A brief article in the paper tonight said there was a fairly strong earthquake in the tea-producing area of China. Does anyone have any details, and any information on how much this may effect tea production?
The China Post and China Daily and CCTV have said little - we do know there was great destruction in the small city of Pu-er proper and lives were lost (which seems more important than the pu-erh we drink right now). I have sent several emails to folks we know in Yunnan and I am trying to find out if we can help those in need directly (so as to avoid CCNP red tape). Shen
Following up according to Peoples' Daily: the word is that water shortage is the main problem. There is no water available. Apparently, many tea factories are destroyed and 90,00 homes are in rubbl with
200,000+ displaced and in tents and on the streets. Having been through three major west coast quakes, tea is probably not a top priority right now. S
Half the labor force or more are in the tea production business. The farms are without irrigation and farmerd are in fear disease because of raw sewerage and mosquitoes. Donations are being solicited for the Pu-er area by the Red Cross Socity of China -Shanghai, Kunming and Hong Kong offices and Oxfam. ReliefNet is putting recovery information together:
Right; the tea will keep.
It seems that the city of Pu'er that took the near-direct hit is not the town that's been called Pu'er for centuries but instead the much larger one that was called Simao until recently. (I was there about three weeks ago, and the signs still said Simao.)
/Lew
i was in Simao -"China's tea capital"- only last month. Pu 'er is Pu 'er, and Simao is Simao, i'm confused now. so Pu 'er was not hit but Simao. anyway, all those dusty smoky bus rides in this region were all worth it for me. fantastic wondrous endless tea terraces.
Here are some Chinese links I found with some photoes
http://210.72.96.227/html/bsgsmodule.jsp?param1:34:56.0¶m2 07-06-03¶m3#.0¶m41.1¶m5=%D4%C6%C4%CF%C6%D5%B6%FD%B9%FE%C4%E1%D7%E5%D2%CD%D7%E5%D7%D4%D6%CE%CF%D8¶m7=6.4
om mani peme hung.
Julian
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