Hi folks!
I live in Vancouver BC Canada, and I am wondering if there are any stores around have a good selection of yi-xing teapots.
Thanks for the help in advance.
Ben
I have a couple places to suggest.
One is Best Tea House in Richmond. There is another shop in the same shopping center too, though I haven't spent much time there. BTH is the Canada branch of a well-known Hong Kong tea shop, and the owner are the sister and brother-in-law of the owner of the HK shop. They are not the cheapest, but they have a great selection of pots of various ages / prices. I have purchased a number of teapots from him, and while the prices of some have been high, I have never been disappointed yet.
Some pictures and a phone # at:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=61618
I would also suggest stopping in at Aroma Teahouse (http://aromateahouse.com/index.php in Vancouver proper. Also a US branch of a famous HK shop. They don't have a ton of older pots, but they do have some decent-ish 90s/00s pots at fairly reasonable prices, and the claims they make about their provenance don't seem to be exaggerated.
Rich from Seattle has recommended a guy named Daniel Luie in Vancouver (in Chinatown), and speaks very highly of his knowledge and selection (http://www.teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?pid=185#p185). His shop is called "Arts de Chine" (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/arts-de-chine-vancouver), and I believe this may be the danluie that's on this forum as well:
http://www.teachat.com/profile.php?mode ... le&u=30688
You could also contact Bill Lee from China Flair Tea (http://www.chinaflairtea.com/). He is another student of Mr. Chan of Best Tea House, and teaches classes on tea (http://mastersoftea.com/) in Vancouver / Richmond area. The pots on his site are (I believe) new pots, and quite expensive, however, he may have some other stuff to sell if you contact him. He doesn't have a storefront, though.
There are probably some other places too, but these are the ones I'd recommend starting with. I have only had first-hand experience with the first two suggestions, but the other two come well recommended as well.
Of course there's always mail order too, but shopping for teapots is much easier when you can see, feel, and hear them in person, and you're actually in probably one of the better places in North America for Yixing, so start looking around locally first.
One is Best Tea House in Richmond. There is another shop in the same shopping center too, though I haven't spent much time there. BTH is the Canada branch of a well-known Hong Kong tea shop, and the owner are the sister and brother-in-law of the owner of the HK shop. They are not the cheapest, but they have a great selection of pots of various ages / prices. I have purchased a number of teapots from him, and while the prices of some have been high, I have never been disappointed yet.
Some pictures and a phone # at:
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=61618
I would also suggest stopping in at Aroma Teahouse (http://aromateahouse.com/index.php in Vancouver proper. Also a US branch of a famous HK shop. They don't have a ton of older pots, but they do have some decent-ish 90s/00s pots at fairly reasonable prices, and the claims they make about their provenance don't seem to be exaggerated.
Rich from Seattle has recommended a guy named Daniel Luie in Vancouver (in Chinatown), and speaks very highly of his knowledge and selection (http://www.teadrunk.org/viewtopic.php?pid=185#p185). His shop is called "Arts de Chine" (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/arts-de-chine-vancouver), and I believe this may be the danluie that's on this forum as well:
http://www.teachat.com/profile.php?mode ... le&u=30688
You could also contact Bill Lee from China Flair Tea (http://www.chinaflairtea.com/). He is another student of Mr. Chan of Best Tea House, and teaches classes on tea (http://mastersoftea.com/) in Vancouver / Richmond area. The pots on his site are (I believe) new pots, and quite expensive, however, he may have some other stuff to sell if you contact him. He doesn't have a storefront, though.
There are probably some other places too, but these are the ones I'd recommend starting with. I have only had first-hand experience with the first two suggestions, but the other two come well recommended as well.
Of course there's always mail order too, but shopping for teapots is much easier when you can see, feel, and hear them in person, and you're actually in probably one of the better places in North America for Yixing, so start looking around locally first.
Please let us know how your shopping goes, and of course, post some pictures!
I would start slow, and also ask the people at the shops to assist you in pairing the pot with a type of tea. If you have a particular type of tea you drink often, you could even bring it with you and try it out in a few different pots and see if you notice any differences.
I would start slow, and also ask the people at the shops to assist you in pairing the pot with a type of tea. If you have a particular type of tea you drink often, you could even bring it with you and try it out in a few different pots and see if you notice any differences.
Well... la de da! 'All these stores are all within 30 minutes of home...' must be nice..babalian wrote:Thanks for the information guys. These stores are all within 30 min away from my home, I will definitely check them out soon..
You're one lucky person to have that kind of access - let use know what you think of the shops and if you can, post some pictures for us who live at least 5 hours away from any shop like that, so we can live vicariously through you! 
請进,請坐,請喝茶!!!
I went to Arts de Chine today. I had a great time in the store, Daniel really knows his stuff and answered me a lot of questions about the teapots.
I definitely would encourage anyone in the neighborhood to pay a visit to Daniel's shop
I picked up a Pin Zi Ni pot from 80s from the shop and will be brewing my green tea in it.
I am unable to make the insert image funtion to work.. If someone can point me out I will post some pics thanks.
I definitely would encourage anyone in the neighborhood to pay a visit to Daniel's shop
I picked up a Pin Zi Ni pot from 80s from the shop and will be brewing my green tea in it.
I am unable to make the insert image funtion to work.. If someone can point me out I will post some pics thanks.