The photo shows that a girl gives a cultural performance concerning tea at the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Tea Festival held in the city?s Nanjing Road on March 26, 2002.
The history of the tea culture festival dates back to 1994, when the government of Shanghai Zhabei District held the inaugural event in its effort to promote the tea.
The district used to be a major market place for tea before 1949 and Wu Juenong (1897-1989), China's modern tea master, lived there for seven years.
Shanghai is home to just one small tea garden (of Longjing green tea) on the Sheshan Mountain but is a big market and an important port for tea business. Every year locals consume up to 10,000 tons of tea leaves while the country's annual produce is 600,000 tons.
(china.org.cn March 27, 2002)
