China / Taiwan Trip - Favorite vendors?

[chofmann]

Hi all,

My wife and I are likely headed to China and Taiwan in April to visit some known and new tea farms to source teas for our US based e-commerce.

If anybody has any suggestions for farms to check out, I'd love to hear them.

In particular, we are focused on finding the following, but are open to other suggestions as well:

1. High-quality Oolongs (particularly dong ding and dan cong)
2. Lapsang Souchong
3. Pu-erh (which we don't currently carry)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Rui]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

[Bok]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Just one problem: in that case you would not need to buy from the above thread opener, you can just buy directly isn’t it?
Without an increase in price due to resale.

[Rui]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Just one problem: in that case you would not need to buy from the above thread opener, you can just buy directly isn’t it?
Without an increase in price due to resale.

Her family and her husband's family own the tea farms where those teas come from. The website is just for an indication of how to contact Cindy.

[chofmann]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Just one problem: in that case you would not need to buy from the above thread opener, you can just buy directly isn’t it?
Without an increase in price due to resale.

Her family and her husband's family own the tea farms where those teas come from. The website is just for an indication of how to contact Cindy.

This would be exactly what we are looking for. Farms that either don't sell on-line currently or it is very difficult to buy on-line from for a variety of reasons (language barrier, shipping, difficult UI to work with, etc.)

Thanks so much for the info Rui!

[chofmann]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Just one problem: in that case you would not need to buy from the above thread opener, you can just buy directly isn’t it?
Without an increase in price due to resale.

Actually, since we keep our costs to a minimum and our margins low, we can sometimes buy wholesale from farms like this and re-sell it online in the US at the same price (or very close to it), all while offering a simpler shopping experience and faster shipping to our customers.

Obviously it all depends on where the wholesale price is set of course, but we do our best to keep retail prices as low as we can.

[Tillerman]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Wholesale orders of Cindy's teas are handled in the United States by Tealet (tealet.com). Contact Elyse Petersen for details.

[Tillerman]

My wife and I love the Wuyi rock and Dancong teas from Cindy (https://www.wuyiorigin.com/).

She also has Lapsang Souchong tea.

Just one problem: in that case you would not need to buy from the above thread opener, you can just buy directly isn’t it?
Without an increase in price due to resale.

Actually, since we keep our costs to a minimum and our margins low, we can sometimes buy wholesale from farms like this and re-sell it online in the US at the same price (or very close to it), all while offering a simpler shopping experience and faster shipping to our customers.

Obviously it all depends on where the wholesale price is set of course, but we do our best to keep retail prices as low as we can.

Wholesale orders of Cindy's teas are handled in the United States by Tealet (tealet.com). Contact Elyse Petersen for details.

[chofmann]

Thanks Tillerman, appreciate the feedback.

[OldWaysTea]

If you are going to Wuyishan, I can provide contacts and advice. My wife's family lives and farms tea there. Feel free to reach out to me; I'm always happy to talk about Wuyishan.

[Mountain Stream Teas]

Hi,

I am in the same business but live here. If you think I can help out with anything send me a PM.

In general in Taiwan for tea sourcing, try to stay as far away from the tourist places as you can. Muzha is a waste of time but Pinglin is great if you have your own wheels and a few contacts from Instagram or Facebook. There are deals to be had at the farms but language is always a problem. I would say if you are going to spend the time to go to a place or growing region have at least two 'guides' set up for the visit. Most people in Taiwan are awesome and good tea sellers are the same.

Don't know if this helps but hopefully you can find a few places off the beaten track that way!

[sifulee28]

I should be heading back to Xishuangbanna, specifically Yiwu region, very soon. If you are interested in visiting, feel free to contact me to work out an itinerary.