Villagers cultivate tourism as crop yields wane

The famed Longjing — or Dragon Well — tea has been grown for decades in Potang village, a misty rural community half an hour's drive from downtown Shaoxing, Zhejiang province.

The tea was mostly introduced in the 1970s as part of a sweeping campaign to expand the growth of cash crops and promote growth.

However, due to the aging of plants, the output has plummeted in recent years.

As a result, its 10-hectare tea plantation lost its competitive edge in Zhejiang, a tea production heartland.

The village also lost much of its younger workforce to nearby cities for lack of opportunities after a local dying mill was phased out as a polluting business.

"The village was messy, run down and nearly hollowed out just a few years ago," said Luo Guohai, a local Party official who oversees the village.

But it has risen from ashes.

"The efforts to remake the village since 2020 have turned it into an internet sensation," Luo said.