Luodian Tea

Luodian Tea

　　Luodian Tea is a specialty of Luodian County in Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. The tea produced here is of high quality, and Luodian is the only region in Guizhou capable of producing Export Black Broken Tea Second Grade.

　　Luodian County has a South Asian tropical humid monsoon climate, with an average annual temperature of 19.6°C, annual precipitation between 1100–1300 mm, and a frost-free period of 334 days. The region is rich in heat and rainfall, making it highly suitable for tea cultivation, especially large-leaf tea varieties. Spring tea picking in Luodian begins over 15 days earlier than in other parts of the province. Due to the abundant heat, the tea growing season is longer, allowing more harvests per year. The county’s tea gardens yield over 1,000 kg of fresh tea leaves per mu. All 26 towns and townships in the county have a tradition of cultivating tea trees and producing tea. There is also abundant non-arable land suitable for tea, with surveys indicating over 250,000 mu of potential tea plantation land, showcasing great development potential.

　　The large-scale development of tea in Luodian began in the 1980s. In recent years, the county government has placed high importance on the industry, setting a clear "3211" industrial development strategy goal, aiming to add 10,000 mu of new tea gardens each year. Currently, the county has 35,000 mu of tea gardens, along with one initial processing plant and one refined processing plant, each with capacities of 10,000 dan and 5,000 dan respectively. The production facilities are well-equipped, and the processing techniques are mature. Shanglong Tea & Fruit Farm and Najian Tea Farm are the main tea producers in the county, managing over 10,000 mu of high-quality tea gardens.

　　To accelerate the development of the local tea industry, from 2009 to 2010, the county government funded the establishment of a 10,000-mu tea garden base in Xinguang Village, Fengting Town, and Congli and Sujin Villages, Muyin Township. The base is located 35 km from the county seat and features deep soil layers with weakly acidic soil, which is very suitable for tea tree growth. During the construction of the tea gardens, strict tea planting standards were followed, with main cultivars being Fuding Dabai and Yunnan Daye. The tea gardens are now in the maintenance phase, with healthy growth of young tea plants. The people of Luodian warmly welcome enterprises and individuals interested in developing the tea industry to visit Luodian for inspection, exchange, leasing, contracting, and investment in factory establishment.