Green doldrums

some information for your reference:

I got the following information from HUNAN GUZHANG TEA INDUSTRY GROUP CO, LTD, CHINA

Qian Yun Brand Guzhang Green Tea has a long history.It`s bud had been a tribute since Eastem European countries in 1950, It was present at Leiping International Falr in 1957, It was popular in Hongkong and Southeast Asia marker in 1- 980,got the high quality product Certificate by the Foreign Trade Ministry in 1983 , It won a Hunan Provincial Lotus Medal in 1985 and a gold medal in 1988 in China First Food Fair. In1991,it was awarded the title of excellent new produ- ct in the exhibition of the ten year achievements of Chinese food industry. Guzhang Green Tea is unpolluted and of excellent quality,It has a fine and compact form with white needles , a straight and elegant shape, a green color, a strong and heavy -fragr ance, a pure and refreshing taste. The tea water is bright a- nd of yellow-green color , long term drinking of it is able to relieve intermal heat , prevent cancer , refresh mind as well asbrighten vision and prolong life. It has been well receiv- ed by the customers. Qian Yun Brand Guzhang Green Tea has 200g, 600g packageing, you are welcome to taste it.

"DLG" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

Wow! It seems that Hunan province definitely deserves a visit.

Of special note is that the web page with the text that DLG quoted is a good "Rosetta" example as it has both English and Chinese side by side on the same page.

On 25 Apr 2004 08:08:21 -0700, dalu snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (DLG) cast caution to the wind and posted:

Mike Petro snipped-for-privacy@pu-erh.net

remove the "filter" in my email address to reply

How does one tell if I green tea is still fresh or not? I currently have a quarter pound of two different dragonwells in ceramic airtight containers. How long should I expect these to last stored at room temperature?

Talking about Chinese tea-drinking, I found it is much eaiser to start from some "classic names". China was a huge country of agriculture, and tea were sitting at the top of the culture, those classic name become classic not for good at nothing! And as a matter of fact, different dynasty has different classics(inheriting plus exploring), and by Qing dynasty, there were about 40 kinds of classics.

So, if you guys want to taste something went through history and still popular, I would love to recommend the following: Lonngjing (dragon well, name protected, green tea), Tie Guanyin (from Anxi county, Fujian province, Wulong), Da Hongpao (from WUYI mountain, Wuyishan City, Fujian provice, Wulong), Xinyang Maojian (from Xinyang city, Anhui province, green tea), Qimen Hong Cha (also called Qi Hong, from Qimen county, Anhui province, black tea), Biluochun (from Dongting Mountain, Suzhou city, Jiangsu province, green tea), Junshan Yinzhen (from Junshan Mountain, Yueyang City, Hunan province, white tea), Liuan Guapian (from Liuan county, Anhui province, flower tea), Puer (from Xishuangbanna area, Yunnan provice, Chinese black)... this list will be too long to continue...

BTW, about black tea, I found there is a big mistake when this typeof tea was first translated into English. The "black tea" in English was mapped to the Chinese name "Hong Cha", which means red tea literally, while in Chinese language there is a type of tea called "Hei Cha", which means "black tea" literally, and Puer is of the top in this type.

People could easily found there is a saying of "shi da ming cha", which in English "Famous Tea Top Ten", but different organisation have different versons, and normally has a local commercial consideration; after I collected all versons of "Shi Da Ming Cha", I found there were about 14 kinds! And they are all from the 40s classics in Qing dynasty. But unfortunately I haven't got any English text for these, I am building an English web site on these and hopefully you will see it soon. To those who could read Chinese, the following is a full list of those 40s kinds of tea in Qing dynasty:

soooooooo glad to see there are sooooooooo many Chinese tea fans outside China, reallllllly glad to meet you all!

Alex Krupp2004042622451716807%alex3917@hotmailcom4/26/04

22: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

That's a good question for my money, and hard to answer. Here are a few ideas and experiences: If you notice a lose of aroma, that's a pretty good first sign, I'd say. Second, if the taste is weak, one dimensional, or "off," that would be an indication. Third, dry DW leaves would actually become dull, more yellow and/or brown, and not so bright and green. Keep some of that old DW. When you get some new of similar quality in a week or two -- they're coming in now -- compare the old and the new. That will answer the question. As for "how long," that depends on your personal demands on the tea. Hate to say it, but in some cases I perceive a difference in a good DW a week or two after it's been opened no matter how well I keep it.

Michael

Your question make me recall one of the Chinese saying: There will always be one to throw away when you compare two items and there will always one go to die if you compare a person to another. So according to this theory, just try your best to get some very fresh tea, by all means, and remember how it is, this will be costly, but is the easiest and most straight forward way to compare; how could you compare some real thing with an ambiguous impression, or even with text description, or even with pictures? You will never know the taste unless you take a bite.

Get some real Chinese friends help you to order some Longjing from here:

that is the best dealer online dealing with real Longjing, an offical supplier, though I haven't order any yet, shame. And Longjing is a very good begining to discover every best out of green tea, Biluochun maybe next to it. Beisides, as you could find Chinese people anywhere in the world, I don't think it will be difficult to pick one up around.

Are you sure? This is not a flower tea, but a regular loose leaf green tea, one of those ten most famous teas of China. I have just finished that small amount of this delicious tea which I bought last year, and I am looking for buying some more from my vendor.

Gyorgy

Gyrogy:

Thank you for pointing this, it was my mistake, and Liuan Guapian is kind of single leaf and light hand-dry green tea. Actually when I was typing, the name in my mind is Liuan Xiangpian, which is kind of flower tea make by Liuan Guapian from previous year, and suffocated with either jasmine or some other flower(mainly jasmine, can't remember other names). Liuan Xiangpian is not as famous as Liuan Guapian. Also, you mentioned "ten most famous teas of China", please refer to my earlier post for more information about them.

DLG

Once upon a time ther was a wonderful place South-West of Hangzhou called Meijiawu. It was a lonely valley crossed by many small pure water brooks and with tea plants all around. The place, separated from Longjing valley and it Lion Peak only by a hill ridge, is the place where one of the four main varieties of Longjing tea is rised, and once got the praise and support of Zhou Enlai for the quantity and quality of its production. The only connection to the road along Qiantang river, South of the valley, was a small street, served by some tuc-tuc like small motor-cab (1 every hour). If you were there in April you could smell the fragrance of Longjing tea cured in every household spreading in the pure air, while the only sounds you could hear were those of birds and wind, or the voices of the girls talking each other while picking tea. I will never forget that vision and the taste of freshly fired Longjing I was offered by some farmers that time. But that was some 10 years ago. In 2000 a tunnel was opened from the end of Meijiawu valley to the valley of Lingyin temple toward Hangzhou. This has become one the main road from the city to the South-West. A lot of restaurants and shops have been opened along both sides of this road, where Hangzhou people usually go eating "yewei" ("wild taste", such as wild game and vegetables), or buying tea of course. The treaffic on that road, with its continuous roaring of motors and claxons has become the new look and soundtrack of Meijiawu valley. I just remember that two years ago, in a Sunday afternoon, I was even unable to cross the road for the continuous flux of cars. Of course this is the price of modernization (this is what my Chinese friends say) but I just wonder how much the tea now produced in Meijiawu can still compare with that produced before, in terms of pollution and quality. Fortuantely in the area around there still are many places where they make good tea. At least now I am not any more that fastidious in getting original Meijiawu Longjing!

"DLG" ha scritto nel messaggio news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

news:...

Meijiawu Longjing (not quite sure about others) are still from households, besides, the dealer has to face his friends in government, and offer them great quality, there must be some quality control methods.