Set up the live broadcast pole, connect the power bank, and open the live broadcast page...... Before sunrise, Nanta, a Dai girl in her early 20s, was ready for the live broadcast.
"Welcome to my live broadcast room, at this moment I am in Jingmai Mountain, behind me is the sea of clouds and 10,000 acres of tea plantation, today I will take you to enjoy the sea of clouds online, and share this tea!" In the morning light, with the sea of clouds and tea forests in Jingmai Mountain as the background, Nanta began to enjoy the scenery, chat, and exchange tea knowledge with netizens from all over the world, and by the way, exhibited and sold the food and special products of his hometown. Two hours later, Nanta, who ended the live broadcast, rushed to various scenic spots on Jingmai Mountain to be a commentator, and when she met the picking season, she also had to shoot short videos of tea picking, tea making, and selling tea, and displayed them on various platforms. Nanta said that this is the way that young Jingmai people love Jingmai Mountain - to be the "spokesperson" of Jingmai Mountain.
Jingmai Mountain and Sea of Clouds. Photo by Lu He
Jingmai Mountain, located in Huimin Town, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, is composed of two administrative villages, Jingmai and Mangjing, with 15 villages and people of 5 nationalities. In September 2023, the inscription of the "Pu'er Jingmaishan Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" was approved at the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming the 57th World Heritage Site in China.
Tea is the "soul" of Jingmai Mountain. The average altitude of Jingmai Mountain is about 1400 meters, and the forest coverage rate is 83.14%. At present, there are as many as 28,000 acres of well-preserved ancient tea forests here. For more than 1,000 years, the ancestors of Jingmai Mountain have simulated and used the forest ecological environment, cut off some trees and shrubs in the natural forest, and retained the shade trees such as winter cherry blossoms and camphor trees, and planted tea trees on the fertile soil in the mountains, forming a model of mountain human settlements of "villages live in tea forests, tea forests are hidden in forests" and "people, tea and forests coexist". It has also become the world's largest, best-preserved, and oldest artificially cultivated ancient tea forest, and is known as the "Natural Museum of World Tea Culture and History".
Tea is also the source of life for Jingmai Mountain people. 90% of the labor force in Jingmai and Mangjing villages is engaged in work related to the tea industry, and the tea income accounts for more than 90% of the total income of the villagers, driving the sustainable development of Jingmai Mountain's economy and society. In 2023, Jingmai Village will achieve a total rural economic income of 156.97 million yuan and a per capita net income of 20,026.95 yuan, while Mangjing Village will achieve a total rural economic income of 157.03 million yuan and a per capita net income of 23,036.55 yuan.
Don't look at the beautiful life of the villagers today, but they have also suffered in the past. In the past, due to the remoteness of Jingmai Mountain and the single industrial structure, the local people have been living in difficulty for a long time, and the production and living conditions are relatively backward. In 2010, the application of the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er was launched, and with the continuous improvement of the level of protection and management, the authenticity and integrity of the heritage have been more recognized. It is gratifying that in this process, more and more young people like Nanta have returned to their hometowns to devote themselves to the construction of Jingmai Mountain.
Nowadays, walking in Jingmai Mountain, you can see elegant tea rooms everywhere, homestays that integrate modern aesthetics, and even trendy coffee shops and milk tea shops. For the millennium Jingmai Mountain, they are young and full of infinite vitality; For the world's Jingmai Mountain, they are open and communicate closely with the outside world. And the Jingmai Mountain they "endorse" is the Jingmai Mountain full of hope.
Nanta studied marketing at university, worked in e-commerce in Kunming and other places after graduation, and later returned to her hometown at the call of her family to take over the family's tea business.
When he first returned to the village, Nanta helped the family sell tea, and also joined Pu'er Jingmaishan Investment Development Management Co., Ltd. as a docent.
The South Tower after returning from tea picking. Photo by Zhou Siyu
"We are tea makers, and we have learned many kinds of tea and tea-making skills through our ears and eyes", "As a docent, I can come into contact with different tourists, and I will force myself to learn more cultural knowledge...... Although she lives in the mountains, Nanta's world is still vast, and she is constantly learning new knowledge, new skills, and experiments. In November 2022, Nanta began shooting short videos and posting them on the Douyin platform, showing the beauty of her hometown in a live broadcast and selling tea and other hometown specialties.
The short video copy of the South Tower is concise, and most of the time it shows the sea of clouds, sunrise and sunset, ancient tea forests, ancient villages, mountain flowers and birds, and the way of "relaxation" has attracted a large number of fans. "In this way, you can share the happiness and beauty with everyone." At present, her Douyin account has released more than 160 works, has 24,000 fans, and the highest number of online live broadcasts is more than 1,000 people.
In Jingmai Mountain, Xianjin is also a well-known "anchor", not only the first batch of tea farmers in the village to open a Douyin account for live broadcasting, but also the first person to settle in the "Little Red Book".
Xianjin is picking tea. Photo by Hu Zunhui
At the age of 18, Xianjin, who had been working abroad for many years, officially returned to Jingmai Mountain and started the road of entrepreneurship.
After Xianjin returned, he not only became the main labor force in the family, but also brought back the ideas and vitality of young people. In 2019, because of the sudden epidemic, tourists could not enter Jingmai Mountain, tea could not be brought out, and tea at home could not be sold. After thinking twice, Xianjin and her sister began to try live streaming to bring goods, and grew up while groping. Later, there was a photographer, e-commerce practitioner and Xianjin's boyfriend "@大雄" joined, with the joint efforts of several people, this business is getting better and better, their "business circle" is getting bigger and bigger, and now customers are all over the world.
Nowadays, there are more and more young people like Nanta and Xianjin in Jingmai Mountain, who choose to return to their hometown for development. They "stick" to the mountain village, actively create their own value, open the ancient mountain gate, and blend with the lively and fashionable outside world, selling products on e-commerce platforms, booking accommodation online, and basking in beautiful scenery on Xiaohongshu and Douyin...... It provides more possibilities for the future development of Jingmai Mountain.
In 2023, Nanta opened a homestay in the village to receive tourists from far and wide. After the successful application of Jingmai Mountain, as the world's first tea-themed world cultural heritage business card, the traffic brought by Jingmai Mountain, during the New Year's Day holiday in 2024 alone, the Jingmai Mountain Tea Forest Cultural Scenic Area received tourists increased by 274.2% year-on-year, a record high.
"This year, tea sales have risen sharply, and the number of tourists coming to Jingmaishan has also increased a lot. I believe that through our 'cloud' publicity, more and more people will come here and fall in love with it." Nanta said that in the future, she will continue to do a good job in live broadcasting and become a small "window" to speak for her beautiful hometown.
In the spring when everything is recovering, tea buds sprout, and Jingmai Mountain, which has just been blessed by the "World Cultural Heritage", has ushered in a new period of development opportunities. As the inheritors of the thousand-year-old tea mountain, these young Jingmai people are running and are working hard to create a new "Jingmai Mountain......
Author: Zheng Lu Wang Furong