The award ceremony.
You have surely heard of vocational skills competitions for tea appraisers, tea artists and tea processing workers—but you have certainly never heard of a competition that selects for the skill of promoting a particular tea well. The Hunan people, always the first to dare, have set another precedent in the tea industry.
Starting from July, the 2022 “Hunan Black Tea” Promotion Vocational Skills Competition, hosted by the Hunan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and organized by the Hunan Black Tea Industry Development Promotion Association and the Hunan Teahouse Industry Association, came to a close after nearly three months across three stages: sub-venue preliminaries, the finals, and the awards. On September 4, the competition organizing committee held the awards ceremony in Changsha. Tang Jianchu, deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, attended and presented awards to the first-prize winners. Guests also included Bao Xiaocun, chief expert of the Hunan Tea Industry Technology System and researcher at the Hunan Tea Research Institute; Cao Wencheng, honorary president of the Hunan Tea Industry Association; and Zhu Haiyan, president of the Hunan Teahouse Industry Association and professor at Hunan Agricultural University.
According to the organizers, after early preparation and active applications from member units, preliminary selection contests were held in the Zhuzhou, Hengyang, Yiyang and Zhangjiajie regions, with outstanding contestants advanced to the finals. On August 31, the organizing committee held the finals of the 2022 “Hunan Black Tea” Promotion Vocational Skills Competition at the Hunan Embroidery Museum. After rigorous sub-venue selections, nearly 40 contestants from across the province competed in a splendid and intense final with innovative and creative presentations.
Contestant delivering a presentation in the finals.
In the finals, Xiao Lizheng, chairman of the Hunan Tea Society and professor at Hunan Agricultural University, served as head judge. The judging panel also comprised Bao Xiaocun, chief expert of the Hunan Tea Industry Technology System and researcher at the Hunan Tea Research Institute; Yin Zhong, vice president and secretary-general of the Hunan Tea Brand Building Promotion Association; and Zhu Haiyan, president of the Hunan Teahouse Industry Association and professor at Hunan Agricultural University. Meanwhile, team leaders and instructors from the five competition regions—Changsha, Zhuzhou, Yiyang, Zhangjiajie and Hengyang—observed the contest.
On the competition floor, contestants presented with eloquence and prepared teas with deft hands, in endlessly varied styles and boundless creativity. In the practical promotion segment, there was not only the traditional straight drinking but also original blended drinks. In this collision of tradition and novelty, Hunan black tea took on new colors and gained more ways to be enjoyed, sparking even stronger interest in it. A contestant representing Anhua prepared on the spot a healthy specialty tea drink—Anhua black tea “Purple Fairy” (Zixia Xianzi).
All contestants and judges pose for a group photo after the finals.
The competition aimed to vigorously advance the building of the “Hunan Black Tea” public brand, strictly following the principle of “selecting the best across multiple regions, gathering for hands-on contests, and finally crowning the champion,” fully displaying the spirit and professional competence of Hunan black tea promotion talent, and discovering, reserving and cultivating promotion talent for the rise of the Hunan black tea industry. After the contest, the organizing committee joined Changsha Xiuyuan Tea Banquet to present a “Eight Scenes of Xiaoxiang · Hunan Black Tea Banquet”: admiring eight great scenery, tasting eight black teas and enjoying eight tea dishes—origin-grown black teas combined with local ingredients to create delicacies on the tongue, leaving unforgettable memories of Hunan. The black tea industry will make a new “red proposal” for rural revitalization.
The nearly 40 contestants in the grand finals of the 2022 “Hunan Black Tea” Promotion Vocational Skills Competition competed live through two segments—”tea presentation speech + practical promotion”—deciding 1 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze, 1 innovation and 24 excellence awards.
Award list of the 2022 “Hunan Black Tea” Promotion Vocational Skills Competition
Gold: Huang Yingni (Changsha)
Silver: Wu Jiangyu (Yiyang), Chen Zhiqi (Hengyang)
Bronze: Jiang Caiyun (Yiyang), Zhou Jingjing (Zhangjiajie), Chen Xingling (Zhangjiajie), Yuan Hui (Zhuzhou)
Innovation: Jiang Zunyi (Yiyang)
Produced by: China Cooperation Times · Tea Weekly All Media
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Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
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