Dr. Ding Zhaotang, Tea Expert: Using Science and Technology to Strengthen the Tea Industry

"Follow your heart and do what you love. If you haven't found it yet, keep searching and don't give up!" - This is the motto of Professor Ding Zhaotang from the Tea Research Institute of the College of Horticulture, and it is also something he often tells his students.

Devoted to Breeding, Solely to Promote Northern Tea

Qingdao Laoshan tea was introduced from the south to the north in the 1950s, but due to geographical limitations, for over half a century, yield and quality have remained the bottleneck restricting its industrial development. The biggest problem faced by the south-to-north tea introduction is "cold." There are only two ways to solve this problem - either keep the tea plants warm through winter in field management, or directly breed highly cold-resistant varieties. But breeding is a time-consuming endeavor; it is possible to invest over a decade or even decades without seeing results. Therefore, although there are many tea factories in Qingdao, none are willing to put effort into breeding. Qingdao's tea planting area is about 101,000 mu, and in 2010 alone, severe cold reduced production by about 40%. "If Qingdao tea wants to become bigger and stronger, varieties are the key," former Qingdao Vice Mayor Zhang Yuanfu told Ding Zhaotang many times.

"If the government wants to do it and enterprises won't, then I'll do it. Varieties are of great importance - they not only affect the tea drinker's 'tea cup,' but also affect farmers' 'money bags.' We must select good varieties suitable for Qingdao's climate." Ding Zhaotang used his spare time to travel across tea-producing areas throughout the province collecting tea tree seeds. Building on his existing research and after several winters of systematic breeding, he finally bred a high-quality, cold-resistant new variety called "Ruixue" (Auspicious Snow) - its extreme cold tolerance can reach -13°C! In normal years, it only needs slight protection to successfully overwinter in open fields. The breeding of "Ruixue" means that northern tea farmers can finally stop worrying about economic losses caused by freeze damage. Qingdao Evening News reported Professor Ding Zhaotang's bred variety on its front page headline, and the Qingdao Science and Technology Bureau also published the news on its official website.

Painstaking Germplasm Conservation, Expanding Production

With the new varieties bred, germplasm conservation became another major challenge. For many years, in order to develop clonal tea gardens, most tea enterprises in our province introduced tea seedlings from the south. Not only did the introduced varieties have poor adaptability and low survival rates, but the long-distance transportation costs were high, placing a heavy burden on enterprises and tea farmers. Professor Ding Zhaotang saw this and felt anxious. He was determined to lead everyone in exploring a clonal tea tree elite variety breeding technology system suitable for northern tea areas, and to massively propagate high-quality, cold-resistant clonal tea varieties. To this end, he spent 5 years, according to the requirements of the Qingdao Municipal Agricultural Commission and Qingdao Science and Technology Bureau, designing a "double-shed, one-net tea tree cold-resistant breeding device" and filed for a utility model patent. At Qingdao Ruicaoyuan Tea Industry Technology Co., Ltd., he established Shandong Province's largest tea tree elite variety breeding base, and successively selected 5 varieties from over thirty introduced clonal varieties for seedling propagation. Through many cold winters and hot summers, these newly selected and introduced varieties are continuously expanding their promotion area in Shandong, and through "orders," tea farmers and tea enterprises have also benefited.

In tea cultivation technology, Ding Zhaotang led his team in continuous innovation and research, introducing water-fertilizer integration technology suitable for northern use. This technology not only solved problems such as low rainfall, dry climate, low water-fertilizer utilization rates, and high labor input in Shandong tea gardens, but also greatly improved tea yield and quality through water-soluble fertilizer formulas prepared for different varieties, different seasons, and different growth stages, becoming one of the main technologies planned for promotion in Shandong tea gardens in recent years. In tea processing technology, Ding Zhaotang promoted clean, continuous, and automated tea processing technology at Qingdao Ruicaoyuan, achieving floor-free tea production, reducing tea production costs and the possibility of "secondary contamination" of tea.

