Into Hong Kong

HK is covered in low clouds and damp air .. will use the day to decompress and get ready to fly home. No excursions ....
Temporary Fun Fair and Amusements: with view across to Star Ferry Kowloon


Best value in Hong Kong .. Night ferry from Kowloon to HK island

Out of China

Managed to wrap up on Wed. afternoon. Got the 14:30 ferry from; Fu Yong(Shenzhen) to Kowloon. Weather still gray / cold and drizzly.
Meeting with: Matt-Julia- Tea Hostess -Komi and Robert.
All is good when your having tea .. Tea shop in Hui Hua hotel, Chang Ping town.

Storm moves In

First of the early spring storms moves in .. these pictures a little after 10:00am. The thunder and lightning were not that dramatic. Plenty of rain in the clouds ....

Trip to Cha Shan

Viewer Warning .. "If your not into tea and pictures of same .. U might want to pass on this entry ... Fair warning ....
Sunday afternoon ...
"Yes, there is a town called Tea Mountain" "Cha Shan" ..
Cha Shan; a typical town in Dongguan City district, with one interesting difference! A section of town, about 1/4 of a city block .. of just tea shops .. set up for Wholesale, but welcomes retail customers.
Pu-erh is the predominate tea for sale here. Green, Oolongs and others in lesser supply.
When they say a "ton of tea" .. that is literally a "Ton of tea" ..

Need to commemorate an event or just show off your tea .. custom pressing and framing.


That's loose Pu-erh in the bag's ..
The back ally ways are interesting .. storage .. a place to cook

"Come in and drink some tea"
If your not selling .. your sorting ..
Some are happier than others .. what a great smile ...
After we check out the shops .. its time to get down to tasting. On my last visit .. I picked this shop as my place to buy .. Family owned and operated .. very friendly .. We are getting ready to sample the new crop (arrived yesterday) of Fujian Tie Guan Yin .. Then we compared to last Autumn Crop.
The new Spring crop had a mild flavour, milder than last Autumn's crop. All agreed, we preferred the more mature 2006.
Just for a change tried some; Jasmine-Mo Li Hua Cha, 茉莉花茶 and Chrysanthemum-Ju Hua, 菊花

A family waits as their receipt is filled out and Matt enjoys his tea ...

Little sister hiding behind .. Not a lot of foreigners make it to this part of town ...

Day at the lake .. Song Shan Wu .. Donngguan

Impressive location, for new hotel .. at the head end of the largest lake in the Dongguan City jurisdiction. Located between Da Ling Shan town and Da Lang town
At this time a little remote, but soon a transport network will build, currently takes about 7-10 min to get a car to come to hotel.
The no 2 wing is open (on left) Fit out on No 1 wing continues.A network of smaller lakes feed the main lake, locals make this a weekend fishing and picnic getaway.
Need more land .. Mei Wen Ti 沒問題 No Problem .. just move a near by hill and fill the hole
Construction workers; temp home .. these guys lucked out, and got a lake view, in the shade.
The world over, nothing changes .. Workers work .. supervisors; sits and thinks!!! Poster boy for what to do with your Hard-Hat

Pu-erh - Oolong & Cha Bei (六 盃 )

Nice collection of new teas:
Taiwan, Koa Shan Oolong & Xiaguan Tuocha Tea (Grade A for Domestic Market) Heather, might have to fight you for these hand painted cups ..

Tea party on the balcony: ..Just arrived from Taipei, via express courier; Kao Shan Oolong Tea: We brewed 4 pots to share with friends in the office this morning. Very smooth, mild flavour, with pleasant after taste.

Xiaguan Tuocha Pu-erh Tea: .. Two at 250 gms. This style packaging: Tuocha, Bowl shape, Birds Nest, Bowl shaped brick. ( Green or Raw /Uncooked / Sheng 生 )
The ‘Xiaguan Tuocha Tea’ (Grade A for Domestic Market) produced by Yunnan Xiaguan Tuocha Co., Ltd. Yunnan Xiaguan Tea Factory. Developed for the first time at Xiaguan in 1902 with a registered brand called “Songhe”, trademark; Crane under a Pine tree.
This tea uses improved broad-leaf tea species from different famous tea mountains, and belongs to the series of top grade compressed tea. The tea is a bowl-shaped mass of leaves, regular in shape tightly-compressed, with shinny luster and strong scent. It’s liquor looks bright yellow, taste is refreshing with sweet aftertaste.

