Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden of Zhanbing village, Tong'an town, Yongtai county of Fujian province on Apr 3. [Photo/Xinhua]

A grand ceremony to worship tea gods was held in Zhanbing village, Tong'an town, Yongtai county of Fujian province on Apr 3, marking that spring tea produced in the region is set to hit the market.

Yongtai, situated in the middle part of Fujian, has a profound history of tea plantation. Official historical records show that the city's Tengshan tea has a history of over 800 years.

Yongtai now is home to 32,800-mu tea gardens with over 20 varieties of tea trees, which mainly are green tea, oolong tea and black tea. Roughly 30,000 people working the tea sector in the city, with the annual output of the tea industry exceeding 200 million yuan, official data show.

Wei Xiuhui, deputy head of Yongtai government, noted that the city will not only promote tea products but also aims to share the tea culture and great ecological environment with the world.