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Another interesting quote from Tea with Presidential Families by Beulah Munshower Sommer and Pearl Dexter, This time about a 1930s tea between President Roosevelt's wife Eleanor and Chiang Kai-shek's wife Soong Mei-ling.

One of their first guests was Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Mrs. Roosevelt took great pains to serve some very special Chinese tea, supposedly a hundred years old. When she mentioned the great age of the tea to her guest, Madame Chiang Kai-shek replied, "In my country, tea kept so long is used only for medicinal purposes."

Interesting because the implication is that this tea was grandfathered into the country by existing before the Tea Importation Act that would have made it illegal to import, or that a special exemption was made to import this tea for diplomatic purposes. I suppose it could have also been old liu an rather than pu'er... Who was the supplier, I wonder?

Or if this is a folk-tale, what is the origin?

(*Edit: Typo-correction)

Funny story, thanks for sharing. I think this would be the general attitude until the recent aged tea craze. There is nothing to suggest the type of the tea, aside that it was considered special, it could have been equally an oolong or hongcha.

And the folks from Shanghai prefer Green Tea anyways, Longjing would have found more approval.