Morning Flowers

Hi Robbie, thought you'd like these: ..
Beautiful table flowers in club room: ..

How to store your pu-erh tea

During the past few days some questions came up about Pu-erh tea.
Why is it called; “Pu-erh" ?Pu-er, Pu-erh .. English representation of very old, Yuan Dynasty (1271 ~1368), town name: 普耳 in Yunnan Province (雲南 "south of the clouds").
Pu-erh town was the collection/staging point for tea produced in the surrounding areas, being readied for shipment on the “Old Tea Horse Road.” “Cha Ma Gu Dao”
Now the modern town of: Xishuangbanna (西雙版納) easy for you to say!
What's the best/right way to store Pu-erh ?With friends living in various regions of the world, Temp and Humidity are main concern that affect tea in storage.
The most important being:-Avoid direct sunlight.
-Avoid other fragrances. (Kitchen - Cigarettes - perfumes- etc)
-Maintain a humidity level of 60% to 85%
-Maintain a proper air flow.
-Avoid wide fluctuation of temperature.

Importance of Humidity:
A certain level of humidity is required to allow proper fermentation. Humidity levels as high as 85% are ok, provided there is proper airflow, to dry the tea and allow some period with a lower level of humidity around 60%.
In California, I have No special temp. humidity controls, normal house temp. With slightly dryer air, tea will take a little longer to age. If it gets too dry I supplement using small bowl of water or damp cloth, adjacent to tea in storage.

Keep the bamboo leaves on bundles:
The bamboo leaves will help to protect the tea from excess humidity because when the weather gets a little bit humid, the fiber from the bamboo leaves expand thus blocking the humidity.

Storage:
Storing cooked (black)and raw (Green) pu-erh tea together?
(That's how they are in the shop when you you buy it!)
It’s ok to store cooked and raw pu-erh together in the same room. It’s also possible to mix them for storage, mixing them together, will allow teas to benefit from each others fragrances.

However, Purists will always prefer to store raw pu-erh away from cooked pu-erh even storing pu-erh tea from different factories separately so that the characters of the tea are not mixed.
Some have specially constructed Tea Cellars (like storing wine) with sophisticated control systems. They use the annual control charts to back up claims when they sell their tea.

Main thing is to enjoy your hobby .. the are; NO Hobby Police.

New day, New Hotel, New Tea Pot

China lifted their Block on "Blogs" .. good to be in contact again ...
About 8:45pm .. managed to start setting up in new digs (nice digs at that)
Moved out of Hui Hua in Chang Ping .. just too much construction noise .. will miss the location and proximity to all Chang Ping has to offer ..
Now at the; Hyatt Regency Dongguan Song Shan Lake. A true stand out in this area of China.
Sitting room .. looks like tea time: ...

 





The Song Shan Lake development is world class planning. Approx 75 Square Kilometers developed by one of Hong Kong's Very rich;  Mr. Lee.
Lets see if I can capitalize on rural setting and get out and run!!!!

I went over to Liang An (Twin Straights) for a light dinner. This gave us a chance to visit another tea buddy (pictures later) Could not resist this extremely well crafted pot. Very simple with good ergonomics.
New Tea Pot:.... We spend most of our time drinking and discussing Pu-er .. "the market has really gone crazy" Demand and prices are on the hockey stick curve.  Do your homework before you buy Pu-er for investment. You must only deal with people you trust. Research information .. cross check what you find with at least two trusted sources. Buy it for the taste and enjoyment and you won't be disappointed.
In the tea game: ""Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est. Knowledge is power

Book and movie review

Not new releases, but, I just got around to them:....
Movies:
The Prestige, enjoyable to watch, once, not as good as the Illusionist (good movie). Love on the Heath; (Scenes of a sexual Nature). Don't even waste your time .. made for a small audience, one that understands British (English) social culture and language .. an afternoon on Hampstead Heath (big park in London)Book: Wild File, formulaic, therefor predictable, characters established to fit the aging Hollywood action movie actors. Basically a book generated to become a movie.

Night shots

Saturday evening .. downtown Chang Ping
Heather this looking from out from your side .. night shot with New Century prominent The Hui Mai .. sister to Hui Hua hotel