Picking tea leaves is     1     important spring activity in South China. Ancient Chinese     2     (agriculture) production has long been guided by solar terms, and so has tea production. Tea leaves are ready to pick before Qingming; tea     3     (pick) at that time is called Mingqian tea. Because of the small output and good quality, Mingqian tea     4     (consider) quite valuable.

China has been a big tea producing country since ancient times. According to official data, China’s tea planting area     5     (grow) in recent years, with an increase of more than 1.81 million hectares in 16 years since 2000 and     6     (it) yearly tea production has ranked first in the world for several years in a row.

In spring, local hillsides are often filled with tea pickers as well as farmers     7     (plant) on their land. The beautiful scenery of tea farms in the countryside has also contributed     8     an increase in tourism in these places. Many families take their children to experience the fun of picking tea leaves during spring outings with     9     (laugh) ringing in the mountains. Picking tea leaves reflects hard work of Chinese people,     10     is one of the traditional virtues (美德).