growing up in china, every day after dinner, my father would bring out his mint green porcelain tea set to brew the family pu’er tea. a rich and earthy aroma arose as the dark-colored liquid was poured into my teacup. as i slowly sipped the tea, layers of flavors waltzed on my tongue. to me, tea is more than a drink. it’s a memory associated with home. it’s a cultural heritage of my country.

pu’er tea is produced exclusively in yunnan region thanks to its unique climate conditions and terrain, which allow ancient tea trees — some over a thousand years old — to flourish naturally. each batch of tea is an expression of its terroir, or the specific environment that gives each tea its unique taste, making it sensitive to the effects of climate change. variations in temperature and precipitation may affect tea yield, as well as alter the complex balance of chemicals that gives tea its special flavor and potential health benefits, reported in nature. 

according to the international tea committee, china, as the world’s largest tea producer, accounted for roughly 45% of the global tea production in 2020, followed by india. most tea-growing regions are located in china’s southern provinces that have a warm and humid climate. in yunnan, the tea industry has become an important economic pillar of more than 77% of its counties, with the tea industry providing “the main income source for millions of mountain farmers,” a journal article from environmental research communications reported.

the yunnan region experiences a subtropical monsoon climate. the intergovernmental panel on climate change reported that monsoon land precipitation will likely increase in east, southeast and south asia mainly due to increasing moisture convergence by elevated temperatures. the bad news is that more rain during the monsoon season has been shown to decrease tea yield, according to a study led by tufts university. one possible reason is the increased cloud cover that comes with rain has limited plant and tree growth. in another tufts university survey of chinese tea growers, the majority of farmers interviewed agreed that precipitation patterns have changed during their lifetimes — increased duration, strength and unpredictability. they have also observed fewer cold days and warmer winters and summers, resulting in earlier spring tea harvests and monsoon tea harvests. 

rainfall levels are of central importance to tea quality, which is determined by its aroma, looks, and taste. secondary metabolites are the chemical compounds that give tea its rich flavors, bitter taste, and health benefits. these are the compounds that allow me to distinguish pu’er from the other types of tea and give pu’er its distinct flavor as “gentle, elegant and comforting, like an embrace from a parent,” described by saveur’s executive digital editor max falkowitz. however, there’s a dilution effect of extra rain on tea plants that results in a decrease in concentrations of tea’s secondary metabolites, leaving the tea tasteless. in the survey, 94% of the farmers perceive that precipitation variability impacts tea quality and they linked a decline of up to 50% in household income from tea sales to the dilution of taste as the leaves take in more water from the extra rainfall. 

moreover, a study from food chemistry found that temperature variations due to elevations have a direct effect on tea quality. tea displays “sweet, floral, honey-like notes” at higher altitude, where the temperature is lower, while it gives “grassy, hay-like aroma” at lower. also, tea grown at a higher elevation contains compounds potentially beneficial to health that are missing from tea grown at a lower elevation in the same location. this suggests that tea would lose some of its health benefits if temperatures rise. 

the yunnan government warned in 2016 that the mean annual temperatures will keep rising over the next 10 to 30 years, adding that rain patterns disrupted by climate change will threaten the output of crops such as tea, tobacco, and rubber. 

tea is more than just a drink. it is a cultural heritage, an economic pillar, a healthy lifestyle, and an expression of nature. when i take a sip of pu’er, the gentle bitterness and nuances of flavors instantly bring me back to the dining table at home. i hear the sound of water boiling in the kettle; i see dad reading his book and mom patting my cat lusky, who’s purring loudly. as i look down in my tea cup, instead of my own face reflected back, i see a worrisome face of a chinese tea farmer. climate change is brewing a major challenge for tea production, and our actions in response will determine the livelihoods of millions of farmers.

shuang qiao is a farming community in the guangxi province of china. it’s probably a poor, shabby place in the eyes of most city dwellers — but not for me.

as a child, i saw this as a mystical place, a paradise almost. the mountains were simply waiting for me to climb up and explore. they spread far beyond the village. rivers and swamps hummed with insects which we children would always try to catch using plastic bottles. these areas were slippery, often tripping us as we ran in bare feet. we laughed about it most of the time and i did not have a care in the world during those moments.

the community was warm and tight-knit, as i recall that many of the residents would leave their front gates open for others to wander through. it was common for a single household to host neighborhood dinner nights, which my grandparents actively participated in. the home could easily fit up to a hundred people. sometimes, the hot stuffy air would convince them to buy popsicles for my cousins and i at the market. i played with my cousins frequently, alongside other kids in the neighborhood. our favorite activity was playing tag in the vast, open courtyard occupying the middle of the home. the nearby playground was a close second.

a large number of chickens and dogs would roam about the village, which added to the pungent mix of farm smells. the pigs, cows, and chickens were kept just down the street from home. flies were so abundant that we would constantly need to cover the outdoor living room with sticker paper.

at the front of the neighborhood stood a magnificently old magnolia tree. its leaves were painted a variety of red and orange and its trunk was always sticky with sap. this tree always felt so inviting. people would spend much of their free time taking naps and playing cards beneath it. it was popular with us kids as well, of course, being the perfect “base” for our game of tag. during special holidays, we watched as the nighttime brimmed with yellow sparklers from all across the village.

