Buying Pu Erh In China (HK, Beijing, Shanghai)

[thirtytwopaths]

Hi all,

Looking for a little advice here. I have a friend who will be traveling to China this week (Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai) and I am looking to put together a list of quality pu-erhs cakes for him to bring back without breaking the bank. Would love your advice on what cakes are worth bringing back (looking to get around 5-7) and what the best way to find them would be.

Thanks again.

[wyardley]

Can't speak to specific cakes, but I would definitely suggest that your friend goes to 天山茶城 （Tianshan Tea City) on Zhongshan Lu (Road). Not too far from a subway stop. There's a Hai Lang Hao store there, which is worth checking out, though the proprietor (who is, I think, the father of the guy from HLH) chain-smokes in the shop all day. A lot of the pu'er shops are on the ground floor with entrances outside the main mall itself. I would also suggest avoiding most of the rest of the tea shops your friend will encounter around the city. There's another shop on the ground floor which sells a lot of 6FTM stuff (not sure if it's their store or if they just sell a lot of their stuff; bearsbearsbears or marshaln might know, as they've both spent a lot more time at Tianshan than I have).

Shanghai people mostly drink green teas produced in the surrounding areas (both long jing and other green teas from around there), and I don't think pu'er is that popular.

[MarshalN]

I'm afraid your friend will not be able to bring back anything interesting for you -- unless he knows tea AND Chinese, his chances of scoring good tea for you for the right price is virtually zero, especially if you're looking for slightly aged cakes. You're much better off buying them from Yunnan Sourcing or other places. His chances of picking up the wrong thing is just too high.

[sp1key]

which types of puerh are you looking for in HK?