipped with 2 automated tea production lines and hand-made tea equipment. Integrating base construction, tea processing, sales, and research and development, it has developed more than 10 series of organic black teas under the "Fairy Black Tea" brand. The product has been certified by the National Organic Tea Certification Agency, and the best black tea has been sold for 30,000 yuan per catty.

As one of the chains in the resort, the tea industry here is undergoing changes and upgrades, and the scenic spots are also advancing in an orderly manner. According to the relevant person in charge of the resort, in the future, Baima Mountain Tourism Resort will continue to rely on the existing advantages of tourism resources and tea industry, based on the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, to realize the trinity of tea industry, tea products, tea culture and tourism, and coordinate Development, establish a three-level coordinated development mechanism with government guidance, enterprise innovation, and farmer participation, to achieve a good situation of improving the quality of scenic spots, increasing enterprise efficiency, and increasing people's income

"Fairy Red" original tea. Photo provided by Wulong Tourism Company