The (Western) Yixing market

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Teachronicles
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Sun Dec 23, 2018 10:09 am

Brent D wrote:
Sat Dec 22, 2018 8:27 pm
Bok wrote:
Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:26 am
Brent D 1300 for a authentic, pure Zhuni clay from Qing era is frankly not much. You pay more or slightly less for a modern (real and pure) Zhuni.
For sure its more reasonable, but still around twice what id pay for a teapot. I could see myself spending around 700 tops on a pot, but its interesting. It seems once you get over the $300-$400 range, pots skyrocket to over $1000usd.
Hychen has a few 60s and 70s pots in the middle range there. 6-700$. Now ROC and qing, I think over 1000$, often significantly over, is expected.
theredbaron
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:50 am

Brent D wrote:
Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:59 pm

Flea markets, vintage shops, thrift stores and estate sales in Wisconsin dont have yixing :)
If something ever falls in my lap, I would certainly be open to it, but it wont, and im done hunting for it.


One never knows.
Last year i found in a pile of trash and bought in a flea market here in Germany a 1970's F1 Shui Ping for the astonishing amount of 2 Euros, after bargaing it down from the initial 3 Euro price tag :)
I always let my eyes wander in flea markets...
swordofmytriumph
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:20 am

theredbaron wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:50 am
after bargaing it down from the initial 3 Euro price tag :)
:shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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OCTO
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:38 am

That’s the downside of living in an Asian country. It’s almost impossible to find a teapot at that price 😂😂😂
Chadrinkincat
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:35 pm

theredbaron wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:50 am
Brent D wrote:
Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:59 pm

Flea markets, vintage shops, thrift stores and estate sales in Wisconsin dont have yixing :)
If something ever falls in my lap, I would certainly be open to it, but it wont, and im done hunting for it.


One never knows.
Last year i found in a pile of trash and bought in a flea market here in Germany a 1970's F1 Shui Ping for the astonishing amount of 2 Euros, after bargaing it down from the initial 3 Euro price tag :)
I always let my eyes wander in flea markets...
That’s definitely a true bargain. I’m always on high alert for deals like this. I’ve found a few nice unused f1 pots for $5-15, an early 80’s black star zini jade orchid 6 sided pot and early 70’s xian piao w/ wax. The downside is that it becomes harder to pay full price for anything once you find bargain pots.
Chadrinkincat
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:38 pm

OCTO wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:38 am
That’s the downside of living in an Asian country. It’s almost impossible to find a teapot at that price 😂😂😂
I’d sacrifice these kinda deals to live in east Asia.
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OCTO
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Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:06 pm

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:38 pm
OCTO wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:38 am
That’s the downside of living in an Asian country. It’s almost impossible to find a teapot at that price 😂😂😂
I’d sacrifice these kinda deals to live in east Asia.
You are most welcomed!!
swordofmytriumph
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 1:21 am

@OCTO , what have you noticed about the quality of the tea you can buy in Asia vs what we get in the west? Any difference?
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Bok
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 2:49 am

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 1:21 am
OCTO , what have you noticed about the quality of the tea you can buy in Asia vs what we get in the west? Any difference?
The best never really makes it out of Asia... the market demand is huge for premium teas and Western tea enthusiasts are but a small niche. You can still get good tea, but it is difficult.

But I’d say the premium teas are not accessible to the West(for Chinese teas), upper medium level ok, but higher I doubt it.
theredbaron
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:21 am

OCTO wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 10:38 am
That’s the downside of living in an Asian country. It’s almost impossible to find a teapot at that price 😂😂😂
Being exiled in Europe after 30 years in Asia has to have some perks ;)
theredbaron
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:24 am

Chadrinkincat wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 7:35 pm


That’s definitely a true bargain. I’m always on high alert for deals like this. I’ve found a few nice unused f1 pots for $5-15, an early 80’s black star zini jade orchid 6 sided pot and early 70’s xian piao w/ wax. The downside is that it becomes harder to pay full price for anything once you find bargain pots.

Not just that makes it hard paying today's prices. Most of my pots i bought in the 90's and early 2000's, and can only dream of what i paid for then...
theredbaron
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:37 am

Bok wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 2:49 am
swordofmytriumph wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 1:21 am
OCTO , what have you noticed about the quality of the tea you can buy in Asia vs what we get in the west? Any difference?
The best never really makes it out of Asia... the market demand is huge for premium teas and Western tea enthusiasts are but a small niche. You can still get good tea, but it is difficult.

But I’d say the premium teas are not accessible to the West(for Chinese teas), upper medium level ok, but higher I doubt it.

Even in Asia getting the best qualities is more than difficult, mostly not possible without good contacts, and also very costly. Especially outside the tea centers such as KL, SIngapore or Taiwan getting really good quality teas is very hard. In China itself it can be even harder. What is generally avaible in the west is not very good. While the situation has now improved significantly with the many web based shops, the quality still lags behind. Previous to Chinese tea making it to the web, in the 90's and before, however, high quality chinese tea was simply unobtainable in the west. Nobody knew about it even.
I remember how i slowly and tediously began acquiring knowledge on tea through books such as Bloefeld's "The Chinese Art of Tea".
Fortunately i have enough aged Pu Erh to last me a lifetime, and also by now solved my Yancha problem.
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OCTO
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 6:57 am

theredbaron wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 5:37 am

Even in Asia getting the best qualities is more than difficult, mostly not possible without good contacts, and also very costly. Especially outside the tea centers such as KL, SIngapore or Taiwan getting really good quality teas is very hard. In China itself it can be even harder.
To get good quality high grade tea, it really boils down to having good relations with the farmer or middleman dealers. Though not as difficult as before, prices are often sky high.

But high grade tea can be extremely addictive!

Cheers!
swordofmytriumph
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:13 am

Interesting. So what about companies like Yunnan Sourcing, Taiwan Teacrafts, Leafy Green, or Hojo? Places that have direct relationships with the growers/source their product directly, actually go to the place and work with the people who are making the tea? For those of you who have had the enviable opporunity to compare the stuff available in Asia to the stuff you can find on sites like that compares with the stuff available on sites like that? For example, Taiwan teacrafts sources directly and processes a good amount of their stuff themselves.
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OCTO
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Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:33 am

swordofmytriumph wrote:
Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:13 am
Interesting. So what about companies like Yunnan Sourcing, Taiwan Teacrafts, Leafy Green, or Hojo?
I can’t comment on the above except for Hojo as I haven’t bought tea from any online stores before. Hojo has a retail outlet in Kuala Lumpur.

There are a selected range of teas from Hojo that never makes it to the online store. They are often snapped up by local regulars who are on their SpeedDial .... 😂😂😂
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