Well, I'm back. Sorry about basically disappearing for the past 3
weeks or so, but my trip to India kept me from you guys. The idea of
doing mail order tea is still on when I get back to China Feb 5, so
keep me posted. Also, Sasha, sorry about not getting back with you
about the wulong I have. I'm back now, if you're still interested.

Anyway, I had a 12 hour layover in Toronto because I missed my flight
yesterday morning so I went to Chinatown in search of some teashops.
I was able to locate 2: a Tenren shop (the west's version of TianFu,
a popular "Taiwan" shop located on mainland China) and another local
shop named something like Fujian tea or something. The Tenren shop
left me a little upset because of the lack of courtesy I felt that the
staff had and the little knowledge of two of the women working there.
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang. Here's a sample dialogue of what I'm talking about:

"What kind of tea is that?"
"Which one?"
"That one, right there" pointing.
"Oh, that's puer."
"Where is it from?
"I don't know."
"How old is it?"
"It's more than 30 years old."

It was being sold for like 150 Canadian a pound. Obviously a lie.
The tea even smelled cheap and the leaf quality was sub par in
comparision to some of the teas I've seen even in small shops in New
York's Chinatown. To be a shop specializing in various sorts of
things from "Taiwan," I was very disappointed. Their pots were cheap,
low quality, and very overpriced (150 Canadian for a basic design,
small pot that didn't even appear to be genuine yixing). They also
had some small sets, tea bowl/trays with some cups and a pot to go
along with it that you can find in the teamarkets for nothing (maybe
50 rmb...about 5 USD) in China going for like 200 Canadian and up.
This furthers my reasoning behind wanting to import tea and legit tea
equipment. Prices for their tea trays were so insane, I didnt' even
question them on that....300 for a small fake wood tray?

The other shop was sorta a repeat of Tenren but the prices weren't as
bad. I went into the shop and asked if they had 'qing shan lv shui'
and they did surprisingly, but the woman acted very rude muttering
things in Chinese like "ben dan lao wai" (stupid foreigner) and things
of that nature after I asked her could I try some before I bought it
and made her wait while I looked at some other teas. It would have
cost me 20 bucks to get a quarter of a pound of the tea (about 125
RMB) of which I could have got in China for much less and get a higher
grade of the tea. All of her teas were old and not very fresh
anymore. I called her a bitch in Chinese and told her she should be
more careful when spouting insults in Chinese at a foreigner. A
thousand apologies later, I left without buying anything from her.
(In case you need it for future reference, Ba Po is sorta like bitch
in English...hehe.)

Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops in the Toronto area? How about Tenren in New York and other
places? Are my experiences exceptions or typical?

Overall, I was very disappointed.


Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

In article ,
Mydnight wrote:

Well, I'm back.

welcome back, o dark one..._

. I called her a bitch in Chinese and told her she should be
more careful when spouting insults in Chinese at a foreigner. A
thousand apologies later, I left without buying anything from her.

most excellent - i HATE it when retail people treat customers as if they
wish they hadn't even walked in the door. notwithstanding the fact that
people do have bad days, &c, there is absolutely NO excuse for it.
how did she apologise to you...?

Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops

conversely, i had a very nice exp. in the san fran tenren. i went in
with my son, who was about 8 at the time, and ended up spending about 2
hours in the shop. the people there were nice beyond need - they even
went out of their way to make sure my boy had fun, and learned something
about tea to boot. she prepared for us a rare long jing, and told us
tea stories from the old country - and all of this before she had any
indication that we were even interested in buying anything - which we
did. i recall leaving with a very, very nice pi lo chun.

and yes, i'm still interested in your tea-from-china idea -- by all
means keep us informed........p*

most excellent - i HATE it when retail people treat customers as if they
wish they hadn't even walked in the door. notwithstanding the fact that
people do have bad days, &c, there is absolutely NO excuse for it.
how did she apologise to you...?

just said 'duibuqi' (sorry) a bunch of times and feichang duibuqi
which i haven't heard before (i guess 'very sorry') and said she
didn't expect me to know Chinese; like that would make it better,
right? heh.


Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops

conversely, i had a very nice exp. in the san fran tenren. i went in
with my son, who was about 8 at the time, and ended up spending about 2
hours in the shop. the people there were nice beyond need - they even
went out of their way to make sure my boy had fun, and learned something
about tea to boot. she prepared for us a rare long jing, and told us
tea stories from the old country - and all of this before she had any
indication that we were even interested in buying anything - which we
did. i recall leaving with a very, very nice pi lo chun.

That has been my former experience in shops in China. It's supposed
to be like that. They are supposed to try and develop a relationship
with the customer, not just treat them as cattle. It's an unspoken
rule (in China) to never buy tea on the first time you visit a shop,
and most shopkeepers know that. I mean, I was willing to buy tea from
those shops, though overpriced, if they would have treated me with
respect and courtesy regardless of the rule. It would have been an
experimental buy.


and yes, i'm still interested in your tea-from-china idea -- by all
means keep us informed........p*

will do. This experience spurns me further.



Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

most excellent - i HATE it when retail people treat customers as if they
wish they hadn't even walked in the door. notwithstanding the fact that
people do have bad days, &c, there is absolutely NO excuse for it.
how did she apologise to you...?

just said 'duibuqi' (sorry) a bunch of times and feichang duibuqi
which i haven't heard before (i guess 'very sorry') and said she
didn't expect me to know Chinese; like that would make it better,
right? heh.


Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops

conversely, i had a very nice exp. in the san fran tenren. i went in
with my son, who was about 8 at the time, and ended up spending about 2
hours in the shop. the people there were nice beyond need - they even
went out of their way to make sure my boy had fun, and learned something
about tea to boot. she prepared for us a rare long jing, and told us
tea stories from the old country - and all of this before she had any
indication that we were even interested in buying anything - which we
did. i recall leaving with a very, very nice pi lo chun.

That has been my former experience in shops in China. It's supposed
to be like that. They are supposed to try and develop a relationship
with the customer, not just treat them as cattle. It's an unspoken
rule (in China) to never buy tea on the first time you visit a shop,
and most shopkeepers know that. I mean, I was willing to buy tea from
those shops, though overpriced, if they would have treated me with
respect and courtesy regardless of the rule. It would have been an
experimental buy.


and yes, i'm still interested in your tea-from-china idea -- by all
means keep us informed........p*

will do. This experience spurns me further.



Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

Michael


1/2/05


Well, I'm back. Sorry about basically disappearing for the past 3
weeks or so, but my trip to India kept me from you guys. The idea of
doing mail order tea is still on when I get back to China Feb 5, so
keep me posted. Also, Sasha, sorry about not getting back with you
about the wulong I have. I'm back now, if you're still interested.

Anyway, I had a 12 hour layover in Toronto because I missed my flight
yesterday morning so I went to Chinatown in search of some teashops.
I was able to locate 2: a Tenren shop (the west's version of TianFu,
a popular "Taiwan" shop located on mainland China) and another local
shop named something like Fujian tea or something. The Tenren shop
left me a little upset because of the lack of courtesy I felt that the
staff had and the little knowledge of two of the women working there.
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang. Here's a sample dialogue of what I'm talking about:

"What kind of tea is that?"
"Which one?"
"That one, right there" pointing.
"Oh, that's puer."
"Where is it from?
"I don't know."
"How old is it?"
"It's more than 30 years old."

It was being sold for like 150 Canadian a pound. Obviously a lie.
The tea even smelled cheap and the leaf quality was sub par in
comparision to some of the teas I've seen even in small shops in New
York's Chinatown. To be a shop specializing in various sorts of
things from "Taiwan," I was very disappointed. Their pots were cheap,
low quality, and very overpriced (150 Canadian for a basic design,
small pot that didn't even appear to be genuine yixing). They also
had some small sets, tea bowl/trays with some cups and a pot to go
along with it that you can find in the teamarkets for nothing (maybe
50 rmb...about 5 USD) in China going for like 200 Canadian and up.
This furthers my reasoning behind wanting to import tea and legit tea
equipment. Prices for their tea trays were so insane, I didnt' even
question them on that....300 for a small fake wood tray?

