Students learn to pick tea leaves in a tea garden in Suichang county. [Photo/Tide News]

A tea garden in Suichang county, Lishui, Zhejiang province recently welcomed students from Yunfeng Central School for a special course in labor education.

Led by their teachers, the students got a healthy dose of the hardship and joy of labor as they learned to pick tea leaves.

Working in groups, the students also engaged in other activities including stir-frying tea leaves and making qingtuan — sweet green glutinous rice balls, filling the kitchen with the sweet fragrance of tea.

"Through this hands-on experience, we can learn knowledge and skills not available in books. We also got to understand the hardship of labor and the preciousness of food," said Liang Xuhan, a seventh-grade student at the school.

In recent years, the school has prioritized labor education by designing extended courses around traditional intangible cultural heritage skills and "happy farming", encouraging students to learn through practice.

Shi Weimin, the school's principal, emphasized the importance of labor education. "We hope that labor education can help students learn necessary labor skills, promoting their all-round development and healthy growth," added Shi.