China Tea Culture Tourism Festival began on December 18 in China's "Tea Capital" Anxi, a county in east China's Fujian Province renowned for producing quality tea.

Over 3,000 guests attended the opening ceremony. Anxi has over 16,700 hectares of tea gardens, with an annual production of 15,000 tons of tea. About 70 percent of the Anxi people are involved in the tea industry.

Tea produced from Anxi has been exported to over 40 countries and regions including Japan and the United States, with annual export of 6,000 tons of tea.

Anxi tea wholesale market was also opened on the same day.

(People’s Daily 12/19/2000)