Global warming reshapes almanac for tea growers in China's Yunnan

By Ryan Woo

[...]

Provincial officials blame climate change for the greater frequency of drought in recent years, warning that rising temperatures threaten losses in crop production.

Extreme weather will also rewrite tea-growing seasons among the ethnic minority groups living in Yunnan, such as the Aini, to which the 49-year-old Que Liu and his family belong.

Production seasons in Yunnan, which for centuries had been part of a tea trading network linking Tibet and imperial China, have been dictated more by the taste buds of wealthy tea-drinkers in the last two decades.

But this year, the worst drought since 2010 slowed the growth of new leaves, delaying the picking season 15 days and slashing output.

[...]