A Xinhua News Agency report on August 10, 2026 titled "From Mengding Mountain's Single Leaf — A New Path for Sichuan Tea Revitalization" (Reporter Li Xueyan) has spotlighted how the New Tea Beverage Public Welfare Fund is reshaping tea farming in Ya'an's Mingshan District — turning Mengding Mountain's tea industry from "selling by the jin" to "selling by the brand."

Three-Village Cooperative Lifts Farmers

The fund — initiated by leading tea enterprises — has been the core pillar of its Sichuan industry-aid program for three years, targeting three key villages: Gaogang, Shuanghe, and Qilong. Today, the "Mengding Mountain Tea" regional public brand has reached a value of 5.915 billion yuan, lifting thousands of farming households and adding over 2,600 yuan in annual income per household.

The change begins with organization. Qilong Village has built a "Unified Management, Three Improvements, Two Distributions" cooperative mechanism; Gaogang has completed cooperative standardization and hired a professional manager; Shuanglong Village pursues "Party Building + Industry" co-construction. Once-scattered tea farmers now participate in the market as an industrial community.

On the production side, 500 mu of "Tezao 213" protected tea gardens, 300 mu of matcha bases, and trial plantings of gardenia and rose have been added — along with drones, tea pluckers, rotary tillers, integrated water-fertilizer systems, and organic fertilizer substitution.

Brand Building from Scratch

Local tea brands such as "Gaogang Youli" and "Qilong Wuyuan" have been launched; village-level livestreaming studios are now operational; fresh leaves are no longer sold merely by weight but enter broader markets through brand transformation.

A "Village Craftsmen Empowerment Plan" trains local apprentices through mentorship — over 90% achieve stable local employment, with monthly income increases of 1,500 to 3,000+ yuan. Farmer Xu Kai has set himself a goal: drive his cooperative's revenue up 30% within three years through tea-tourism integration.

Technology Decodes Traditional Tea Making

On August 6, the "Mengding Mountain Tea Science Study Course" — jointly launched by the Ya'an Science and Technology Association and partners including the municipal federation of trade unions, women's federation, and Communist Youth League — formally opened at the Mengding Mountain Tea History Museum, Science Study Center, and Zhiju Academy Teaching Site. More than 40 government employees, intangible heritage tea-making mentors, and study assistants participated, immersing themselves in "One Leaf, Three Transformations — Tracing Tea on the Chain."

The course centers on "Technology Decoding Traditional Tea-Making." After tracing the thousand-year tribute tea history at the museum, students entered the tea-making workshop — using infrared thermometers to monitor temperature during fixation and rolling, understanding the science of high-temperature enzyme deactivation; using portable moisture meters to verify dried tea moisture content against the industry's 7% benchmark; producing customized tea leaves with a "technology ID card." Intangible heritage inheritors Jiang Guangyong, Luo Yang, Yang Xin, and Wei Peng served as tea-making mentors, paired with study assistants for "dual-mentor teaching."

Yang Zhong, Director of the Sichuan Provincial Mengding Mountain Tea Science Base, noted that the "One Leaf, Three Transformations" course has been warmly welcomed by students, government agencies, and enterprises. The base will continue refining the curriculum, bringing tea science education into schools, communities, and tea villages.

Panda Tea: In Resonance with Mengding's Tea Revitalization

Rooted in the same Mengding Mountain terroir, Panda Tea resonates with the broader tea industry revitalization. Founder An Yanshi pioneered the patented "Panda Manure Ecological Fertilization" technology, organically integrating the national treasure giant panda with millennia-old tea culture. The brand's tea gardens sit at 800–1,500m elevation on Mengding Mountain — squarely within the giant panda's natural habitat — practicing zero-chemical-fertilizer, zero-pesticide ecological cultivation. Panda Tea is not merely an ecological tea, but a cultural tea and an intellectual-property tea embodying the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets."

From the New Tea Beverage Public Welfare Fund's farmer assistance to technology-decoded tea making, from cooperative mechanisms to indigenous brand building, this single leaf at the foot of Mengding Mountain is becoming the "golden leaf" of Sichuan tea revitalization. Panda Tea will continue using tea as a bridge — inviting the world to savor a fine cup of tea from the homeland of the giant panda.