Spring awaits: Your guide to tea gardens in Guiyang

For Guiyang tea enthusiasts, spring doesn't truly begin until leaves are picked, with every tea garden holding its own share of seasonal healing and joy. Thanks to consistently warm weather early this year, tea gardens across Guiyang have opened 10 to 15 days earlier than usual – ushering in the prime spring harvest season.

Here's a guide to Guiyang's must-visit tea gardens this spring:

Jiu'an Ancient Tea Garden

Highlights: Home to China's largest cultivated small-leaf camellia sinensis varieties, featuring over 54,000 trees across 4,000 mu (266.67 hectares). Most trees are 400-600 years old, with numerous specimens over 1,000 years old and 19 "tea king" trees over 2,000 years old.

Location: 012 township road, Huaxi district, Guiyang

Yang'ai Tea Plantation

Highlights: Spring here is next-level gorgeous! Covering over 20,000 mu with 5,600 mu of core tea fields, late March to April brings cherry blossoms in full bloom. Tea fields and flower seas blend into a dreamy landscape straight out of a movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

Location: No 1 Shugu Avenue, Huaxi district, Guiyang

Shenque Tea Plantation

Highlights: This 2,500-mu organic eco-tea garden specializes in premium white tea. Beyond exceptional brews, visitors can ascend for panoramic views of picturesque Baihua Lake, enjoying idyllic countryside scenery.

Location: No 8 Shuangkeng group, Gaozhai village, Zhuchang town, Guanshanhu district, Guiyang

Hongfeng Shanyun

Highlights: Nestled by Hongfeng Lake, this 580-mu plantation offers breathtaking views of the lake and the mountains. With picking beginning on Feb 26, it was one of Guiyang's earliest tea gardens to open this year.

Location: Dachong village, Qingzhen county-level city, Guiyang

China Tea Expo Park

Highlights: Spanning 1,500 mu with walking trails and windmill installations, this park is a photographer's dream. Cherry blossoms cascade like pink clouds across rolling hills, weaving with emerald tea terraces into a dazzling floral tapestry.

Location: Ludishao village, Hongfenghu town, Qingzhen county-level city, Guiyang

Yunshan Chahai

Highlights: This 5,000-mu selenium-rich eco-tea garden produces organic teas such as "Qinghe Cuiya", with leaves both flavorful and healthful.

Location: Baihua group, Matou village, Hefeng township, Kaiyang county, Guiyang

Lanzhi Tea Garden

Highlights: Benefiting from Kaiyang's renowned selenium-rich terrain– high altitude, low latitude, frequent clouds, and limited sunlight – this 3,000-mu organic garden yields plump, sweet tea buds with a lingering finish.

Location: Tiankan village, Nanlong township, Kaiyang county, Guiyang

Tiangui Tea Garden

Highlights: This garden cultivates 3,000 mu of eco-tea across multiple premium varieties, specializing in selenium-rich green, black, and white teas.

Location: Linchang group, Guaibi village, Baiyi town, Wudang district, Guiyang