"Currently, the entire Qingdao has a huge demand for clonal tea seedlings. Promoting these new varieties will certainly greatly enhance the quality of Qingdao tea." At Ding Zhaotang's seedling base, seeing these precious tea seedlings, then Qingdao Municipal Agricultural Commission Director Zhao Zebin said happily. The on-site meeting for the Qingdao Million-Mu Fruit, Tea, and Flower Project "Ruicaoyuan Premium Tea Garden" project was held here. The Jimo City People's Congress and CPPCC organized multiple visits by people's congress representatives and CPPCC members to the Ruicaoyuan tea base for inspection and study. The Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang University, Anhui Agricultural University, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yunnan Agricultural University, and universities and research institutions within the province also organized relevant experts and professors to visit the Ruicaoyuan tea base for inspection and study. Relevant leaders from the Qingdao Science and Technology Bureau also visited the base multiple times for inspection and guidance.

Today, Ding Zhaotang has bred 2 new tea varieties with strong cold resistance, developed 2 environmentally friendly fertilizers, proposed 2 tea-specific fertilizer formulas, filed 19 national invention patents, and obtained 6 authorized patents. He has established Shandong Province's largest tea germplasm resource nursery and Shandong Province's largest tea elite variety breeding base, established a "double-shed, double-film heat and moisture preservation" tea rapid breeding technology system suitable for northern tea areas, selected 5 cold-resistant clonal tea varieties suitable for large-scale promotion in Shandong Province, and promoted over 2 million clonal elite seedlings. He guided industry chain enterprises in creating 2 famous premium teas, and won 2 Science and Technology Progress Awards from Jimo City and Qingdao City. He developed a water-fertilizer integration system for northern tea garden production, achieving optimal management of water, fertilizer, and nutrients. In terms of improving quality and increasing yield, it will bring greater benefits to northern tea production and has important promotional value. These technological achievements have already created enormous economic and social benefits.

Devoted to Education, Tireless in Teaching

As a university professor, Ding Zhaotang, in addition to being busy with scientific research, is also dutiful in educating students. Behind him, a large number of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in tea science are growing and thriving. In the eyes of tea science students, he is a humorous and passionate teacher.

Professor Ding has his own method of educating students. In the eyes of his graduate students, he is a mentor, a coach, and a loving father. Professor Ding loves reading. For decades, reading every morning and evening has become an unshakeable habit in his life. His passion comes from these books. "The Nine Steps to Success," "Seven Shortcuts to Getting Ahead of Time," "Think Different," "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs," and "Think and Grow Rich" - these five books have been listed by him as required reading for tea science graduate students. He also holds various activities, such as "elevator pitches" and speech competitions, so that graduate students can apply what they learn. Ding Zhaotang says that every book he chooses has a clear purpose - to provide motivation for graduate students' study and research. Doing experiments all the time is boring. When students encounter difficulties and see no end in sight, what do they do? They might think of Steve Jobs' perseverance and persistence in "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs"; when lacking confidence, they think of Napoleon Hill's N steps to build confidence... Under Professor Ding's guidance, in his laboratory, "seeking the difference of differences" has become the core value concept of teachers and students. "The principle of time blocking," "always put the most important things first," "the rule of 3," "the 20/80 principle," etc., have also been skillfully applied by students. Ding Zhaotang's graduate student Shi Hui said that her biggest gain during her graduate studies was a transformation in her way of thinking.

In Professor Ding's view, to succeed, the most important thing is to change your way of thinking. Not only should you learn the thinking patterns of successful people, but you should also implement and apply them in daily behavior. As his graduate students, they must sign in at 8 AM every day from Monday to Saturday, and every Monday morning there is a regular meeting to discuss everyone's experimental progress or experimental design. Some teachers and classmates say he is too strict with his students. He says: "Signing in, on one hand, can urge students to study - they are still children and need someone to guide them; on the other hand, I need to confirm every day whether they are at school and what they are doing. Seeing them puts my mind at ease." When his graduate students signed up to invigilate English CET-4 and CET-6 exams, he felt it was a pity upon learning about it, because a whole day would be wasted. If that day were spent reading literature, designing experiments, and learning English, it would be more meaningful. To this end, he specially wrote a short commentary and shared it with his graduate students at the Monday regular meeting. He said: "You can lead a horse to the river, but you can't make it drink. Going with the flow is easy, and many people let inertia drive them. But consistently adhering to what you believe is right and your convictions is very difficult, yet absolutely worth doing." Teacher Ding, like a father, hopes his graduate students will have lofty aspirations and a brilliant future. At the same time, he is also a role model and benchmark for his graduate students, influencing them through his own actions.