Tomb Sweeping Day and Tea Picking

The tea picking season in China has just got underway. Growers have started commercial picking and their have been numerous tea picking competitions. One organisation, Lip Tea has caused a bit of a stir as they have advertised for virgins with at least a C-cup bra size to pick their tea using only their mouths. The plucked leaves are dropped into a small wicker basket hanging round their neck. Apparently, when brewed, fairies float off up into the air!

So where does the tomb sweeping day come into all this?

Basically, it happens on the 4th of April each year and is the day on which families visit the graves of dead family members and celebrate their lives - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival. Tea picked before the day is said to be as expensive as gold. Perhaps that is because there is not much growth activity at the time or it could be that the pests have not had time to damage the crops.