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Hey guys, I need your help to determine whether this raw pu erh is authentic. This is a nan nuo chi tsi bing year 2007 (357g). I tried searching on the web but returned not results. Can anyone identify this? I plan to buy a tong since it's not pricey and the quality of the tea is not bad for the amount I paid. Want to know whether it's worth keeping for a few years. then trade it.

I bought a couple so here is another piece. This is a 2006 from what the wrapping says. This has more buds in the bing than the earlier one and not as compactly pressed. Brand should be Meng He but not even a result on the name of the factory producing this.

One thing I can tell you is that it was not made in 2006. They did not start putting QS mark (that "S" mark) till 2007.

zzenster wrote:One thing I can tell you is that it was not made in 2006. They did not start putting QS mark (that "S" mark) till 2007.

Yup, I think you are right. The one with the 2006 has more astringency than the 2007 ones. Then again I cannot be certain about the authencity of the one with the 2007 printed as the manufacturing date. I guess it's kind of difficult to buy from vendors that we are not familiar with.

Not familiar with either of those factories or those cakes, but teas from both those factories (Meng He and Liming Xing Huo) are pretty cheap on Taobao.

In 2007 Nannuo raw material was pricey, about 350rmb per kilo for old tree, about 80rmb per kilo for plantation. Considering the cake is selling on taobao for 18 rmb, chances are very little if any of it is from the better villages on Nannuo mountain.

Some teas started having QS marks on them in 2006, not a lot though, but not unheard of. By 2007 it was pretty much on everything.

The first cake, as BBB mentioned, is selling for 18 RMB on Taobao. Sure, if you like it, buy a ton of it, but I doubt it's very good tea.

The second cake is not found on Taobao, but I doubt it'll cost very much since the other products of the factory are very cheap. From the looks of the leaves in your pic, it looks like some very run of the mill tea. No reason to buy more of it, IMHO.

I guess I will just keep my money and steer clear of buying any more of those. Will probably purchase a tong or 2 of either Dayi or Mengku. That 2 pieces will last me quite a while since I have like 20 types of tea to alternate.