What Is a "Tea Girl"? Ai Lijuan, the "Tea Girl" of the Ailao Mountains

On April 20, Ai Lijuan (center) and employees went up the mountain to pick tea leaves.

  Ai Lijuan, a woman from Jiujia Village, Jiujia Town, Zhenyuan Yi, Hani and Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, grew up in the Ailao Mountains. From childhood she followed her elders in learning to grow tea, pick tea and make tea in the mountains, and she developed a full set of skilled handcraft techniques for Pu'er tea, from picking to packaging, becoming a widely known "Tea Girl" of the Ailao Mountains. In 2014, with the support of the local government, Ai Lijuan invested in founding Zhenyuan Jiade Manor Tea Industry Co., Ltd. Its Pu'er tea products are sold far beyond China to domestic and overseas markets, helping more than 400 tea farming households in the mountainous area increase their incomes and prosper. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Zongyou