Coming to Ta Cu Ty commune, Bac Ha district in the summer months of mid-June, reporters witnessed a series of ancient snow leopard tea trees hundreds of years old, about 1,700m above sea level, among thousands of mountains and forests, overlapping with white clouds.
After many generations and historical ups and downs, the ancient, vast Shan Tuyet tea trees have survived over time.
When the Han tuyet tea brand became widely known, Ta Cu Ty people carried their baskets up the tea trees to pick the plump fresh tea buds to sell on the market. Since then, the tea tree has been carefully protected and preserved by the people of Ta Cu Ty commune.
Taking reporters to visit the ancient tea area, Mr. Ly Van Minh - Director of Ta Cu Ty Agricultural Cooperative excitedly pointed to tea trees that are dozens of times older than his age and said: "Many generations have passed, the ancient tea trees have left their mark on our people's subconscious. Recently, when the cooperative's Shan Tuyet tea brand became more known, people gradually learned to care for and protect it more".
According to Mr. Minh, Ta Cu Ty commune currently has about 152 hectares of Shan Tuyet tea with more than 1,000 trees, of which about 60% are ancient.
"Previously, people sold fresh tea buds for only about 10,000 VND/kg, but when the cooperative came into operation, I bought them for the people at a price of 20,000 to 60,000 VND/kg. Such an income is much higher than growing rice, corn...", Mr. Ly Van Minh was excited.
Realizing the value of tea trees, Mr. Ly Van Minh invested in machinery, designed and packaged them to produce high-quality and valuable tea products.
During peak times, his cooperative exported about 60 tons of dried tea per year, with an average price of about 400 thousand VND/kg, earning about 24 billion VND.
Along with that, present here, the reporter saw that local people are actively caring for and protecting to preserve long-standing ancient tea trees.
According to statistics, Bac Ha currently has 102,190 ancient Sharan trees concentrated in 5 communes: Nam Mon, Hoang Thu Pho, Ban Lien, Ta Van Chu and Ta Cu Ty.
Preserving and promoting the value of ancient tea forests, Bac Ha district aims for a double income goal from bud harvesting and ecotourism development.
Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Ma Seo Diu - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ta Cu Ty commune, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province said: Currently, Ta Cu Ty commune is propagating and mobilizing people to maintain, care for and protect this ancient sweet soup.
At the same time, coordinate with Ly Van Minh's cooperative in the area to support the purchase of fresh tea buds for the people, contributing to increasing income. Thereby gradually improving the traditional Shan Tu Ky snow tea brand to be stronger.
