News & Blog

Day 3 – Yiwu (2) Rising early, as may be expected in village life, we took cold showers in the shed at the bottom of the garden and climbed up the Old Tea Horse Road to fill up on a breakfast of spicy rice noodles. The village seems enmeshed in history and I had to […]

Day 2 – Yiwu Happy to be beginning our actual tea journey, we boarded the crowded midday bus to Yiwu village. It seems there are two buses that make the roundtrip from Yiwu to Jinghong and back each day. Run by friendly Yiwu locals, the conductor would receive a call on her mobile phone and […]

As I return from a tea filled week, a bit exhausted and overwhelmed, it’s kind of nice to be back in Kunming again. During the past week I’ve experienced so much and met so many open, generous and genuine people. Again and again I thought the trip couldn’t get any better, only to meet someone […]

Armed with newly purchased camera, my Mandarin tutor (who I’ve managed to get hooked on pu), some mosquito spray, sunscreen and some cash, I’m off to Xishuangbanna for a week or so. Amongst destinations on our itinerary are Banzhang, YouLe, YiWu and most probably some unplanned tea adventures. Expect some reportage upon our return

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently hanging out at the tea shop owned by the 12 Gentlemen, a group of puerh aficionados here in Kunming. The name itself is a reference to the 12 accoutrements deemed necessary for preparing tea in the Song dynasty. Of all the producers I’ve come across, these guys […]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting a tea factory. A friend was pressing a few bings of taidicha (plantation tea). Content to wait for a week or two until some quality 2008 Spring Gu Shu Maocha arrives, I accompanied her just for fun. The owner’s wife, being an ex-teacher, spoke great English and was […]

Despite high hopes for this event, I have to say I was a little disappointed my day out at the tea expo. Filled with people, all handing out their business card, sussing out how how many cases you might like to buy from their factory whilst brewing their low quality teas that they brought for […]