Chinese Tea Annals

Every year throughout China an innumerable number of tea fairs, exhibitions, trade shows, etc are organised. Every tea producing region has its own. Big cities have theirs as well. Organised on provincial or more regional levels, all have more or less the same goals: expose the local teas to a broad audience; help local tea producers with establishing their brands and facilitate the emergence of local “champions”; and be a networking platform between the different actors of the tea industry.

The International Tea Convention and Expo (国际茶业大会暨展览会) is something like the Olympic Games of Chinese tea trade shows. It doesn’t take place every year and it is staged in a different venue each time. The two first editions from 2005 and 2007 took place respectively in Hangzhou (杭州) and Changsha (长沙). The third edition is about to open in Chengdu (成都), the capital of Sichuan (四川) province. It will last from the sixth to the eighth of June. Organised by state level institutions, it aims to bring together Chinese and foreign tea industry actors. This years discussions will very much be under the sign of the global financial situation. Participants from about thirty countries will attend the event.

The International Tea Convention and Expo is also an occasion for the organising region to showcase its products. In terms of quantity, Sichuan is China’s second tea producing province. Historically, tea in Sichuan goes a very long way back. The Sichuan tea industry is currently going through a reorganising process, which should make it stronger and help it get more recognition. One of the province’s tea industry challenge is a plethora of tea producers with few well established brands. There clearly is the hope that the convention will help to promote Sichuan’s teas to its international participants. After holding the convention’s second edition, Hunan province’s tea exports did surprisingly well.

The event comes a year after the dramatic earthquake that struck the province. Sichuan’s tea industry was strongly and directly impacted by it. For those tea growing areas near the epicentre, the way to recovery will not be easy. Its tea producers will be presenting their products at the expo, without having to pay any fees.

Hibiscus mutabilis is the symbol of the city of Chengdu.

Chinese sources: 全球茶魁将汇聚成都 茶界盛会下月举行; 应对危机 把握机遇 振兴川茶