at that time my family lived in nanning, a big bustling city in the south of china. i was in the village for my summer vacation, so back then, i felt a bit like an outsider.

my father would have to pick me up eventually to resume school, but i never wanted to leave. i wanted to stay within the confines of mountains and rivers. i wanted to live around the presence of farm animals and kids whose faces were always dirtied from the outdoors. i wanted to continue exploring this fantasy of a land for as long as i was alive. the adults would often tease me about this connection i had with the village, with the spirit of nature i felt within it. i was humbled, in a way.

i was not burdened with heavy responsibilities at this time and i was too young to ponder the meaning of life. my head was empty besides feelings of playfulness and hunger. i saw the innocence and purity of nature very clearly, more so than i do today through the lens of adulthood. the appreciation was genuine because i was immediately able to reap the benefits of an endless playground. a sense of joy which i may never feel anywhere else is in that village, in the raw, natural world. i believe that humans were truly meant to live close to the land.

i would like to think that at the age of 20, given the opportunity to live outside of modern standards, i would be just as happy as i was in the past.

• what is the cop26 draft text — and what does it mean? this article explains how this starting document was drafted by the uk presidency and reflects what has been shared in glasgow over cop26. next, each delegation consulted with their country’s leadership and proposed revisions. 

• the new draft of the cop26 agreement was released early friday. will all 197 parties sign it, following these revisions? this cnn analysis says it includes “unprecedented language” around fossil fuels, despite pressure from the coal, oil, and gas industries, but it essentially defers more action on emissions until cop27. 

• together, china and u.s. say they’ll “enhance” climate action. the countries, the two largest climate polluters, vowed to do more to cut greenhouse gases in a joint “glasgow declaration” that commits beijing to addressing its methane emissions. 

• how can we measure success at cop? why can’t the cop swoop in and save us? so how do we critically reflect on what the conference can do for us while acknowledging its shortcomings — and not giving up hope?

thanks for following us during this series! you can see planet forward’s other cop26-related coverage in the road to cop26 and climate hits home. 

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editor’s note: check back each day during cop26 for more pieces in planet forward’s climate hits home series.

why do farmers all around the world use it more and more each year? can this petroleum product be recycled? this is the first documentary film to engage the subject of plastic mulch as a truly global, accelerating, and complex sociotechnical problem. the film provides footage from farms and farmers within china, the united states, and from around the world.

this simple plastic sheet technology conserves water while providing more quantity and types of food, yet disposing of single-use plastic mulch is a humongous problem both within the united states and globally. one telling aspect of the film is how the description of the plastic mulch waste problem provided by oregon farmers precisely describes the plastic waste problem filmed on chinese farms some 6,000 miles away. is the problem truly this universal? farmers need your support! we need options for tomorrow!

looking to keep track of team china?

for access to the entire archive of team china’s solar decathlon 2011 videos: visit the member page

a little friendly competition

for years, renewable energy advocates in the u.s. have been calling for a renewable electricity standard (res), or a federal mandate to fulfill a specified percentage of the country’s total energy requirements with renewable energy by a certain year. res legislation has yet to pass in the u.s. congress, but these are the kinds of specific goals we need in order to make a significant dent in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and prevent further climate change.

the international kyoto protocol does contain specific goals and numbers — the 37 participating industrialized nations and the european community have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an annual average of 5% over the period from 2008-2012. the u.s., however, failed to ratify the protocol under the george w. bush administration, rationalizing that if china — although still, technically, a developing nation, did not sign it, then it should not have to, either.

yes, china is the biggest polluter on the planet. however, the u.s. is number two. but is this really how we want to play? the united states became a world superpower by leading by example. why not use the same strategy in the 21st century? china is quickly establishing itself as a leader in renewable energy. the country is already home to solar energy giants such as suntech and yingli and, thanks to the government’s commitment to clean energy, is also set to increase its wind energy production five-fold over the next 10 years.

the united states is a capitalist country — we are motivated by competition. if we really want to establish ourselves in the world economy and maintain our position at — or at least near — the top in innovation and leadership, it’s time to step it up.

partisanship has obviously been a major hindrance to accomplishing any kind of climate-change reform. but if we cannot agree on policy, can we at least agree on a little healthy competition? this is a country based on capitalism and free markets, right? i think even our stubborn and often-narrow-minded congress would agree that we, as a country, should strive to be number one.

when it comes to climate change, is it possible that instead of failing to come to an agreement, that we actually encourage a little competition? could it be a more productive strategy in the long run?

it sounds condescending to our leaders, and definitely overly simplistic, but i propose a plan: let’s make it a competition: can we beat china? what about the eu? instead of playing the childish game of “he’s not; why do i have to?” let’s make it, “oh yeah? look what i can do!” i don’t know of any political representative — of any party — who can’t agree on that mantra.

to combat this problem, shengchang, developed biomass technology. biomass, which significantly reduces carbon emissions, uses agricultural waste from farmers and is considered “clean fuel.” in fact, burning 10,000 pounds of biomass instead of coal reduces about 14,000 tons of co2 per day. this both lessens air pollution and increases the income of farmers, who are paid in exchange for their waste. the company has developed six types of biomass “briquettes” that are used for boilers and stoves.

schenghang’s technological developments are both innovative and promising for the future of china’s environment.