HANGZHOU, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Nestled along West Lake in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Longjing Village has grown green tea for over a thousand years. This year's harvest unfolds under the hum of a drone gliding over the slopes as a tea picker secures freshly plucked leaves onto a waiting rope.

This is the first time Hangzhou West Lake Longjing Tea Co., Ltd. has attempted to transport fresh tea leaves by drone, according to Qi Yingjie, chairman of the company. "Drones are fast, reduce labor and let each picker harvest more leaves in a day," Qi explained. While carrying leaves down the mountain on foot can take at least half an hour, a drone completes the journey in just five minutes.

West Lake Longjing tea, or Dragon Well Tea, is known for its vibrant green color, delicate aroma, mellow taste, and flat, smooth leaves. It ranks among China's top 10 tea varieties and its brand value reached 8.64 billion yuan (about 1.25 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, holding the top spot in the country's regional tea brand rankings for seven consecutive years.

Across the hills, freshly picked leaves are delivered to a digitalized factory, where automation is transforming tea production. The nearly 7,000-square-meter facility, which began full operations this spring after a trial run last year, houses more than 300 machines across 12 production lines. From withering and pan-firing to sorting, blending, air separation and packaging, the process is fully automated, requiring only six workers to monitor operations and adjust parameters.

"The factory's roasting workshop alone can produce 750 kilograms of finished tea per day," said Zhou Chuangchuang, who heads the factory. "A skilled tea master might produce about half a kilogram a day by hand. At full capacity, this factory can match the output of thousands of workers."

Zhou added that the system incorporates experience from veteran tea artisans, translating traditional hand-roasting techniques into precise machine settings. The company is seeking patents for its customized mechanical production line, which it says achieves both artisanal quality and industrial scale.

"The reputation of West Lake Longjing tea comes from both heritage and innovation," Qi said. "We want to combine the two and deliver that fresh spring taste to more people."

Yet as some in the industry embrace high-tech solutions for tea processing, others are turning their attention further upstream, focusing on modernizing the tea gardens themselves. Fan Shenghua, now 66, is a master tea roaster who grew up in the tea gardens of Longjing and has been perfecting his roasting techniques since the age of 13.

Tea cultivation in the West Lake Longjing tea production area takes place on mountainous terrain, where the physically demanding nature of cultivating tea has led to a growing labor shortage. To address this, Fan advocates for bringing intelligence and mechanization into tea gardens. On his own farm, he has introduced drones to transport heavy materials such as fertilizer. As a deputy to the National People's Congress, he has proposed digital and smart management systems for tea gardens, urging the use of technology to ease labor shortage and retain talent in the industry.

Given the dry conditions Hangzhou has faced in recent years, Fan has also called for water diversion systems to irrigate the hillside tea gardens. "Bringing water up the mountain not only helps with irrigation and maintenance, but also delivers clear ecological and economic benefits, improving both yield and quality while supporting the green transformation of the tea industry," he said.

His vision is echoed by the Hangzhou municipal government. At a recent press conference on West Lake Longjing tea protection, local authorities highlighted the expanded use of drone-based plant protection, agricultural robots and other new machinery as part of efforts to improve green tea quality, alongside strengthened quality control throughout the production process.