A worker picks up fresh tea leaves at a tea plantation in Zhangjiagang, Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/zjgonline.com.cn]

Tea farmers in Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province recently started to harvest tea leaves.

According to Chen Baoying, director of the Fenghuang Mountain Tea Plantation in the city, the recent rainfall and rising temperatures have created a conducive environment for tea crops to grow. The harvest season is expected to last until the end of May.

The recently harvested tea leaves in the plantation will be used to make Biluochun, a famous green tea originally grown in the region, said Chen. One kilogram of first-class Biluochun green tea is now sold for 3,600 yuan ($565.22).

The Fenghuang Mountain Tea Plantation has 280 mu (18.67 hectares) of tea plants and usually produces about 3,000 kilograms of tea leaves annually.