Teashops...

[.m.]

One of the pictures showed cakes wrapped in plastic. Why did they do that? Is this "dry Malaysian" storage"?

There is also the effect of preserving aroma better (too much air exposure might not be a good thing long-term), and in case of Hojo, the cakes are even vacuum sealed (the Hojo method, the goal of which is to prevent oxidation and to achieve very "fruity" puerh).

[StoneLadle]

Nah man... Shrink wrapping for storage basically sets the tea on a path of retarded development... It's like purposely holding a child back from flourishing...

Just my opinion, but stop shrink wrapping tea for storage... Not that there's anything wrong with that... If you really want to ... I mean... Why would you?

[DailyTX]

StoneLadle
Awesome sharing. This was my experience shopping for tea in China. Go in to a shop, owner would engage you in a conversation on the type of tea you drink, and provide recommendations as you are having a tea session. Really missed those days...

I'm totally interested in your tea buying experience in China. Apart from some tea shops I've been brought to by business friends in Xiamen and Shanghai, I've never spent much time at all in Chinese tea stores. Hong Kong tea stores yes, and Taiwan as well, but China... errrm... nope...

The thing is, the Chinese diaspora tend to be from the Southern regions, namely Fujian and further down. Northern diaspora didn't really emerge until over the last decade or so. Consequently, in SE Asia, we have developed our own styles of tea drinking (aged raw PE, LB etc, traditional TGY and high fire Yancha) so our stores tend to centre around these things. But we are seeing the greater influences now such as young raw tea and the greener oolongs etc...

Also, the fact that my Mandarin skills totally suck and no one in Mainland China seems to speak Cantonese anymore let alone English in a tea store, I'd be kinda screwed in China

@StoneLadle
I have only been to tea shops from the GuangDong and GuangZhou area. Some teashops are Dayi and/or Xia Guan authorized dealers, you would see a sign at the door right away. The Teashops I been to typically carries teas and teawares, and sometimes Chinese herbs, it's very similar to the photos you posted in terms of the set up, piles and piles of tea everywhere, a giant tea table in the inside, and you just sit yourself. Some of them even have a mini warehouse in walking distance if they need to retrieve a product. The higher end may have a display room with glass cases for antique tea and teawares. My Mandarin skill is also not good, but in GuangDong area, you can probably get by with Cantonese.

[StoneLadle]

@DailyTXI figured as much....

I spent a bit of time in Shenzhen the past couple years, always on location and hustling for time and light and never got to try even looking for tea... And no one seemed to speak Cantonese... Was weird... But yeah, I did go to one singular mom and pop shop in Xiamen and had the most awesome TGYs... The big shops were just tiresome and high pressure to throw cash ..

[DailyTX]

DailyTXI figured as much....

I spent a bit of time in Shenzhen the past couple years, always on location and hustling for time and light and never got to try even looking for tea... And no one seemed to speak Cantonese... Was weird... But yeah, I did go to one singular mom and pop shop in Xiamen and had the most awesome TGYs... The big shops were just tiresome and high pressure to throw cash ..

@StoneLadle
I haven't had good experience with bigger shops, it's almost like going into a jewelry store, someone would follow you around, and there is that pressure to sell.

[Noonie]

@StoneLadle - thanks for starting this thread and sharing the photos. This has the potential to be, for me, the best thread on the forum.

I live in a small city outside Toronto (Canada) and--yes I'm jealous of what the East has to offer in terms of brick-n-mortar tea shops--but I look for travel inspiration and the opportunity to travel to Asia in the future and visit some of these shops. And I don't mind all that much if some of them are tourist traps and if as a tourist I wouldn't be treated the same as a local, but that's with so many things and I wouldn't let that bother me in the slightest. Online is convenient, but there is nothing like seeing it all in person.

PLEASE KEEP THE PHOTOS COMING!!!

[StoneLadle]

Oh gosh @Noonie I'll do my best...

I think that tea tourism is a wonderful thing and in the current situation, it's something to look forwards to in the future...

Today was a surprise as I was invited to a tasting session organised by a major Malaysian tea retailer, namely Purple Cane. The session was held in one of their premium mall outlets and followed all social distancing and hygiene guidelines. We were treated to a 90s Guangdong pressed Pu Erh and an 80s Xiaguan Tuocha, both provided by a generous collector...

Initially we'd tasted the 2004 Green Mark (Kunming) iron cake, and also 2004 Green Mark regular pressing, and finally the house pressed wild tree cake from 2008. All had been thru Hong Kong storage and being offered at attractive prices. Am really tea drunk right now and sucking on some caramel mints to wake up some

Guangdong cake being prepared for brewing

MVIMG_20201030_121034.jpg (302.05 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Drinking the 2004 Green Mark Iron Cake

IMG_20201030_121932.jpg (283.18 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

Checking out some Purion kettles...

IMG_20201030_122309.jpg (298.19 KiB) Viewed 2463 times

A very simple yet effective semi dry brewing system...

MVIMG_20201030_153235.jpg (283.19 KiB) Viewed 2463 times