Nano technology in teas

XieXie. One of these days I will venture forth with my self taught Chinese on Sanzui. I just havent got around to it. If I run across Chinese Que Paso I can usually get an answer here like with nano technology.

Jim

Yeah, that's right, you can just ask on here and get an answer right away anyway.

BTW, how come nobody posts on here, or joins in discussions? This list and so many other tea lists seem almost lifeless. It's much more fun on Sanzui. Lots of posts everyday, and better set-up. We should have a better, more powerful forum than one like this. This posting method is ancient.

Hey Warren! Good to see you still posting here.

Keep in mind that Google Groups is just one way to access USENET. For better or worse, USENET isn't that popular today -- it's not just this newsgroup that's suffering a loss of activity. Like it or not, a lot of folks who used to post here have moved on to other places. And while there are some great people left here, there are also some slightly.... well let's just say "eccentric" folks, some of whom post quite a lot.

One advantage of USENET is that no one (whether a company or individual) owns it, and the information is likely to be preserved for quite a long time. Since a newsgroup is not a forum, I don't know if it's fair to say that we should have a "better, more powerful forum" - newsgroups are a little closer to email than to a web-based forum by nature, and that's not going to change. Anyway, to me, it's the community more than the interface itself, that really matters.

I think a lot of the traffic that used to be here has moved to forums like Teachat. While there are some disadvantages to supporting a site run by a tea vendor (especially one who attracts some pretty clueless customers), I do find that there's a little more action over there. Of course there is also a lot of noise.

Shameless (but, I think, relevant) self-promotion -- I have started my own forum, mostly focused on Chinese and (to a lesser extent so far), Japanese tea, which is still growing and building critical mass (slowly). I've posted about it on this group in the past, and my signature has details. You are welcome to join / post information, questions, photos, etc. The site isn't the nicest looking thing, and could use a face lift, but comments and suggestions for improvements are welcome in the relevant sections of the forum. What it really needs is more users and more active discussions.

It's a little unfair to compare any of these communities to Sanzui, Tea4u, Potsart or any of the other Chinese language tea / teaware forums simply because I think there is still quite a bit more knowledge and interest in tea in Chinese language communities (though I am seeing more participation in English language tea communities from ethnic Chinese who live in Malaysia and other SE Asian countries). The reason those communities are so active is because they have a lot of members, not because they have a nice forum interface.

Will, I just signed up. I agree, it could use a facelift. It's not as easy to use as Sanzui. And I agree, there should be more users. Maybe that will improve as time goes on. Let's hope for the best.

I completely agree with Will's point that the trouble with all English language tea venues on the Net is simply that there aren't enough people writing for them. Every other issue is minor compared to this.

But speaking of minor issues, Will, any chance of RSS for teadrunk?

/Lew

Yes, that's the problem, not enough people, and every forum is getting somewhat diluted too, so many of them. People also seem to blog more to their own tea blogs than post on forums.

Maybe in the future, we could have a specially designed tea site that incorporates blogging, tea forums, photo albums, and a profile page like Facebook - but only for tea people; and an IM feature; and other features.

Like I said, Sanzui is quite good now, but they are using off the shelf software designed by a Chinese company to run the site. I like it. Very user friendly, and I already have 45 tea friends on my list. They're adding a chat feature soon too, which means I can chat with my buddies on there, instead of just sending a shout out. Well, that's on the Sanzui Cun page, which is separate from the regular forum page. The forum page is still pretty much as it was before.

One difference with Sanzui though is that many tea professionals use the site. Tea shop owners, tea factories, everyone in the tea industry is represented on there. And they use it because it's also part of their job. Then there are also many tea enthusiasts too.

It's too bad there's nothing on the English web like that - yet.

Google wont let me spruce up RFDT with imbedded HTML like IMG and QUOTE because there is the USENET Newsreader legacy. The best I can do is HTTP links. Ive been putzing around on Sanzui. You need an Account. The Forum makes you pigeon hole your thread in six categories. I didnt see any appropriate place for a question on Nano tea technology. It seems more like a social network site based on tea. Lots of bells and whistles with glitz and glamor. But its like going to Las Vegas. Been in one casino been in them all ie video poker is video poker etc. My wife got lost once in one and the security guards had to go find her. You can get lost in Sanzui. My biggest quarrel is the 'new' posts. Theyre are only good for 24 hours. So if there is a break in the activity the thread rolls off. So if I reply today and nobody replies tomorrow the thread essentially disappears. It wouldnt be too bad if thread activity was identified by last post. Any date on the thread is when created. Im not a big fan of a vendor telling me their tea is better than the another guy. Duh. That does add to the noise in the form of 'new' threads. Besides the artificial categories, vendor salespitches and threads that are more than a day old it is a tea posters dream. Its enough to make me break out my bad Chinese grammar.

