From an investment threatened with loss

Through the town of Ba Che (Quang Ninh), along Provincial Road 330, it is about 30 km to Dap Thanh township, which is considered the “capital” of yellow tea trees in Ba Che Mountain District.

Mr. Ninh Van Trang, director of Dap Thanh Forest Products Trading Joint Stock Company (Dap Thanh Township, Ba Che District), said that the yellow-flowered tea tree is a native species that grows naturally in the forest beside the streams and streams. In the past there was a time when traders actively searched for yellow tea trees, people in the forest often dug up trees and sold them to foreign traders for about 1.5-2 million VND/tree. Therefore, the natural yellow tea tree is dwindling and in danger of disappearing.

As an ethnic minority, born and raised in Ba Che Mountain District, Mr. Trang went to the forest many years ago to collect and sell this flower. Realizing the great benefits that yellow tea trees bring, Mr. White chose to plant trees rather than sell them. Mr. Trang is one of the pioneers in planting, restoring and conserving yellow tea trees.

The decision was so, but when the story was discussed with the family, many relatives expressed concerns and disagreed. Recalling that time, Mr. White still cannot forget his father’s objection. “My father was very against it at the time. The old man did not eat for several days. Grandpa was tough, if you can’t you have to leave the country for your kids. Change fields and get something to eat?”.

Luckily, his wife Nguyen Thi Bay supported and encouraged him to pursue his dream. In early 2009, Mr. White started the implementation of the project of planting valuable tea trees with the possession of 3,000 m2 of the family land, and all the capital was accumulated by the couple over ten years along with bank loans.

Thousands of yellow flowering tea trees were bought by Mr. White from the villagers while he went to the forest to plant them. From that time on, the San Chi people took the forest as their home and the tree stump as a place to eat and rest. Day after day, he and his relatives do their best to take care of this plant, hoping that it will grow quickly, be healthy and bloom as expected.

The journey of mastering the tree is compared to gold

Excited about the planned plan, but the sky did not please people. Due to lack of experience, the technique is non-standard, since this plant does not like hilly land, preferring to be planted in the forest, near deep slits, so the seedlings are carefully picked by Mr.

“Eventually almost 50% of the seedlings died and had to be dug up and discarded. At the time, I was so frustrated that I just wanted to give up. But I’m passionate about this plant, thanks to my wife’s encouragement and also because I would be wasting my effort and money if I quit halfway through, so I decided to keep going anyway,” recalled Mr. White.

It was difficult to get family approval, mastering the technology of growing and caring for tea at that time was even more difficult for him. The shade-loving yellow-flowered tea tree is now planted on the hill and needs to be replanted to provide water to the tree to ensure the spacing between plants, and if they are planted too close together, the tree will also die.

Determined to the end, Mr. White worked day and night to save his newly planted forest. Since no one had grown this plant before, he had no one to share his experiences with. He began the problem of creating moisture and coolness for the tree by using many pumps and pumping water frequently and regularly every day.

In fact, these tea trees have become greener and the leaves have also grown faster. And then, after 4 years of losing sleep and food, by 2013, thousands of yellow flowering tea trees owned by Mr. White and his wife had buds. That day his family was as happy as if he saw gold.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bay, Mr. White’s wife, said that on the day the tea trees budded and bloomed, the couple saw the petals getting bigger and bigger, the flower color was bright yellow, did not hide their feelings could. “With the flower in his hand, Mr. White looked at me and said that from now on he can eat well and sleep in peace,” he said, tears seeming to roll down Mrs. Bay’s cheeks.

Initially successful, but with 3,000 m2 and more than 1,000 tea trees only 15 kg of flowers in the first year. Mr. White must solve the productivity problem. He worked on how to care for this plant more effectively. Mr. White alone had to go through the provinces and then go to China to learn technology.

At the same time, he found out whether the leaves of this plant can be used in addition to the flowers? After experts found that this leaf had good uses like reducing blood fat and regulating blood pressure, Mr. Trang picked it, crushed it, and packed it in a filter bag to sell with flowers.

So the number of camellias harvested next year is higher than last year, 75 kg were harvested in 2014; In 2015 more than 1 quintal was harvested, without tea leaves. In particular, Mr. White’s company has produced about 700 kg of dried flowers in 2021, with an estimated value of tens of billions of dongs. Dap Thanh Forest Products Trading Joint Stock Company owned by Mr. Trang has overcome many difficulties and has become a leading entity providing high quality seedlings and tea products in Ba Che District.

Popular 5 Star OCOP Products

Mr. Trang not only mastered the planting techniques, but also perfected the process of sublimation drying to allow camellia to retain its color, flavor and medicinal properties. He also standardizes the tea production process from selection to packaging.

According to Mr. Trang, the current price of dried camellia flowers is VND 15 million/kg; One box of steeped tea leaves is VND 60,000 and whole dried tea leaves are VND 50,000/pack. Besides the income from camellia flowers and tea leaves, he also successfully cultivated 10,000 tea seedlings and sold them at VND 35,000/tree.

Yellow tea was recovered from a wild plant and became the main crop in Ba Che. With a high and stable selling price, the flower, which is compared to gold, brings hundreds of millions of dongs to growers annually, helping them not only get out of poverty but also become rich.

Ba Che Yellow Flower Tea is now a 5-Star certified OCOP product, the highest certification in Quang Ninh Province’s One Commune, One Ward Program (OCOP). As if that weren’t enough, this product is also aiming to become a national OCOP product.

Currently, this precious tree grows well from seedling to deeply processed products. Yellow flower tea is both a high-quality beverage and a rare medicinal herb that is increasingly on the market.

Ba Che Golden Flower Tea products are grown, nurtured, processed and propagated to ensure strict standards. The pre-processing and processing comply with the standards of the advanced quality management system HACCP and ISO 9001:2015, with sublimation drying technology to preserve the pure taste and many valuable nutrients inherent in the flowering tea.

The “sublimation” of the yellow flowering tea tree on Ba Che land is not only the story of pioneer farmers who dared to think and act like Mr. Trang, but also became a proof of the rightness of Ba Che’s transformation policy to the economic center of forestry and medicinal plants of Quang Ninh Province.

At present, the area of ​​golden tea trees in Ba Che District has grown to nearly 300 hectares. The cultivation of this valuable medicinal plant not only creates livelihoods and helps people get rich, but also creates unique cultural values, which form the basis for the development of tourism services in the Ba Che Mountain District.

To help improve the economic value of the yellow tea tree, Mr. Trang’s company has supported the purchase of flowers from ethnic minorities in Ba Che district to be turned into products, creating jobs and stable income for many local workers.

According to “Camellia International Journal” – magazine specializing in researching yellow flower tea of ​​the world, yellow flower tea compounds have the ability to inhibit the growth of tumors by up to 33.8%; Reduces blood cholesterol levels by 35%. This tea also has the ability to reduce the symptoms of atherosclerosis caused by fatty blood, regulate blood pressure and prevent cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, tumors …