Our store manager absolutely loves Lishan. From Huanshan, Songmao, and Xinjiayang to HuaGung, Cuiluan, and Dayuling—the manager visits several times every year. To us, Lishan is nothing short of paradise; its only drawback is that summers come with quite a few flies.
I suddenly bring up the flies because I just got back from Lishan, where I received yet another humbling reminder of the local fly population. Just how many flies are there? Enough to accidentally swallow one while talking! I’m not exaggerating at all. I honestly admire the tourists who can still have fun with flies buzzing all around them.
The main reason for the abundance of flies in Lishan is that it’s a major high-mountain vegetable-farming region. The crops require heavy applications of chicken manure fertilizer, which is notorious for attracting flies—especially during the summer months of July, August, and September, when Lishan practically becomes a sea of flies blotting out the sky. Local tea factories have also taken notice, installing extra layers of screen windows specifically to keep out the fly army. However, a few factories aren’t as well-equipped, which honestly makes us a bit hesitant to buy tea from them.
By comparison, tea regions like LongFengXia, Fanzitian, and Cuifeng are much better with far fewer flies, making them a lot more pleasant to visit (though there are still a few around).
A few years back, I heard rumors that the Lishan area was going to strictly restrict the use of raw chicken manure fertilizer, but the flies were just as numerous this year, so it seems enforcement hasn’t gone smoothly. I truly hope this fly issue gets resolved soon—Lishan is far too beautiful to be overshadowed by buzzing swarms.
