Pu-erh in Beijing

I will be visiting Beijing for 12 days in March.

I searched through the archives of this group and saw that others had posted similar requests for tea shop recommendations in Beijing, and most replies were admonitions.

So, aside from "You can't find reputable tea shops selling pu-erh in Beijing!", does anyone have any recommendations?

Reply to
Jason F in Los Angeles
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There are several good tea shops in Beijing, forgive those who admonished, they know not what they say.

I'll email you off the group next week for some places you can visit while you are there...

Danny

Reply to
samarkand

hi how are you? a friend of mine makes the business of pu-erh tea, the tea originally from Yuan with real good quality. drop me a mail when you arrive in Beijing. .

Reply to
JASON ZHAO

I don't know Beijing's market very well, but if you're going to be in the area, there is a city about four hours south by train called Shijiazhuang. In Shijiazhuang there is a large marketplace called NanSanTiao. There is an entire city block devoted just to tea sellers there. All of them have some kind of Pu Er and a few of them specialize in it. If you end up going to that city, let me know, and I'll give you the names of some good contacts there.

As for Beijing.. I would be careful. Foreigner = money. Foreigner largely ignorant about quality tea. Foreigner = easy to rip off. That's the general attitude of the people I've dealt with there. That city is particularly bad for that crap. If you take the time to get out of Beijing, you'll meet a whole different China, and probably have a better overall experience. I'm not saying there aren't nice reputable people in Beijing, just that they are harder to find. Shijiazhuang is just around the corner by train, and has a much better attitude, and you can buy for about half the price there.

Hope that helps, Troy

Reply to
illium37

Thank you!

Reply to
Jason F in Los Angeles

I looked it up on wikipedia, and at 320km south of Beijing it's definitely a possibility. THe train ride would then be about 3 hours or so? Would I leave from the Bejing West Train Station? Please post here or email me off the list with more information!

Reply to
Jason F in Los Angeles

Yes. You'd leave from Beijing via BeiJing Xi Train Station. You'll arrive in Shijiazhuang about 3-5 hours later, and be right downtown. The NanSanTiao market isn't far from there. The train station in Shijiazhuang is right on the main downtown street "Zhong Shan Lu" 中山路。 Since it's a "lu" it runs east-west. Go to the west about two-three blocks and NanSanTiao market will be to your left. The best way, though, would just be to hop in a cab and tell the driver where you want to go. The walk isn't far, and the busses are easy to get the hang of, but if you're not familiar with the city, or the market, you might get lost easily. Shijiazhuang isn't as "foriegner friendly" as Beijing is, in the sense of having a lot of things in English or Pinyin to help you find your way around. You're not likely to meet many English speaking people. However they are more foreigner friendly, in thier attitude. So, depending on your language skill level with Chinese, you may or may not find it difficult to navigate. I have some ex-pat friends in that city (from various countries of origin). You could call them up once you're on your way into town, and meet up with them. They'll show you around, help with the language barrier, and probably take you out for a night on the town (some good bars and dance clubs there too, just don't get on the stage and then moon the audience, that'll land you in jail hurting (don't ask how I know that)).

Let me know when you get closer to actually going there, and I'll send you names and phone numbers of some folks in town who can help you out. My email: snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com.

-Troy Howard (aka Da Tong (or, in Shijiazhuang, WuJunHua))

Reply to
illium37

RE: Puerh in Beijing...

I just stumbled across references to Maliandao, the tea-selling district in Xuanwu, Beijing. One site in particular mentions that a few stores specialize in pu-erh. As several sites attest to there being upwards of 150 tea stores large & small--and a four-story tea mall--I'm going to check it out. Any recommendations within this area?

Reply to
Jason F in Los Angeles

Jason, just from my experiences with tea shopping in China, the average chinese you'll meet on those markets doesn't speak a single word of english. Make sure you bring a nice dictionary with chinese script. It shall be worth it's weight in 100 year old Pu-Erh. PS: the more english any of those tea vendors speak IMO the higher the chances of getting ripped off.

Just my 2ct, enjoy your trip !!! Karsten / Darjeeling

Reply to
psyflake

Hi, you can find the tea supplier and tea house in Beijing from this website.

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Reply to
Robert

Here we go again

Reply to
Marlene Wood

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