Mei Jiguang, a tea farmer in Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, worked continuously on his tea plantation for 24 hours on Aug 13. Like many of his neighbors, who are also tea farmers in the region, irrigating the tea bushes seemed to be the most effective way to save their plants from withering in the heat wave.

In Meijiawu, where some of China's finest teas are produced, farmers usually pick tea leaves only before the Qingming Festival. The amount of tea leaves picked during autumn is limited. Toasted tea leaves are not regarded as huge losses for tea farmers. What worries them is the bushes withering in the heat.

"It has been scorching for weeks. Despite the shower a few days ago, the tea bushes are drying up, tea leaves are getting toasted and my only hope is that my bushes can survive the heat and drought," said Mei.