First, the vocal music is adapted from Hakka tea-picking songs. Second, all the story lines in traditional three-part Hakkanese opera involve tea-picking.
客家戲之所以稱為採茶戲，除了唱腔為客家的山歌採茶調外，傳統三腳採茶戲的故事內容也都是圍繞著「採茶」打轉。