Located at the foot of Tam Dao Mountain, La Bang commune (Dai Tu) has more than 300 ha areas for tea planting, in which more than 200 hectors of tea trees are in production, with capacity of 9,3 tons/hectors; average annual productivity gains nearly 1.900 tons fresh buds, equivalent to nearly 400 tons dried tea. Annually, tea cultivation gives nearly 900 farmer households in 10 hamlets of commune the earnings of more than 55 billion VND.
In Mid-October, the coming time near to the first International Tea Festival in Thai Nguyen province, Viet Nam in 2011 urges peoples’ life in La Bang commune. Chairman of the Farmers’ Union of Commune, Mr. Luong Van Minh was inspired and said that: La Bang Commune includes 10 hamlets; total 10 hamlets are admitted as tea production and trade village. In the coming Tea Festival, it is chosen as one of the destinations of travel tour, it will be very fun but busy. During the Festival, 10 hamlets of Commune will have billboard for tea trademark popularization, counter for tea sales serving tourists. Especially, peoples of Tien Thanh hamlet and Kem hamlet are mobilizing together to clean, pull up grass, take care of tea garden to be more beautiful in order to welcome tourists.
Go along hamlets, flavor of fresh tea sweeps everywhere. Mr. Vu Ngoc Vinh, in Dong hamlet told that: It is the first time peoples in hamlet have welcomed the domestic and international tourists to visit, so that his family will also prepare the most delicious and fragrant tea sets to treat everybody and sell them to be a gift… When we visit to the spacious house of Nguyen Thi Ngoc’s family (Dong Tien hamlet), we met Mrs. Lam Thi Van, Luong Thi Ha and some people in the La Bang Safe tea coordination group. Mrs. Van said that: Today, all of us in the La Bang Safe tea coordination group concentrate to raise tea flavor. She said more: Raising tea flavor is the final phase of the tea drying process. In this phase, it isn’t necessary to have high temperature; the importance is knowledge about the suit temperature, when you see that white dust appears on tea leaves, and green rice flavor odors, tea is finished …
Next to a tea garden of Lau Sau hamlet, a farmer told us that: La Bang peoples produce tea not for quantity, not for short term earnings, not for advertisement. If tea is delicious, it will be famous …
Sipping a cup of very strong tea, Mr. Minh said that: In the land of Khe mountain pass, Dieng Mountain of commune there are some ancient tea plains, many trees has diameter up to 50cm. In recent time, peoples in commune discovered that there are some tea plains with red buds, and its flavor is very delicious …
La Bang tea market is held 12 times/month, on average in each market there are from 7 to 10 trucks coming to import tea. Tea from neighboring communes is also sold there, and called generally as La Bang tea. Mr. Do Xuan Thin, Leader of Kem group said: The tea trader is very professional, they only need to see color, smell flavor, and they can know which La Bang tea is. Mr. Tran Trong Binh, in Dong Dinh hamlet, who is titled as “Gold hand” and twice times gained the first prize of Festival of tea quality competition of province, said: La Bang tea has built its trademark since 5 recent years. Trademark is built by peoples of commune. We determine not to use poisonous chemical, keep tea clean when processing and picking up by leave them in basket … Nice tea depends on hand of each drier.
Twilight in the evening, on the roads leading to hamlets’ alleys, we saw farmers being hurried in loads of tea on shoulders. Right after the dinner, making a fire in oven, drying machine, rubbing machine working repetitively rounds, regular as clockwise, since then, tea flavor quite spreads all over, dedicating life quintessence.
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