The other shop was sorta a repeat of Tenren but the prices weren't as
bad. I went into the shop and asked if they had 'qing shan lv shui'
and they did surprisingly, but the woman acted very rude muttering
things in Chinese like "ben dan lao wai" (stupid foreigner) and things
of that nature after I asked her could I try some before I bought it
and made her wait while I looked at some other teas. It would have
cost me 20 bucks to get a quarter of a pound of the tea (about 125
RMB) of which I could have got in China for much less and get a higher
grade of the tea. All of her teas were old and not very fresh
anymore. I called her a bitch in Chinese and told her she should be
more careful when spouting insults in Chinese at a foreigner. A
thousand apologies later, I left without buying anything from her.
(In case you need it for future reference, Ba Po is sorta like bitch
in English...hehe.)

Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops in the Toronto area? How about Tenren in New York and other
places? Are my experiences exceptions or typical?

Overall, I was very disappointed.


Mydnight

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

Michael


1/2/05


Well, I'm back. Sorry about basically disappearing for the past 3
weeks or so, but my trip to India kept me from you guys. The idea of
doing mail order tea is still on when I get back to China Feb 5, so
keep me posted. Also, Sasha, sorry about not getting back with you
about the wulong I have. I'm back now, if you're still interested.

Anyway, I had a 12 hour layover in Toronto because I missed my flight
yesterday morning so I went to Chinatown in search of some teashops.
I was able to locate 2: a Tenren shop (the west's version of TianFu,
a popular "Taiwan" shop located on mainland China) and another local
shop named something like Fujian tea or something. The Tenren shop
left me a little upset because of the lack of courtesy I felt that the
staff had and the little knowledge of two of the women working there.
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang. Here's a sample dialogue of what I'm talking about:

"What kind of tea is that?"
"Which one?"
"That one, right there" pointing.
"Oh, that's puer."
"Where is it from?
"I don't know."
"How old is it?"
"It's more than 30 years old."

It was being sold for like 150 Canadian a pound. Obviously a lie.
The tea even smelled cheap and the leaf quality was sub par in
comparision to some of the teas I've seen even in small shops in New
York's Chinatown. To be a shop specializing in various sorts of
things from "Taiwan," I was very disappointed. Their pots were cheap,
low quality, and very overpriced (150 Canadian for a basic design,
small pot that didn't even appear to be genuine yixing). They also
had some small sets, tea bowl/trays with some cups and a pot to go
along with it that you can find in the teamarkets for nothing (maybe
50 rmb...about 5 USD) in China going for like 200 Canadian and up.
This furthers my reasoning behind wanting to import tea and legit tea
equipment. Prices for their tea trays were so insane, I didnt' even
question them on that....300 for a small fake wood tray?

The other shop was sorta a repeat of Tenren but the prices weren't as
bad. I went into the shop and asked if they had 'qing shan lv shui'
and they did surprisingly, but the woman acted very rude muttering
things in Chinese like "ben dan lao wai" (stupid foreigner) and things
of that nature after I asked her could I try some before I bought it
and made her wait while I looked at some other teas. It would have
cost me 20 bucks to get a quarter of a pound of the tea (about 125
RMB) of which I could have got in China for much less and get a higher
grade of the tea. All of her teas were old and not very fresh
anymore. I called her a bitch in Chinese and told her she should be
more careful when spouting insults in Chinese at a foreigner. A
thousand apologies later, I left without buying anything from her.
(In case you need it for future reference, Ba Po is sorta like bitch
in English...hehe.)

Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops in the Toronto area? How about Tenren in New York and other
places? Are my experiences exceptions or typical?

Overall, I was very disappointed.


Mydnight

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

Michael


1/2/05


Well, I'm back. Sorry about basically disappearing for the past 3
weeks or so, but my trip to India kept me from you guys. The idea of
doing mail order tea is still on when I get back to China Feb 5, so
keep me posted. Also, Sasha, sorry about not getting back with you
about the wulong I have. I'm back now, if you're still interested.

