About 90 overseas students from the Shandong University of Science and Technology and the China University of Petroleum paid a tour to Haiqing town of Huangdao district in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao to experience Chinese tea culture on May 7.

Hailing from 29 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, all the students are Chinese government scholarship winners. Forty-four of them are from Belt and Road countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Yemen, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

They experienced picking and savoring tea, as well as some tea art, at local tea cultivation areas.

Foreign students try their hands at picking tea leaves at the tea cultivation area in Haiqing town of Qingdao on May 7. [Photo by VCG/dzwww.com]

The activity was organized by the China Scholarship Council as part of the cultural event "Experience China".

The town of Haiqing has been well known for its green tea since 1996, when the government introduced tea planting from South China.

Thanks to an optimal climate and geographical advantages "Haiqing" green tea has a delicate fragrance and is full of nutrients including vitamins, minerals and microelements.

Haiqing has been promoting its tea culture as an attraction for tourists.

At present, the town has a tea cultivation area of 80,000 mu (5,333 hectares) with an annual production of 2,700 tons at an annual value of 300 million yuan ($45.75 million). The tea planting industry has provided job opportunities for 40,000 local people.

Foreign students show the tea leaves they picked to the camera at the tea cultivation area in Haiqing town of Qingdao on May 7. [Photo by Liu Jishun/dailyqd.com]