The city of Jingdezhen, in east China's Jiangxi Province, will hold a tea culture festival this April to popularize Chinese tea culture.

Co-sponsored by the local government and the provincial bureau of tourism, the festival will open on April 20 and run till the end of May.

Fu Guilong, official with the municipal government of Jingdezhen, said experts in tea culture would be invited to lecture on and discuss the role that tea has and will play in the past, at present and in future.

Precious tea sets together with many sorts of well-known teas will be displayed and auctioned during the festival.

A world famous porcelain producer, Jingdezhen was also known for its flourishing tea culture in ancient China. Its annual tea production had reached 2,300 tons, with an output value of around 600 million yuan (about US$72.6 million), Fu said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2004)