Yixing advice for beginners

[Cyphre]

so is http://www.rishi-tea.com/ a place I shouldn't have bought yixing teapot from?


Are there any trusted places in the Los Angeles area that sell true yixing pots?

[debunix]

There was a recent scandal (end of May, IIRC) in China called zishagate (紫砂門); while it mostly had to do with additives in red clay used for slow cookers and herb cookers, it seems likely that the same practices happen with at least some pots.

Interesting. I tried to google zishagate just now, and not a single thing came back (whether as "zishagate" or as "zisha gate"). Guess it didn't make it into any english language press. But when I googled "紫砂門" and then selected 'english results only' I still got only pages in chinese but asked google to translate the first one, it got quite interesting. The next page I tried was more revealing.

I've only bought inexpensive clay pots from Wing Hop Fung here in LA, that I would not expect to be particularly high quality clay.