The surging price of oolong tea grown in eastern China’s Wuyi mountain range has transformed the fortunes of local farmers such as Chen Jingxi, who says he will earn the equivalent of more than $1m this year from sales of rare roasted leaves.
Chen’s tea brand has increased in price from Rmb108,000 ($16,000) per kilogramme to Rmb125,000 in the past year — giving him an annual income close to Rmb8m, which he spends on renovating his three-storey house, built with floors of marble tiles and rooms of mahogany furniture.
Average prices for tea grown amid winding river valleys of Wuyi, in the north of Fujian province, have been growing at 10 per cent annually for the past decade, according to local farmers, due to rising demand for luxury tea from wealthy entrepreneurs.