Disks of Tea at Yi Chang Hao 益昌号
One of the things which Yunnan is famous for is its tea. Much of Yunnan province’s history can be traced to the tea horse trade. As the name implies this is a trading route which involves the trading of tea. Yunnan’s tea is particularly well known. This in part due to the topography of Yunnan. Yunnan as you may know, is primarily mountainous as it is located at the eastern end of the Tibetan Plateau. The climate here is conducive to growing tea. The tea horse trade is the trading of tea which was conducted on horseback. This trade persisted for several centuries and can be likened to the silk route as tea is trade with places like Tibet, Burma and India. Among the tea of Yunnan, the most coveted one is the pu-erh tea 普洱茶.
I Got the Small Bag of Tea in the Shelf
Lijiang being the shopping center that it is now has numerous tea shops which of course sell tea in packs. They sell the local stuff as well as tea from other regions as well. I happened to run into a tea house which was manned by an elderly man. He was very welcoming in his shop and was telling all sorts of stories about the tea he sells. I was interested naturally in the pu-erh tea he sells apparently, pu-erh tea is fermented and aged much like wine. And like fine wine, the older it is, the better it gets.
It Also Came with this Nice Container
I got myself some pu-erh tea which he said was aged three years. I didn’t take those bricks of tea or Chinese coin shaped tea, these are left to the collectors which apparently purchase them. My miniscule purchase didn’t faze him and he continued to tell stories about how foreigners would come from all over to buy his tea. I don’t know about that but he sure makes a very good salesman. As for the tea, I have long since finished it. I didn’t find it particularly satisfying but that was probably me.
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