TeaChat

shah82 wrote:No, it will affect LBZ availability. The good stuff? Never seeing the light of day in the markets. You can, of course, buy itty bits of mediocre stuff, and overpay for fake stuff, which is probably now worse since the usual components have sky-rocketed in price themselves.

I don't spend much on Puerh..seriously.

But thanks for your caring, my friend.

Is there a good article or blog that I can use to be educated in this puer speculation war? Names, places, companies...

I was made aware of it a few years back but only vague stuff. I cannot imagine what this "good stuff" not making it to market is like, as I have had good inexpensive puer.

Thanks,

M.

To get a somewhat better handle on the way the Chinese speculate, the documentary 'RED OBSESSION', narrated by Russell Crowe, is an eye opener. It is all about how the Chinese have captured the top end Bordeaux wine market, effectively pricing the Americans out of the equation, and buying and hoarding it like stocks and bonds. Financial institutions have sprung out of this that warehouse, auction, and handle speculation of the wines while the owners never see a bottle! Of course, this also creates a bubble effect as a bad year can tumble the prices, but the Bordeaux chateaux owners and corporations have grown astoundingly rich in the meantime, knowing that all this won't last. This is a fascinating documentary that gives a peek into the Chinese mind and the way the Chinese approach business and specualation.

This is a trend that not only the world but the majority of Chinese real consumer are suffering. Everyone are affected but for many Chinese, even their basic consumption goods are also affected. They really priced the majority of their last generation out of reach for even the daily basic needs items.

The speculator are probably some groups which only look into dominating and profiting on every corners of every consumer demand. It could be human greed or simply plain economic strategy that see no boundaries or nationalities or passion for any products.

For real tea consumer like us, it is really sad and we really need to do our homework to evaluate the actual situation. We must try to avoid this "locust path" and look out for some genuine currently fairly priced stuff to pursue our long term interest in tea. There is no shortcut, we can whine to release some frustration but eventually we still need to do our own calculation and due diligence.

In the meantime, we should never give up and just continue to enjoy what we have and enjoy our nice tea hobby.

Cheers!

This thread reminded me of Red Obsession, too. Tead Off's synopsis is excellent. I'll just add this. In the time of Napoleon France's vineyards were ranked. Five were deemed the creme de la creme and still maintain their rank. Among those five, one is considered number one. Well, one ultra rich Chinese guy only knows the name and has tried that one brand and owns a lot of it. All he cares about is that 'magical' number one ranking. How nouveau riche. It's late 80s Japan on steroids!

Check out some other related and interesting reports:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21163357

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19756448

I'll check out Red Obsession when I get back this evening. Veblen goods indeed.

M.