Tea hills align to the foot of mountains in Gia Lai (Photo: Hong Diep/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Located on the north shore of Bien Ho (Sea Lake) in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, Bien Ho tea garden is also known as tea Sea Lake because it is a harmony of a sea lake and immense tea fields.
The tea hill is only 13km from Pleiku city, located in Chu Pah district. This is also the first tea plantation of the French in Gia Lai, formed from the 20s of the previous century.
The most wonderful thing to do here is comtemplating the beauty of this Bien Ho tea garden with majestic mountains along the red dirt roads embracing green tea hills. Its beauty makes those who come here feel like being lost in a paradise, where there is no sun, wind and arid of the Central Highlands.
Surrounded by mountains, the tea hills help dispell the heat on this arid Highlands.
Tourists will be attracted by the lush green of a tea garden full of sunshine. Under the early sunlight, the sea of tea is becoming dazzling.
Coming to the tea hill, it seems that the summer sun is only a factor that creates the coolness of the tea field as it is stretched with endless green colours, which captures the affection of the tourists. Guests will feel coolness in every tissue while the sorrow of the past is suddenly dispelled, only relaxation remains.
After persistent rainy months from around November to April every year, Gia Lai turns itself into the best season of the year. On the green tea hills, straight to the foot of the mountain, the workers pick up tea leaves with early dew.
Tea harvest season in Gia Lai (Photo: Hong Diep/VNA) Bien Ho Tea Garden - a tourist destination of Gia Lai, belonging to Bien Ho Tea Joint Stock Company with more than 1,100 ha cultivated by organic methods. Tea gardens have created jobs for more than 7,000 workers of 1,600 households in the area.
Most of the tea here is grown on re-cultivated land, but there is an area that still retains old tea roots with a lifetime of over one hundred years.
Bahnar people in Ia Luy village, Nghia Hung commune, Chu Pah district are attached to this ancient tea area. Old tea roots, forming a part of Bahnar people’s life, still yield health young buds every season.
Village elder Phin, 65, in Ia Luy village, Nghia Hung commune, Chu Pah district said, from the age of 10, he followed his parents to pick tea. Elderly in the village recounted, tea in this area was planted in 1941-1942, from the French period.
After liberation, more than 3,000ha of tea planted by the French was assigned to the State for management. After that, many tea areas were newly planted but the old tea gardens were retained.
Workers' households sign contracts with Bien Ho Tea Joint Stock Company, committing to applying organic fertilizer to the entire tea area of the Company.
As a normal experience of picking tea over generations, they only pick the standard buds, leaving new buds for the next picking.
Tea garden helps ensure family livelihoods of locals. Ms. A Bay, 61, in Ia Luy village, said that her family mainly lives on this tea-picking work. The tea garden helps her raise three children to go to school.
Currently, Bien Ho Tea Joint Stock Company is processing with a capacity of 40 tons of tea per day. The tea production process is fully cultivated using organic methods. Products are exported to Russia and Eastern European countries.
Tea hills not only bring economic value to many generations of local people but also is an attractive tourist destination in the Central Highlands locality./.
