Spring Tea Hills: The Perfect Season for Picking Tea
As spring warms the air and flowers bloom, the tea gardens in the mountains enter their picking season, and the fragrance of tea grows ever richer. For visitors planning a trip to Fanjingshan, beyond climbing the mountain, wandering through the tea hills, watching tea farmers pick and process leaves, and experiencing the pleasures of tea culture offer a rare moment of springtime leisure. A cup of fresh tea is the best way to taste the flavor of spring.
The Fanjingshan area is high in altitude and often shrouded in mist, with a humid climate well suited to growing tea plants. Tea gardens stretch in continuous patches across the surrounding area and have a long history of tea fragrance. Most tea gardens lie in the lower-elevation surrounding areas, so they can be worked into your itinerary along the way without making a special detour.
How to Experience Tea Culture
During the spring and autumn tea-picking seasons, some tea gardens open for visits and hands-on experiences where you can learn about the processes of picking and processing tea. Specific opening arrangements and experience offerings change with the season, so check online before you travel and then decide whether to include them in your itinerary.
- Sit quietly in a teahouse and savor a cup of tea while locals tell you stories about tea.
- When buying tea, please use channels with clearly marked prices, buy according to your needs, and consume rationally.
- When entering tea gardens, please walk along open paths and do not pick leaves or trample the plants at will.
- For tea-picking experiences, please participate in an orderly way according to local arrangements, care for the tea gardens, and visit responsibly.
Bring Home a Taste of the Mountains
The area around Fanjingshan is a well-known tea-producing region, with the tea from the Tuanlong area being especially famous. Here the tea plants mostly grow among clouds and mist; the buds and leaves are thick and plump, and once brewed the tea has a clear, high aroma and a mellow flavor. If you love tea, consider bringing some local tea home as a gift, and you can also learn about the picking and processing process around the tea hills.
Besides tea, the area also produces Zipao Yudai stone, named for the layers of purple and jade-white bands running through the stone; inkstones and decorative pieces carved from it have an elegant color. As for rustic mountain flavors, shefan is made by steaming glutinous rice with cured meat, wild scallions, dried tofu, and other ingredients, and it is richly aromatic; rice tofu has a smooth, refreshing texture and is good either cold-tossed or served hot; the mountain area also commonly offers various mushrooms, cured meats, and Tujia dishes. When buying tea, stone carvings, and similar items, it is advisable to shop at reputable merchants and to check the place of origin and grade; when buying foods such as mushrooms and cured meats, pay attention to the shelf life and storage method, consume rationally, and buy according to your needs.
When Visiting the Tea Hills, Watch Your Step and the Weather
Tea hills are mostly on slopes, so please wear non-slip shoes and watch your step when walking; spring weather is changeable, so bring rain gear and a jacket. If you are also heading up the mountain that day, prepare clothing for the summit being about 8–10°C lower than at the foot of the mountain; a windproof jacket and comfortable hiking shoes will both come in handy.
- Documents: your original ID card, which is required for entry; entry requires swiping your own original ID card.
- Protection: sunscreen, sunglasses, rain gear.
- Supplies: drinking water and a moderate amount of high-energy snacks.
- Other: a power bank (there are no charging facilities on the mountain), a small amount of cash, non-slip shoes.
Fanjingshan operates a real-name online reservation and ticketing system for all visitors. It is recommended to book in advance; on-site ticket sales are not accepted. Tickets are in high demand during peak season and often sell out quickly once released, so please pay attention to release times in advance and book promptly. Entry is organized in time slots, so please choose a suitable time slot when booking and strictly follow it. Fanjingshan is a World Natural Heritage site; please carry all your rubbish down the mountain yourself, do not feed wild animals, do not pick plants, follow the scenic area's rules, and do not enter undeveloped areas.