Hangzhou and Guangyuan—two cities separated by 1,700 kilometers, one in East China's Zhejiang province and the other in Southwest China's Sichuan province—joined hands at a tea product promotional event on May 27, paving the way for deeper cooperation.

Jiang Renhua, chairman of the China Tea Association, said Guangyuan's "Zhonghuang No1" tea (a sort of yellow tea), introduced from Hangzhou 15 years ago, has expanded to 3,400 hectares. Its leaves, soup, and bottom all display a golden hue, and its amino acid content is two to three times that of ordinary green tea.

For a businessman surnamed Chen who was visiting Hangzhou, the most impressive thing was Guangyuan yellow tea—dubbed the "gold of tea" and priced up to 17,600 yuan ($ 2,445.56) per kilogram. "I'm used to drinking Pu'er tea, but the Guangyuan yellow tea is just as good!" he said.

"Guangyuan yellow tea alone brings in over 5 million yuan in annual sales, accounting for 30 percent of our revenue," said Zhang Yan from the Guangyuan Tea Industry (Group) Co.

In addition, Guangyuan's delicacies—mountain mushrooms, beef, pickled mustard greens, and Jianmen tofu—were also in high demand. The prepared products were snapped up by eager buyers on spot.

In recent years, Hangzhou and Guangyuan have strengthened collaboration across industries, talent, and livelihoods, with 1.02 billion yuan funds supporting 255 projects and fostering 203 high-quality enterprises. At the event, new travel itineraries were unveiled, extending the tea connection to tourism and cultural cooperation.