Cherishing the gifts of ancestors
Ancient tea trees are central to livelihoods and traditions of ethnic groups living in Yunnan province's Jingmai Mountain, Deng Zhangyu reports.
The 22-year-old is from the Dai ethnic group, one of the major communities in the area which, like the Blang, has practiced the cultivation of tea trees for generations. She is the first in her village to use short-video platforms to introduce ancient plantations and tea culture to an audience outside the mountain.
From last autumn after the tea harvest, she began livestreaming to show the beauty of the tea plantations, the landscape of the ancient villages that surround them and the area's tea culture.
She usually works from afternoon to late night, interacting with her viewers on livestreaming platform Douyin to demonstrate how tea is picked, as well as introduce different tea trees and sometimes dance and sing local songs for her fans.
"We have been taught since childhood that these tea trees are treasures passed down by our forefathers. To protect them is natural for us," says Xian.
