The fragrance of Yunhong tea is renowned throughout the world.

　　Mangshi Ecological Tea Co., Ltd. left the reporter with an impression that seemed to embody the idea, “Good wine needs no bush”: when the reporter arrived, it took several detours through narrow lanes and a stretch of bumpy, unfinished road before finally locating the company. Yet once inside the premises, the scene was striking: lawns, verdant trees, vibrant flowers, and a fountain all adorned the grounds, creating a beautifully landscaped, clean, and orderly environment. The production and residential areas were clearly separated and meticulously organized, resembling a carefully crafted park. “Our facility is a garden‑style complex built to export‑food standards,” said Li Minglian, the company’s chairman, with evident pride.

　　“Your tea is still being exported?” the reporter said, hardly able to believe it.

　　“Of course, 70 percent of our products are exported,” Li Minglian said with a smile. “Our annual output exceeds 2,500 tons, and we offer more than 150 varieties across four major categories: Yunhong black tea, green tea, Pu’er tea, and premium specialty teas. Pu’er tea is primarily sold to coastal regions, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other areas, while black and green teas are mainly exported to Russia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and other countries and markets.”

　　What makes Yunhong Tea so special? Stepping into the company’s product showroom, the first thing the reporter noticed wasn’t the array of teas on display, but rather the walls lined with certificates of honor and trophies. “We have successively earned such prestigious titles as Yunnan Province’s Key Leading Enterprise for Agricultural Industrialization, an Advanced Enterprise in Tea Development, a Growing Small and Medium‑Sized Enterprise in Yunnan, a Well‑Known Trademark of Yunnan, the Dehong Prefecture Food Safety Award, the Honesty‑and‑Integrity Private Enterprise Award, and a First‑Class Taxpayer Credibility Enterprise. Our products have been recognized as ‘Consumer‑Favored Goods of Yunnan Province,’ while our ancient‑tree tea cakes won the International Gold Award at the World Tea Federation’s competition, our Peacock Hometown Ecological Tea Seven‑Piece Cake took home the Gold Medal at Shaanxi’s ‘3·15’ Expo, and our Yunhong Tuo Tea was awarded the First Prize in the Tuo Tea category at the China Tea Cup Competition…” Li Minglian said proudly. The reporter counted roughly fifty—each plaque and trophy silently bearing witness to the steady growth of this tea enterprise.

　　Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Yunhong Tea’s rise to fame, too, has been marked by challenges and hard work. Li Minglian told reporters that the company originated as the Mangshi Tea Factory, founded by his father in 1993. After more than a decade of painstaking effort, the factory had grown into a modest operation. Yet Li Minglian was far from satisfied. Upon taking over, he strengthened the enterprise’s management and adopted a forward-looking strategy for its future development. In response to market demands, he implemented effective measures across key areas—base‑level infrastructure, product innovation, brand building, competitive positioning, talent cultivation, technological reserves, and advertising—thereby bolstering the company’s competitiveness. He also established sales branches in Beijing and Guangzhou, steadily expanding distribution channels and refining the sales network to further grow and strengthen the business. However, domestic market competition is fierce and ever‑changing; the sharp plunge in tea prices in 2007 plunged the company into an especially difficult situation. How could it break through? With a background in international trade, Li Minglian turned his attention to the global market: “Let’s take a chance and sell Dehong’s tea overseas.” Armed with the boldness and determination characteristic of youth, he embarked on a challenging journey to expand into international markets. Through overseas study tours and active participation in trade fairs, he broadened his horizons considerably. In particular, the advanced production techniques and stringent quality‑and‑safety standards of developed countries in Europe and North America left a deep impression on him and proved highly inspiring: these rigorous foreign standards essentially demand ecologically sound, environmentally friendly tea—precisely the unique advantage that Dehong tea possesses.

　　Having made up his mind, Li Ming began preparing for tea exports: he built a new, standardized factory complex spanning more than 30 mu; to streamline export procedures, he established the company as it exists today and set up sales branches in Beijing and Guangzhou; to ensure quality, he obtained HACCP food‑safety certification; and he signed cultivation and purchase agreements with over 1,700 farming households in townships such as Zhongshan, Jiangdong, and Mengga, while strengthening technical guidance on tea‑cultivation. After years of hard work, the rewards finally arrived: Yunhong’s eco‑friendly teas won widespread acclaim in international markets, propelling the company’s rapid growth and making it the only enterprise in Quanzhou authorized for direct export clearance. Today, the company has evolved into a specialized tea business integrating cultivation, processing, and sales, with fixed assets totaling RMB 120 million, an annual output value exceeding RMB 38 million, and a workforce that has expanded from roughly 20 employees at its inception to more than 100 today. It has now become a well‑known name in Quanzhou’s tea industry.

　　With his business firmly on track, Li Minglian remained far from complacent. He presented a tray of freshly produced Yunhong black tea to the reporter. “This is our finest black tea, crafted using time-honored techniques,” he explained. “It boasts a pure aroma, a bright infusion, and a rich, mellow flavor—its quality even surpasses that of many renowned domestic black teas—yet its price is considerably lower. Why? Because we’re lacking in cultural depth,” he said with evident concern. Having broadened his horizons through travel, Li Minglian came to realize that tea is deeply rooted in Chinese culture; without a culturally resonant narrative, its value can hardly be fully unlocked. This insight sparked in him new, more ambitious aspirations. “Our tea is ecologically sustainable, our tea gardens offer breathtaking scenery, and our cultural landscape is vibrant and diverse. If we weave these elements together into a distinctive tea‑culture experience, it will surely become even more compelling,” he remarked. He told the reporter that he harbors a dream: while steadily expanding the scale of tea cultivation and production, he aims to seamlessly integrate the tea industry with tourism, developing eco‑friendly tea‑garden–themed leisure tours that enrich the sector’s appeal. The vision is for visitors to come to Dehong—to stroll through tea gardens, pick tea leaves, craft fragrant teas, witness the art of tea ceremony, savor the nuanced flavors of tea, appreciate tea culture, and stay at tea‑inspired inns. Through hands‑on experiences—planting, harvesting, processing, and tasting tea—tourists will gain a deeper understanding of Dehong, forge a personal connection with the region, and ultimately fall in love with it.

　　The reporter teased Li Minglian, saying he tended to overthink things, but he dismissed it: “We manage more than 16,000 mu of tea plantations and work with over 1,700 farming households. Right now, each mu brings them an additional income of just over 1,200 yuan—still not enough. Farmers in the high-altitude, cold mountain areas continue to face significant hardships. If our tea industry can grow even stronger, farmers’ incomes will rise accordingly.” He told the reporter that life in the mountains remains challenging; beyond participating in public‑service initiatives like donating to education or helping build bridges and repair roads, the company also provides support through other means: it consistently upholds a guaranteed minimum purchase price, and for particularly struggling tea growers, its buying price is set slightly above market levels. When tea farmers’ children encounter difficulties affording school fees, the company offers whatever assistance it can. Yet Li Minglian believes these measures are merely supplementary; only by fostering a more robust tea industry and driving broader development in Dehong can farmers’ lives truly improve.

　　Listening to Li Minglian’s remarks, the reporter gained a fresh perspective. As the ancients said, “The greatest seclusion lies in the heart of the city.” Nestled within the urban landscape, this rather unassuming tea‑producing enterprise has, through its extraordinary efforts, brought Dehong’s teas to the international market and earned acclaim far and wide. At the same time, these insights helped explain why, in Quanzhou’s inaugural selection of renowned brand products, Yunhong Black Tea not only prevailed through rigorous rounds of evaluation but also emerged as one of the three winners of this prestigious honor.