In late autumn, the town of Liubao in Cangwu County, Wuzhou City, Guangxi, bursts with vibrancy as tea trees blanket the hills, signaling new growth. Here, tea farmers with bamboo baskets navigate the terraced tea gardens, expertly harvesting the autumn tea. This thriving landscape is not only a treasure of Wuzhou’s distinctive industry but also a beacon of hope for many people with disabilities seeking employment and a path to social integration.
Recently, a “Central Media Goes to the Grassroots” interview initiative, organized by the China Disabled Persons’ News and Publicity Promotion Association and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Disabled Persons’ Federation, brought attention to the employment success stories of disabled individuals at the Qinyi Liubao Tea Professional Cooperative in Cangwu County.
Upon entering the production workshop of the Qinyi Liubao Tea Professional Cooperative, a rich aroma of tea fills the air. Here, raw tea undergoes over 20 processes—screening, blending, fermentation, steaming, drying, and aging—before being packaged and distributed widely. Among the industrious workers is Guo Shifang, who, despite her level-three physical disability, skillfully roasts the tea leaves.
“I used to rely solely on my husband’s irregular income, which placed a heavy burden on our family. After joining the cooperative, I manage my own 10-plus acres of tea garden and sell over 200 pounds of tea to the cooperative each year, boosting our family income by nearly 30,000 yuan,” Guo explained as she shared her journey with our team.
We also met Tan Aiyun, the founder of the cooperative, who established it in 2011. She has developed a model combining “cooperative + tea garden + households with disabilities,” enhancing income opportunities for disabled individuals through diversified means such as employment, land transfer, and tea leaf procurement.
“It brings me immense joy to see friends with disabilities improving their lives through their involvement in the Liubao tea industry,” Tan remarked, gazing over the sprawling tea fields.
Deng Zhiyuan, who has a level-four physical disability, shared, “I earn around 60,000 yuan a year through land transfer and selling tea. I’ve been growing and producing Liubao tea since my youth, and the industry has significantly boosted my family’s income and encouraged villagers to plant tea as well. My passion for Liubao tea led to me being named a representative inheritor of the sixth batch of Cangwu County’s intangible cultural heritage project in 2023.”
In recent years, Wuzhou City has focused on solidifying and expanding poverty alleviation results for disabled individuals in conjunction with rural revitalization efforts, aiming to enhance job opportunities and income for them.
Li Zhixin, chairman of the Wuzhou Disabled Persons’ Federation, noted, “We have been proactive in partnering with local tea companies to create long-term collaborative mechanisms, promoting employment policies that benefit disabled individuals, and encouraging businesses to develop suitable positions based on their needs, such as tea picking, roasting, and packaging. We also facilitate the transfer of idle land owned by disabled people at fair prices, promoting large-scale, standardized tea cultivation. In terms of tea procurement, we prioritize buying from disabled households to ensure their livelihood.”
“Today, under the guidance of local authorities, more and more disabled individuals are participating in the Liubao tea industry. They are not only realizing their self-worth but also injecting new vitality into the healthy development of the local tea industry and rural rejuvenation,” Li concluded.
