For years, Zhu Xuelan, an ethnic Yao woman, born into a family of tea makers in the remote Dayao Mountains of eastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in south China, has stayed firmly rooted in the countryside, where she has used her wisdom and strength to aid the development of both her village and her homeland. Zhu has been recognized for her efforts throughout the years; for example, she has been named a National Exemplary Individual in Poverty Alleviation, a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder, and a National Model Worker. Earlier this year, she was named a National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter, and one of the "Most Beautiful Women Strivers." Such accolades are among the tributes paid to Zhu for her unwavering commitment to service at the grassroots level.
Shanping, a village deep in the Dayao Mountains, in eastern Guangxi, is where the delicate fragrance of Liubao tea has lingered for more than 1,000 years. Zhu has worked tirelessly, for many years, to ensure that aroma drifted beyond the region's secluded peaks to reach the wider world.
Rekindled Hope
Zhu, who was born in 1971, grew up in the core Liubao tea production area. The area's average altitude is 600 meters, and the highest tea gardens sit nearly 1,000 meters above sea level. The tea fields are shrouded in mist year-round. As a child, Zhu often accompanied her grandparents on the grueling, four-hour trek over the mountains, only to watch merchants haggle down the price of the precious tea leaves.
In 2008, at the age of 37, Zhu was elected Party (Communist Party of China) chief of Shanping Village and director of the village committee. As she stood on the muddy slope near the village office, she looked at the rutted, dirt roads and the scattered tea gardens, and she listened to the villagers' longing for better lives. Against that backdrop, she made a solemn vow: "I must not fail villagers' trust. No matter how difficult it is, I will forge a path to prosperity!" She also resolved to turn the region's tea leaves into "golden leaves" that would revitalize the village.
Shared Fortune
At that time, Shanping was an impoverished village with an annual per capita income less than 2,000 yuan (US $294). The greatest obstacle to propsperity was the lack of transportation, as there was only one dirt road into and out of the village. That road was impassable whenever it rained or snowed, which often resulted in the rotting of harvested tea leaves.
"To get rich, build roads first." She made road construction her top priority. Tirelessly, she sought project funding. She faced strong opposition whenever road expansion required the use of villagers' tea gardens or courtyards. Undeterred, she visited villagers, door-to-door, with village officials, and she patiently explained both the village committee's policies and the anticipated long-term benefits to the village. Finally, in 2014, the once muddy road was transformed into a paved, six-meter-wide "road to prosperity." That road solved the bottleneck that had kept the village's "treasure" trapped in the mountains.
With the road open, Zhu turned her attention to her family's technique for making Liubao tea. While Shanping's tea cultivation history spanned 1,500 years, varying production methods resulted in inconsistent quality and low prices. As a representative inheritor of the Liubao Tea-Processing Technique (an intangible cultural heritage of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), she conceived a bold idea: Break the "ancestral rule" of "passing skills only within the family," and teach the craft to the entire village — for free.
Her family opposed the idea. However, Zhu did not give up. She repeatedly held family meetings, during which she earnestly persuaded her relatives: "I am a Party member, and the village Party chief. My original aspiration is to lead the whole village to prosperity. We cannot grow the industry by working in isolation. Only when everyone masters the craft, and builds a brand, can Shanping's tea make a name for itself." Moved by her persistence, her relatives eventually offered their full support.
In 2015, Zhu established "Tea Garden Lecture Hall," by converting her family's small, tea-frying room into a classroom, where she then taught the ancient Liubao tea-processing technique — free of charge. Nearly 1,000 people learned the traditional craft, which shattered the monopoly of secret knowledge. Zhu also led the villagers in revitalizing 20 hectares of low yield tea gardens.
By establishing specialized cooperatives for unified purchasing, processing and sales, Zhu solved the chronic problems of selling and "unstable prices." The once secret ancestral tea-processing technique had transformed tea leaves into genuine "golden leaves" for the entire village.
Common Dream
Under Zhu's leadership, Shanping has undergone a dramatic transformation. In 2016, it shed its label as a "key impoverished village." Tea garden acreage expanded from a mere 20 hectares, in 2008, to the current 246.67 hectares. Now, each household in Shanping grows tea and understands the craft. The village's annual production of tea has reached 35,000 kilograms. By the end of 2021, villagers' annual per capita income surpassed 21,000 yuan (US $3,088), and village-level collective income reached 138,000 yuan (US $20,294). By 2025, villagers' per capita income had increased to 27,000 yuan (US $3,971), and village-level collective income had reached 200,000 yuan (US $29,412).
Villager Pan Yuemei once worked in south China's Guangdong Province, during which she endured long separations from her family. Encouraged and supported by Zhu, Pan returned home to learn tea cultivation and processing. Pan eventually built her own Liubao tea-processing factory, and her annual income soon exceeded 100,000 yuan (US $14,706).
Leaf of Recognition
To make Liubao tea a renowned brand, Zhu applied for a village collective trademark, and she devoted herself, wholeheartedly, to the career. "With the support of the Party, Shanping has paved roads reaching the tea gardens and completed its infrastructure. Our lives are flourishing day by day. As a Party chief, I must fulfill my role with even greater dedication," Zhu says.
Zhu is currently planning to establish a traditional Liubao tea-crafting workshop in the village, to draw visitors into the allure of Liubao tea. "I intend to create an experiential studio here for traditional Liubao tea-processing, to invite travelers to taste the charm of our heritage. I believe, with people coming through, our village will be brimming with fresh opportunities and vitality, and all our days will grow ever brighter," Zhu says.
It is Zhu's steadfast devotion that has lifted the village's dream of renewal. With compassion as her path and the tea leaf as her bridge, she has kindled the humble rhythms of mountain life into a beacon of hope for rural revitalization. "Gazing out upon these emerald tea hills, I shall integrate the culture of tea, the heritage of the Yao people and tourism, so the days of my fellow villagers may shine ever more brightly," Zhu vows.
Photos by Bi Ningning
(Women of China English Monthly May 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
