Company boss Liu Xiangguo has persisted for 26 years in making conscience tea

Liu Xiangguo of Xinyang, Henan, is an old educated youth. He was sent down to the countryside, raised pigs, worked as a cook, and worked as a coal worker... His rich life experiences made him deeply understand that earning money is not easy. When he took over the tea factory at a critical moment, he resolved to make good tea that ordinary people could afford. He firmly upholds the business philosophy of "integrity as the foundation, benevolence in business, be a good person first, do business second." While driving local tea farmers to increase their income, he has also enabled Xinyang Maojian tea to sell well both at home and abroad. A couplet from the Qiao Family Compound in Shanxi describes tea man Liu Xiangguo quite aptly: "The way of business lies only in honesty; there is nothing extraordinary in dealing with the world but being true." In November 2015, Liu Xiangguo was listed on the "China Good People List."

"Huainan tea, Guangzhou is the best." Guangzhou tribute tea is a tribute tea brand with a history of more than 1,000 years. Today, Liu Xiangguo, a tea man from Huangchuan who has made his name in the tea industry through integrity, continues to write the story of Guangzhou famous tea. In Liu Xiangguo's tea career, he has had the following "firsts": the first to introduce "Xinyang Maojian" to more than 20 "time-honored brands" in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shandong, Hebei and other places; the first to bring Xinyang Maojian into European and American markets such as Paris and New York; and the first to develop and process jasmine Xinyang Maojian tea. These shining firsts record Liu Xiangguo's hard work in raising the market visibility and market share of Xinyang Maojian.

1. Make high-quality tea: "Every leaf is the fruit of hard work and conscience"

In 1981, 35-year-old Liu Xiangguo was transferred from Pingdingshan to work at the Lingji Tea Farm, where he successively served as an electromechanical maintenance worker and captain of the machinery-assisted tea-making team. From then on, he formed an indissoluble bond with tea. In 1990, when the tea farm had a large backlog of unsold tea, Liu Xiangguo was entrusted with the task at a critical moment and began working in tea sales. To solve the difficulties facing the tea farm, he carried tea on his back and went to Beijing alone to break into the market. Through his unremitting efforts, he quickly opened up markets in the Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong regions. In 1994, to meet market demand, he established the Huangchuan County Guangzhou Famous Tea Refining and Processing Factory.

For 26 years, Liu Xiangguo has always adhered to the goal of "making conscience tea and trustworthy tea," insisting on quality first and striving for perfection, making good tea for every consumer who loves drinking tea.

In order to make good tea, Liu Xiangguo personally checks everything, whether it is the purchase of raw materials or processing. "Once, the tea delivered by tea farmers had quality problems. I rushed overnight to three tea factories in Huangchuan, Guangshan and Xinxian, and along the way I also provided technical guidance by phone to the Shangcheng tea factory. By the time I got home, it was already after 2 a.m."

Liu Xiangguo teaches tea-growing techniques to tea farmers.

"Only by making high-, medium- and low-grade tea well can there be great development and great benefits. In this way, the taste of the tea remains unchanged, but the price is much lower. Taking the ordinary-people route means the company earns a little less, but customers are happy and tea farmers become better off. In the past, April and May were the golden period for tea production. After Grain Rain, tea picking on many tea mountains was basically coming to an end, while the tea farm of our cooperative still had to work for another month. While increasing tea farmers' income, it also lets ordinary people drink affordable tea of good quality." Liu Xiangguo talked cheerfully about his business philosophy, saying: "The price of tea must be acceptable to ordinary people, and the cost should also be reduced through continuous improvement of traditional techniques." The weaknesses of primitive tea-making, such as low automation and poor cleanliness, seriously affected output and quality. Liu Xiangguo studied hard and kept learning, and finally developed a tea-making technique that saves labor, saves effort and reduces costs, pioneering the mechanization of Xinyang Maojian tea.

