I came back from Hangzhou on Thursday and after much reseach have decided not to base a project there. Whislt it is a beautiful place and good shots will be easy to come by I don't think there is enough of a story. There is more to mobile journalism that pretty pictures. If I spend a little time there I could do a story on the increase in Coffee shops there and the trend for younger generations to drink coffee instead of tea. I could also look at the fall in tea sales due to the current economic decline and the rise and importance of internation tourism in Hangzhou, but I don't think these are strong enough stories to spend 6-8 months on which is the time scale for these project. If anyone is looking for a short form subject to do a piece on Hangzhou might be worth a visit. If you are looking for a major issue it is not the place to be though, you will not find a story like Munem Wasifs tainted tea.
http://www.munemwasif.com/ . The fact is despite a decline in sales, the industry in Hangzhou is doing pretty well compared to other parts of the world, if anything they are taking sales away from places like Bangladsh where many farmers are reported to have invested in equipment for processing green tea not expecting a global trend for Chinese green tea. Looks like I may well be heading back to Tibet for a project now. More on this to come so watch this space.
