Monday, June 25, 2007

In the Land of the Black Dragon: A Voyage to Fujian [v]

A China Tea Miscellany



In this post I've collected a number of small, truly miscellaneous items, that didn't really fit anywhere else, but which I couldn't stand not sharing with you.

Did You Know ...


... that bottled tea -- green, oolong, or red -- is as popular as carbonated drinks (or more so) in China? You can buy it sweetened or unsweetened, and chilled or room-temperature, at the ubiquitous Seven-Elevens and other convenience stores.

Did You Know ...


... that powdered green tea is gaining popularity in China? (I had to take a picture of it to show you -- I feared you might not believe me otherwise ...)

Did You Know ...

... that the word pu'er (普洱) is, in origin, actually not a Han Chinese term? Rather, as I learned from Niisonge, it comes from the Hani language, in which it means 'family home' (i.e. the sort of walled complex in which an extended family might live together).

... that 'Pu'er' is, historically, where pu'er tea was sold -- not where it was grown? My learned colleague Danny Samarkand writes:
Historical records tell us that Pu'er county was an ideal location as a collection centre for the tea leaves harvested in and around the region. The leaves were processed into tea and from there sent out to other regions and countries on horsebacks. The tea was named after the region, and came to be known as Pu'er, and the place, Pu'er Xian -- Pu'er county.

Did You Know ...

... that in the Chaozhou gongfu cha tradition, the traditional fuel for the stove that heats the water kettle is (as I learned from Will Chen and Mr Tsay of Green of T) is dried olive seeds?

Did You Know ...


... that you can actually find some very nice tea-ware (as well as plenty of tea) in the airports of Asia? The photo above was taken in the airport in Fuzhou, but I was equally impressed with the shops in the airports of Taipei and Hong Kong


(where I had a layover between Taiwan and the PRC). The tea-ware prices will certainly not be the lowest; and I think I would advise against buying the tea at any price (unless you know for a certainty that it is of good quality and not overly expensive). But it will all be packaged well, for traveling; and if nothing else, you can have fun browsing.

Did You Know ...


... that bamboo is actually classified, botanically, as a grass? The largest types are of course the largest members of the grass family. Some species can grow as fast as a meter per day.


(Bamboo is of course vital to cha dao, as it is used for making a variety of tea-ware, including a popular form of the cha pan or tea tray used in gongfu cha, as well as other tea utensils.)

Did You Know ...


... that Wu Yi Shan was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999?

10 comments:

Hobbes said...

The concept of instant powdered tea looks rather chilling - I can hear laughter echoing down through the ages from the Song Dynasty...

I can well believe that some of the airports have interesting goods (though no doubt fairly expensive) - a shop in Hong Kong airport recently bought the world's most expensive bottle of Scotch whisky!

Thanks again for the great post.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

corax said...

> The concept of instant
> powdered tea looks rather
> chilling - I can hear laughter
> echoing down through the ages
> from the Song Dynasty...

yes, it's a gruesome development, isn't it?

> Thanks again for the great post.

and thank you, hobbes, for following along, all the way to this, the tenth and [i think] final post of the series!

MarshalN said...

Teaware in airports can be nice, if you don't mind the price tag. The Beijing airport sells some ok teaware. Except that instead of having the price tag in RMB, they have the price tag in USD. The number remains the same though....

Gives you some idea how expensive they can get :)

HK airport has the most amazing airport mall in the world.

corax said...

> Teaware in airports can be
> nice, if you don't mind the
> price tag. The Beijing airport
> sells some ok teaware. Except
> that instead of having the price
> tag in RMB, they have the price
> tag in USD. The number remains
> the same though....

yeeeikes!

> Gives you some idea how expensive
> they can get :)

do you suppose that to a certain extent this is fueled by a sort of amazement at the wealth of the average american traveler? it's a skewed population sample, of course -- the americans that can afford to travel to china are ipso facto going to be from the better-off portion of the population -- but if that's all the chinese see ... and they see american tourists buying a tea-set that would cost the average chinese citizen a week's pay ... what else are they to think? 'shake these laowai down!' at one level, you can hardly blame them.

> HK airport has the most amazing
> airport mall in the world.

i completely agree. if there's a more amazing one, i'd like to see it. tokyo narita is pretty amazing too, though! rather like an airport rodeo drive ...

MarshalN said...

I think that definitely has something to do with it, although when your average worker makes maybe $100 USD a month.... any American's going to seem rich.

Yes, that's how much a restaurant server in a regular joint (non-fancy) makes per month...

corax said...

> Yes, that's how much a
> restaurant server in a regular
> joint (non-fancy) makes per
> month...

it's almost embarrassing to consider what american tourists spend abroad, with these folks watching us. indeed one could hardly blame the chinese for whatever hostility they feel toward americans ... we must seem boorish and profligate to them ...

Michel said...

Corax, Thanks for all your posts on your chinese tea pilgramage..
Great!

corax said...

salut mon brave michel, et merci! si tu aimes les posts, j'en suis bien content.

tea-sing said...

So Pu-erh then is like Stilton in more than one way - in being an "acquired" taste and also in the way it acquired its name.

corax said...

> So Pu-erh then is like Stilton
> in more than one way - in
> being an "acquired" taste and
> also in the way it acquired its name.

you could say so, yes. and perhaps add a third way: they both make good accompaniments to a meal [my learned colleague steven owyoung reminds me that that pu'er was traditionally brewed to drink with food].