Farmers harvest an early variety of tea in a tea garden in Yudong village, Sangzhou town, Ninghai county, Ningbo on Feb 24. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The spring tea harvest season recently has arrived in Ninghai county, Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. 

The tea harvested before the Qingming Festival features a stronger aroma and a pleasant aftertaste that make it much preferred by tea lovers, according to Lu Shangwei, who runs a tea garden in Yudong village, Sangzhou town in the county.

Official data shows that the tea plantation in Ninghai county spans roughly 54,000 mu (3,600 hectares) this year, of which early varieties cover an area of more than 15,000 mu.

A week or so later, the county's early varieties of tea will enter the mass harvesting season.