The best hope for rural, undeveloped tea producers is foreign markets. The potential to expand into foreign markets is a bit of a strange idea, but quite realistic with the right opportunities. The next step is to identify what tea products are needed by foreign buyers. What is in demand?
Currently, most tea farmers in rural China grow variations of green tea, but there is no rule saying that cannot change. It is simple economics to the tea farmers. They know they can grow green tea and there will be somebody to buy it. If they could make similar profit growing another variation of tea, they would gladly switch over.
The big tea companies from China's coastal provinces are buying the rural green tea. Since they cannot market "Sanjiang Green Tea" or some other unknown name in tea, the leaves go into mixes to serve as a filler to make an expensive tea more affordable for end buyers.
Can these rural producers only plant and harvest green tea? No. They are willing to completely change the tea bushes. Their tea bushes are cut back to the roots every six years or so anyway. They are not growing decade old trees or precious grape vines. If they know there will be a buyer, they are willing to either plant new bushes of the tea in demand or even rip up old bushes and replace them with new.
Popular English teas proudly annouce the inclusion of "the finest Chinese teas." If that is true, could those European and American tea companies benefit from a new source of tea, quality tea at a cheaper price? The barriers up till now have been communication and connection to rural Chinese farmers, but those associations are much easier to form now, associations which could mutually benefit seller and buyer.
