Quality tea leaves left unpicked

An irksome earthquake has left roughly 20,000 hectares of tea fields, bursting with fresh tea leaves, abandoned as the Chinese workers of Mingshan county go instead to rebuild their homes.

Normally tens of thousands of workers gather during the prime picking season (March to May) to pick the best quality leaves, however, a sudden quake in April meant that the workforce was understandably preoccupied with the destructive fallout. Around 20% of the crop has been lost (due to being left at the mercy of frost rather than the seismic activity) and a party leader from a Mingshan town estimates that it will take two months for local life to return to normal.

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