Tea art brightens life of left-behind children

"In Weishan, almost every household grows tea, but we know little about the traditional tea culture," Jiang said. "Through the tea class, however, I learned a lot."

"In retrospect, I feel the tea art classes helped me calm my mind, manage my emotions and I began to communicate more with my parents because of the interesting classes," she said.

Jiang is now a freshman at Wuhan Conservatory of Music. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the commencement of her new semester got delayed, and she stayed in Weishan for a protracted Spring Festival holiday. During this time, she often visited her alma mater.

Jiang said the sight of primary school girls learning tea art in a clean and bright classroom, makes her proud. "I hope they can enjoy the tea ceremony, as it will bring more harvests than they could imagine."

Eleven-year-old Gao Yingxin has been attending tea art classes for a year. Once a shy and reserved girl, she can now open her heart and make many good friends.

"The gestures and movements we learn in the class are very interesting, so is the costume we wear," Gao said.

A blissful smile blooms over Gao's face at the mention of the tea ceremony. She said tea-related activities such as plucking leaves and discussing tea-making, enriched her extra-curricular life. When talking to her father who works in India by phone, she would share stories about her tea art classes.