Jim

PS > > I completely agree with Will's point that the trouble with all English

That's my point, it has its limitations.

That's right, you actually have to sign up for an account before you can post a thread or post a reply. But here's the catch: if you're a newbie posting isn't allowed initially. And believe me, all that glitz and glamor is useful on Sanzui.

Well, a lot of people post or reply to a thread, so that's why things get switched around. Depends on number of new posts and new replies to older threads. And also the forum. The Chamagudao forum for Puer is by far the most active. Other categories post less, but still there is heavy traffic. Depends on the type of post. Someone posted a series of pics of a pretty woman brewing tea in a kitchen. That post got a lot of attention and replies to be sure.

I don't really see any sales pitches on there. People are pretty good about that. China is a big contry anyway, there are plenty of customers. No need to go to a forum like Sanzui and make sales pitches. Lots of banner ads though to bring in revenue on the main page. Mostly people are there to share their experiences in quality differences and demonstrate why. That's why imbedded photos are so useful. And it's what makes the site so useful. People can share their experiences with their own photos. Or ask for expert opinion.

There was a question asking "If you tea experts have such a low opinion of Dayi and Xiaguan puer teas as demonstrated in so many posts, then please point out to us exactly which puer brands/companies are better. I'm always drinking Dayi and Xiaguan; that means I'm drinking garbage tea!" No concrete response though. People just said Dayi and Xiaguan are ok.

Yeah, the search function is disabled for newbies. Sanzui is a site based on hierarchy. The lower you are, the less options you can do. And the way to increase your rank on the tea totem pole, so to speak, is to post a lot and post often. Or at least reply to other posts. But putting in just a smiley or 1 word won't do. You get punished for that by the Sanzui cops; take away some of your points. That's just their etiquette on there.

So basically, the people that have been on the longest and posted the most get all the bells and whistles.

One cool thing I saw on Sanzui today, and this is the beauty of forums with photos, a guy investigated the differences between Yongchun Foshou and Anxi Tieguanyin. Yongchun is only about an hour drive at most away from Anxi's Tea Capital - over narrow, winding mountain roads - from what I can remember anyway. He compared a fresh leaf of Foshou to that of TGY. The Foshou leaf was much larger and fatter than the Tieguanyin. In another photo, he showed a Foshou tea leaf larger than the size of the hand.

I extracted the following from the Puer Moderator rules:

?.???????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????ID???

Does it mean Business postings arent allowed, ie will be deleted. I dont mind someone asking someone else where they get their tea but I hate it when a vendor pops in with his salespitch. I thought it interesting tea vendors in China have all the customers they can handle.

When is the search function enabled for 'newbies'. If nothing else I can paste ubiquitous posts to earn brownie points. I think all I see is a reply box and not new box.

Jim

PS I saw the Dayi Xiaguan thread. When I was collecting puer I stayed away from the big boys. I preferred the smaller factories. If you take a look at the Western puer forums the big guys are in because they produce a consistent superior product compared to the fly by night anything goes little guys. You cant win for losing.

On Dec 16, 10:06 am, niisonge snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote: ...If it looks like a duck...

this part surprise me a lot. here and in every forum i've participated, been a newby means to read a lot of what is posted before you ask or comment, because otherwise that topic is probably discussed already. in one of them, called 'celtiberia.net' and related with the first history in the iberian peninsula, those pre-roman times, one of the most valued parts was the so called 'archive of knowledge'. many of these articles were writen after a discussion in chat, or the forum, etc. or after an interesting question that needs to be developed. the writers were all kind of peple, students of history and archeology, young people interested in those topics, and last years even professors of the university that collaborate with much interest.

maybe what was good for that website, which principal topic is history, is not for tea which is something that happens right now, as i make and taste the tea, i mean, it's volatile, something about we like to speak, but maybe not to write and archive. so how to learn then? just reading the latest? or is just everyone of us can talk about what we do, every opinion is wellcome. just wondering. anyway, it's a pity not to speak the lenguage of tea, let's say.

k> > Google wont let me spruce up RFDT with imbedded HTML like IMG and

That's right, that's part of what is happening on Sanzui, newbies can't post anything at all - because maybe the material is on there already. But they can reply. Over time, when they read more and post many replies, then they get enough experience to post their own topics. That's the way it is now anyway. Before, it wasn't so complicated.

Sanzui encourages people to contribute short articles to further knowledge. And that's how most people are learning about tea on Sanzui.