Around the Qingming Festival, with fragrant green tea leaves in the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong, it is a good time to pick spring tea.

In various tea gardens in Shixing County, Shaoguan City, the tea trees are competing with each other to sprout. Tea growers and companies have rushed to pick the first batch of spring tea during the farming season, opening up the "tea economy" in the beautiful countryside.

Walking along the ecological organic tea farm called Shi Qian located in Zhudongjing Village, Mashi Town, you can see tea mountains, surrounded by clouds and mist, full of spring. Wearing raincoats and bamboo hats, dozens of workers are competently picking half-an-inch-long new leaves with their fingers gently stroking the tea trees. In their full-loaded tea baskets, the green and plump buds are densely layered, exuding a refreshing fragrance.

Shixing is located in a subtropical monsoon climate, with year-round warm sunshine and abundant rainfall. At present, there are 10 tea enterprises in the county, with a tea planting area of about 6,000 mu. The expected spring tea output is 20 tons. The planted varieties include Jinxuan, Qingxin Oolong, and Jinguanyin. Areas such as Zhudongjing are relatively high in altitude and shrouded in clouds and mist all year round where climate and soil conditions are very suitable for growing tea.

清明前后，粤北山区茶青飘香，正是春茶采摘的好时节。韶关市始兴县的各处茶园里，茶树竞相吐露新绿。茶企和茶农纷纷抢抓农时采摘第一批春茶，开启美丽乡村的“茶经济”。

走进位于马市镇猪洞迳十钱生态有机茶场，放眼望去，只见云雾缭绕的茶山春意盎然，一垄接一垄。几十名工人身穿雨衣、头戴斗笠，手指在茶树上翻飞，熟练地采摘着半寸长短的新叶。在她们满载的茶筐里，翠嫩饱满的芽头密匝层叠，散发出沁人的清香。

据了解，始兴地处亚热带季风气候，拥有长年温暖的阳光，充沛的雨量，目前全县有茶企10家，茶叶种植面积约6000亩，预计春茶产量20吨，种植品种有金萱、青心乌龙、金观音等。猪洞迳等区域海拔较高，终年云雾缭绕，气候和土壤条件非常适宜茶叶生长。