The Story of the Daughter-in-Law from the Tea Region

In a small room nestled under a canopy of green trees, a girl with a kind face and a radiant smile quickly plucks a lotus flower to infuse with special tea, offering it to her guests. The fragrance of lotus and tea permeates the space as she pours the shimmering liquid into pristine white cups. Watching her skillful movements and listening to her passionately talk about her plans and aspirations, few would guess that she is the one who traveled thousands of kilometers to become a daughter-in-law in this tea-growing region.

The raw material area of ​​Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative is located in Nui Hamlet, Van Phuc Commune.

A land that captivates the heart.

Before me stretched endless waves of tea plantations, their green hues reaching to the horizon. The tea-growing region of Nui Hamlet, nestled on the eastern slopes of the Tam Dao mountain range, is enveloped in a pristine climate and cool, refreshing water flowing down from the sheer cliffs. Here, it's like a shimmering carpet woven from millions of tender, resilient tea buds reaching towards the summer sun, fueled by the enduring vitality of the deep, fertile soil.

Ms. Do Thi Nguyen, Director of Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative, introduced this as a VietGAP-certified tea growing area in Nui Hamlet, covering 8.4 hectares and involving 42 households, led by Mr. Luu Sy Son. The VietGAP tea group had been operating since 2018, but its effectiveness was limited. In 2022, when the Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative was established and took over the product distribution, the collaborative model began to flourish. The cooperative not only stabilized output with higher-than-market prices for fresh tea but also provided capital for supplies, technical support, and gradually helped people transition to organic farming.

Thanks to the application of technology and smart management, from using the VNPT Green app for traceability to training farmers in AI, farmers have raised their awareness and production skills. "Tea soldier" - as Nguyen calls "teacher" Vu Van Tai, with the dedicated support of the Thai Nguyen Cooperative Alliance, Tai has taught about artificial intelligence as a "senior partner," helping farmers overcome their hesitation towards new technologies.

The VietGAP group now helps 42 tea-growing households earn a stable income of 7-8 million VND per person per month, significantly higher than growing rice or short-term crops. Remarkably, even when private traders offer higher prices, many households remain trustworthy, selling only their tea to the cooperative – the place where they have placed their faith and long-term future.

My mother-in-law is my "teacher".

Do Thi Nguyen was born in 1995 in Hai Phong, grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, and studied Biology at Ton Duc Thang University. She loves nature and plants, but she had never had the chance to touch a tea plant.

Then fate brought her together with Tuyen - a young man from Hamlet 3, Van Phu commune (formerly Van Yen commune, Dai Tu district).

During a trip back to her boyfriend's hometown during the rice harvest season, the vibrant yellow of the rice fields intertwined with the green of the tea plantations captivated the young woman. Furthermore, the land, nestled against the Tam Dao mountains and overlooking Lake Nui Coc, with the majestic Van and Vo mountains standing like two sturdy gateways to the future; the land of historical relics and the heroic military training stories of the renowned figure Luu Nhan Chu, led her to decide to dedicate her life to this place.

Do Thi Nguyen spoke enthusiastically about her tangerine tea product.

Nguyen recounts that it was her mother-in-law who taught her how to pick tea leaves, process them, and appreciate the aroma of tea with all her senses. Her husband, on the other hand, became her most loyal and trusted partner.

Together, they established the Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative, a place that connects like-minded individuals who share a love for traditional tea making. The cooperative's product lines include green tea (hooked tea, shrimp bud tea, nail tea); black tea; tea bags; and a variety of flower-infused teas (lotus, pomelo, jasmine, and osmanthus tea).

Nguyen took me on a tour of the cooperative's production facility. Besides the biomass gasification technology for roofing sheets, the cooperative still uses wood-fired roofing sheets.

She explained: "Each roasting method has its own strengths. The best for roasting tea is still the Taiwanese gas-fired roasting method, but after the first drying, the second roasting needs to be done in a wood-fired oven. The requirement is to choose sturdy, dry wood, roast slowly, allowing the aroma to penetrate from the core of the tea leaves. At this point, a special transformation occurs, creating a unique aroma and flavor that cannot be achieved if the entire roasting process is done using electricity or gas."

Perhaps it is because of this subtle combination that the tea from Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative remains strong and has a smooth, honey-like color even after the seventh infusion. In 2024, Phuc Nguyen Tea Cooperative's young tea bud product won third prize at the Dai Tu District Tea Festival and was auctioned for 30 million VND/kg. Currently, the cooperative has three distributors in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong , and Phu Tho, selling 2-3 quintals of dried tea per month.

A dream to bring the scent of wild tangerines.

The booth showcasing products of Van Phuc Tea Cooperative at the Van Phuc Commune Party Congress, term 2025-2030.

Not content with their initial successes, the young couple continued to expand their production facility in Nui Hamlet, planning to collaborate with VietGAP groups in May Hamlet and Bau 2 Hamlet. At the same time, Nguyen quietly produced a tea with his personal touch – wild mandarin black tea.

Nguyen gently opened the zinc bag containing the curled dried tea leaves; the scent of tangerine blended with black tea created an impressively sweet aroma, both clean and warm.

This product is inspired by Chinese tangerine Pu-erh tea, but the ingredients are 100% Vietnamese. Wild tangerines, with their pulp removed but the peel remaining, are stuffed with carefully brewed tea, wrapped in traditional Vietnamese dó paper, and dried. This tea becomes sweeter the longer it is aged, acting as a precious medicinal remedy to warm the lungs, prevent sore throats, promote restful sleep, and calm the nerves. Many experts believe that the flavor of "Wild Tangerine Black Tea" is in no way inferior to foreign products.

The story of the tea-growing daughter-in-law is not just the personal story of a girl who left the city for the countryside, coming from afar to this place, but a vivid testament to a new generation of farmers who know how to inherit, preserve, and innovate from traditional foundations.

In this young woman born in 1995, there is a harmonious blend of her mother-in-law's tea-making skills and the modern mindset and aspirations of a young person. She has transformed from humble tea buds rooted in the soil to thrive in the digital age, from a small, scattered VietGAP-certified group to a professional production community. Amidst the fragrant aroma of tea, I believe that not only the tea plants, but also people like Nguyen and the tea-making villagers here are gradually building a green, sustainable, and hopeful future for this region.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202508/chuyen-cua-nang-dau-dat-che-14f00b3/