Inside China’s Tea Heartland: Life in the Mountains of Sichuan

In the south of Sichuan province, where the climate is mild and fertile, tea fields roll endlessly across the hillsides. This is one of the cradles of Chinese tea culture—a tradition that began here thousands of years ago, rooted in a plant that has existed for over seventy million years.

In China, tea is far more than a drink. It is an institution, woven into daily life, history, and identity. In Sichuan’s villages, entire communities live by the rhythm of the tea harvests, their livelihoods tied to the leaves they cultivate.

The plantations resemble vast green forests of carefully pruned bushes, kept at just over a meter in height. The most important moment of the year is the spring harvest, when workers rise at dawn to gather the first delicate buds. These early leaves carry the finest flavors and set the tone for the year’s tea.

Here, tea is not just an agricultural product—it is culture, economy, ritual, and pride. Sichuan’s tea connects the land, its people, and centuries of tradition.

Documentary: China, Land of Colors – EP 4: Green
Directed by: Guy Beauché
Production : ZED, Voyage