Although the tea follows a "ordinary-people" route, its quality is "internationalized." The Guangzhou series of teas has weathered storms but has never fallen. Even though new pesticide residue limit standards have repeatedly been introduced internationally, and Europe and the United States have imposed harsh "green barriers," it has never been kept out. For all tea processed by his enterprise, even a 60-yuan box of tea must go through 11 procedures. Each production procedure corresponds to strict monitoring equipment and methods, with corresponding quality grade requirements, ensuring that every batch of processed tea remains unchanged in strip shape, taste, liquor color, aroma and other aspects.

2. Make tea for the masses: "Let ordinary people afford it and enjoy it"

For many years, many Xinyang Maojian tea merchants have tried desperately to push tea toward the "high" end, but Liu Xiangguo insists on the ordinary-people route of "small profits but quick turnover, lasting operation," producing a batch of products with low prices and good quality suitable for mass consumption, so that more people can afford and buy good tea. As for how to identify the quality of Xinyang Maojian, Liu Xiangguo not only produced tea knowledge into promotional leaflets and distributed them free to consumers, but also held free training classes to popularize tea knowledge among tea farmers and consumers. He himself is not only an "expert," but more importantly guides consumers to become "experts" in tea tasting.

Liu Xiangguo guides tea farmers in picking tea in the tea garden.

"Liu Xiangguo never follows market trends. He always positions his tea in the mass consumer market and never changes his tea-making concept because the tea market is sluggish and profits are low. He has allowed the traditional tea-making craft of Xinyang Maojian to be well inherited, led the return of Xinyang Maojian tea, and brought Maojian tea back to the mass market," said Yu Guanting, vice president of the China International Tea Culture Research Association. "Liu Xiangguo conducts himself with integrity and makes tea with skillful hands. In conducting himself, he values loyalty and does not forget old friends. In making tea, the quality is good, beautiful and inexpensive. He embodies the spirit of a tea man and is brave in dedication. He truly deserves to be a 60-year tea meritorious figure."

3. Make honest tea: "I would rather beg with a stick than cheat and swindle!"

Liu Xiangguo has a simple and plain belief in making tea: integrity as the foundation, benevolence in business, be a good person first, do business second. For decades, he has not only provided tea merchants with tea of full weight, but also put an extra half a jin of tea in each box to make up for losses from tea being easily broken during transportation. For this, he loses more than 100,000 yuan every year. In an interview with reporters, Liu Xiangguo said, "When I see practices of selling one jin of tea for tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 yuan, I cannot agree. I think it is deceptive and dishonest, and doing so is detrimental to the development of the entire tea market."

In 2002, a time-honored tea dealer in Jinan, Shandong, cooperated with Liu Xiangguo for the first time. At the time, the dealer was also just trying it out. Liu Xiangguo promptly sent the tea according to the other party's needs. At the end of the year, the Jinan merchant still had four items of tea unsold. When settling accounts, Liu Xiangguo took the initiative to propose returning the four items of tea and replacing them with new tea around Qingming. The other party wanted to say something but was too embarrassed to speak, yet unexpectedly Liu Xiangguo was so proactive and straightforward. Later, this time-honored tea merchant formed a deep friendship with Liu Xiangguo. To this day, Liu Xiangguo's "Guangzhou" Xinyang Maojian is still his main source of goods.

"I would rather beg with a stick than cheat and swindle!" This is Liu Xiangguo's catchphrase. He believes that although the times are changing, the tradition of putting customers first cannot change. Only in this way can there be "returning customers" and benefits. The business sea inevitably rises and falls, but Liu Xiangguo's Guangzhou tea has only gotten better and better. Last year, the tea market was sluggish, and other companies saw lower tea prices and reduced profits, but Liu Xiangguo's tea actually saw sales increase rather than decrease, growing steadily.

For many years, Liu Xiangguo has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the tea business. He has always been very tired and worked very hard, with little time to care for his family. Speaking of this, this iron-like man once choked up: "In 2000, my 75-year-old mother suffered a stroke and became bedridden. Until she passed away in 2001, as her son, I rarely attended to her side. Later, my third younger brother, who had been starting businesses with me for many years, also died of a serious illness, and I rarely had time to take care of him." He said: "But my family understands and supports my work very well. They all know that only through my day-and-night dedication can good tea be made, and only then can I be worthy of the people who spend money to buy tea. I think all the sacrifice and effort is worth it."