Pic story: inheritors of tea making technique in Ya'an, China's Sichuan

This aerial photo taken on March 30, 2022 shows tea farmers in cooperation with Zhang Yuehua picking fresh tea leaves at a tea garden in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Gan Yuxiang (L) instructs a staff member to check the quality of tea leaves at a production workshop of Ya'an Youyi Tea Co., Ltd. in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 24, 2022. Gan, born in 1963, is a representative inheritor of dark tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This aerial photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows Zhang Yuehua drying newly-picked tea leaves at his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Gan Yuxiang fries tea leaves in a traditional way at a production workshop of Ya'an Youyi Tea Co., Ltd. in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province, July 19, 2019. Gan, born in 1963, is a representative inheritor of dark tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua)

Zhang Yuehua dries newly-picked tea leaves at his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 31, 2022. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Zhang Yuehua roasts tea leaves in a traditional way at his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 31, 2022. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Zhang Yuehua picks fresh tea leaves near his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 31, 2022. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Zhang Yuehua (L) processes tea leaves in a traditional way at his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 31, 2022. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Staff members of Ya'an Youyi Tea Co., Ltd. load boxes of Tibetan tea, a kind of dark tea, onto a truck in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 24, 2022. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Zhang Yuehua dries newly-picked tea leaves at his ancestral house in Mingshan District of Ya'an City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 31, 2022. Zhang, born in 1959, is a representative inheritor of green tea making technique. Boasting a long history of tea cultivation, Ya'an is the birthplace of dark tea and green tea making techniques. Inherited by generations of tea makers, both techniques are now listed as national-level intangible cultural heritage. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)