Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

Culture, language, tangibles, intangibles from countries known for tea. China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, etc...


User avatar
May 21st, '14, 00:09
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » May 21st, '14, 00:09

Will be flying into Haikou, Hainan in August for a week and may make it up to Guizhou and Guangxi, time permitting. Any suggestions for tea-related places/stores to visit that aren't too far away, or specific varieties to try out?

I'd like to pick up some Guangxi liu bao and Guizhou green.

User avatar
Aug 7th, '14, 07:53
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 7th, '14, 07:53

In Haikou now...wow, my Cantonese is not getting me very far, and neither is my English. I've spotted two other foreign people since I got here, and they were Indian dudes selling parathas in a food court. No idea what they're doing in Haikou of all places--when I asked they said "selling Indian bread," so I didn't push it. lol

I need to learn Mandarin and how to read and write Chinese, and I'll start when I get back to HK.

Yesterday I was running around trying to get a phone card, and I managed to score one--for future reference, China Mobile doesn't do prepaid, but China Unicom does. Take your passport.

After getting the card I wandered down a busy looking sidestreet and came across a random tea store. Walked past, then decided to go in since it was large and looked interesting. Ended up trying some green TGY that was alright at 400/jin. I bought 50 RMB worth and it came in 8g packs that were vac sealed and stored in the freezer. Also bought a cute gaiwan for only 15 RMB and cups were 1 RMB a piece. Also bought a tea bowl I liked a lot with an interesting brown glaze with black flecks for 60 RMB. I bargained and got around 10% off the top. I really like the bowl and have been using it exclusively. I did just manage to chip my gaiwan and lid, but it's still perfectly usable, and for 15 RMB it's no major loss.

Today I went to the mall and there was a huge supermarket. Wanted to pick up some Hainanese goodies and decided to see if they had any kuding tea. They actually had a Hainan promo on, so I bought some kuding tea and some Hainan Wuxi Shan green--I got to try both, and the tea lady spoke great Cantonese (way better than mine).

I then walked into a Tenfu in the mall before I knew what it was. They had some Hainan teas, so I bought their Wuxi green too (I seem to drink more green than anything right now). Also tried their DHP, but wasn't impressed at all. I felt the Tenfu Hainan green was better than the supermarket's good green (they had several aisles of tea, some of which was very expensive). I think I'll hold off on anymore tea purchases for now; nobody will take foreign plastic here, so I have to stick to cash and I don't want to run out!

Interestingly all the tea I've bought here comes in small pouches for easy portability when you're traveling...pretty cool.

Haikou is an interesting city for sure...very laidback.

Aug 7th, '14, 11:12
Vendor Member
Posts: 1301
Joined: May 27th, '12, 12:47
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by ethan » Aug 7th, '14, 11:12

Thanks for the fun post. My feet are itching to get on a plane, while my head tells me that I only have a few hundred dollars in the bank & no $ coming in. You got 10% off on a bowl--tough guy! No ATMs around? Cheers!

User avatar
Aug 7th, '14, 11:24
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 7th, '14, 11:24

ethan,

I have USD and Indonesian Rupiah in abundance, and can book a room online (they're really cheap here) rather than paying cash. I don't use ATM cards overseas and I haven't unlocked my card for that, so no go there.

I actually got 10% off the total (not just the bowl). :) Could've bargained further, but she threw in some expensive rolled green tea for guanxi after I said it was too bitter, and before I committed to buy anything. I really like the bowl and will probably use it every day!

User avatar
Aug 10th, '14, 22:00
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 10th, '14, 22:00

Had a very interesting day yesterday. I woke up early, but didn't eat until 1 pm or so, when I had some Hainan chicken. Wanted to check out the Museum, but it was Sunday and they have a ratio of 3,000 visitors per day, so I decided to hold off until Tuesday. I asked a PLA cadet where I could buy some army suplus the night before and he showed me where on a map, so I took a motorcycle taxi over there.

I had to ask several people for directions before I found it; there was very little in my size, and the lady working there thought my huge feet were hilarious, because the largest shoes she had in stock wouldn't come close to fitting me (I'm only a US size 13). I appear to be learning Mandarin through osmosis here, incidentally...I like it. :)

After picking up my PLA surplus clothing, I walked up the street for the heck of it. I'd checked out a tattoo place online, but hadn't planned on getting inked since I'm running low on funds. Well, I found the tattoo place and asked about getting a Chinese dragon on my shoulder and chest. The shop was full of teapots and Chinese curios (snuff bottles, figurines, etc) and the centerpiece of the room was a huge Kamjove tea table.

I bargained the price down since I was trying to pay in USD, and only had 1,500 RMB cash left. He only wanted RMB, so I made him an offer and he accepted!

After a quick TGY session, we got started. My tattoo took a whopping five-and-a-half hours in full black and gray with incredible shading...it is truly a work of art, and I'm very happy with it. The tattoo artist took a liking to me and I drank tea throughout the session, and even had some beer. After I was done, he ordered in beers and amazing Hunanese food. I've never had Hunanese food, but WOW! That stuff was good. Better than Szechuan if you ask me.

The guys were chainsmoking and kept offering me cigarettes, so I finally caved in and had a few, including two with slivers of sandalwood (I think) in them. He even gave me a 100g or so of tea to take home :shock:

I tried to tip him, but he wouldn't let me, so I promised to let people know how good the guy is (and he is amazing).

EDIT: it appears I didn't go to the same guy I found online. Will create a Facebook profile for him since it's banned in China!
Last edited by jayinhk on Aug 11th, '14, 13:03, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Aug 10th, '14, 22:31
Posts: 5896
Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact: debunix

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by debunix » Aug 10th, '14, 22:31

Those are some amazing tattoos. Wow.

User avatar
Aug 11th, '14, 02:07
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 11th, '14, 02:07

Yes, there are some amazing tattoo artists in China. Getting a phoenix opposite the dragon and a tiger on my back too!

User avatar
Aug 11th, '14, 12:56
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 11th, '14, 12:56

Here's the other artist in Haikou. His work is good, but I like my dragon even better. :D

http://www.yulongtattoo.com/nd.jsp?id=22&_np=4_11

User avatar
Aug 12th, '14, 21:47
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 12th, '14, 21:47


User avatar
Aug 20th, '14, 02:18
Vendor Member
Posts: 3124
Joined: Aug 28th, '12, 08:12
Location: Hong Kong
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: jayinhk

Re: Hainan, Guangxi and Guizhou

by jayinhk » Aug 20th, '14, 02:18

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Dr ... izard=true

I opened a Facebook page for the tattoo place in Haikou--the pics were taken on my phone.

I had some expensive Hainan-grown arabica coffee just now. I know this is TC, but a lot of us like our coffee too. It's nothing special; now I know why they served me espressos made with imported beans out there! It's better than the standard Hainan coffee, though, which is robusta and not very flavorful at all.

+ Post Reply