Anyway, I had a 12 hour layover in Toronto because I missed my flight
yesterday morning so I went to Chinatown in search of some teashops.
I was able to locate 2: a Tenren shop (the west's version of TianFu,
a popular "Taiwan" shop located on mainland China) and another local
shop named something like Fujian tea or something. The Tenren shop
left me a little upset because of the lack of courtesy I felt that the
staff had and the little knowledge of two of the women working there.
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang. Here's a sample dialogue of what I'm talking about:

"What kind of tea is that?"
"Which one?"
"That one, right there" pointing.
"Oh, that's puer."
"Where is it from?
"I don't know."
"How old is it?"
"It's more than 30 years old."

It was being sold for like 150 Canadian a pound. Obviously a lie.
The tea even smelled cheap and the leaf quality was sub par in
comparision to some of the teas I've seen even in small shops in New
York's Chinatown. To be a shop specializing in various sorts of
things from "Taiwan," I was very disappointed. Their pots were cheap,
low quality, and very overpriced (150 Canadian for a basic design,
small pot that didn't even appear to be genuine yixing). They also
had some small sets, tea bowl/trays with some cups and a pot to go
along with it that you can find in the teamarkets for nothing (maybe
50 rmb...about 5 USD) in China going for like 200 Canadian and up.
This furthers my reasoning behind wanting to import tea and legit tea
equipment. Prices for their tea trays were so insane, I didnt' even
question them on that....300 for a small fake wood tray?

The other shop was sorta a repeat of Tenren but the prices weren't as
bad. I went into the shop and asked if they had 'qing shan lv shui'
and they did surprisingly, but the woman acted very rude muttering
things in Chinese like "ben dan lao wai" (stupid foreigner) and things
of that nature after I asked her could I try some before I bought it
and made her wait while I looked at some other teas. It would have
cost me 20 bucks to get a quarter of a pound of the tea (about 125
RMB) of which I could have got in China for much less and get a higher
grade of the tea. All of her teas were old and not very fresh
anymore. I called her a bitch in Chinese and told her she should be
more careful when spouting insults in Chinese at a foreigner. A
thousand apologies later, I left without buying anything from her.
(In case you need it for future reference, Ba Po is sorta like bitch
in English...hehe.)

Anyone else have any similar experiences with Tenren or any local
shops in the Toronto area? How about Tenren in New York and other
places? Are my experiences exceptions or typical?

Overall, I was very disappointed.


Mydnight

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:45:20 GMT, Michael Plant
wrote:

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

It's a pity. I was hoping that at least they would keep their
intregrity being such a big chain and all, but pilo at least had a
good experience with their shop in San Francisco. Which city did you
visit it?


Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:45:20 GMT, Michael Plant
wrote:

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

It's a pity. I was hoping that at least they would keep their
intregrity being such a big chain and all, but pilo at least had a
good experience with their shop in San Francisco. Which city did you
visit it?


Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

1/3/05


On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:45:20 GMT, Michael Plant
wrote:

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

It's a pity. I was hoping that at least they would keep their
intregrity being such a big chain and all, but pilo at least had a
good experience with their shop in San Francisco. Which city did you
visit it?

It's New York City, where I live. They have three branches here. I shy away
from chains anyway.

Michael

1/3/05


On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:45:20 GMT, Michael Plant
wrote:

My experiences with Ten Ren are nowadays invariably disappointing. In my
city they are like used car salesmen who can't speak English. Nothing to
recommend them. Pass them by. Besides, they are now to big for their own
good. There is nothing they sell that can't be gotten better elsewhere. I do
buy my bamboo tea scoops from them. But, that's about it.

It's a pity. I was hoping that at least they would keep their
intregrity being such a big chain and all, but pilo at least had a
good experience with their shop in San Francisco. Which city did you
visit it?

It's New York City, where I live. They have three branches here. I shy away
from chains anyway.

Michael

I wouldn't expect the culture of selling tea in China to be the same
elsewhere. I don't want to buy any loose tea where somebody's nose has
been. In my local tea shoppe there are smelling samples. We've all
been disappointed in some tea we bought. I've had teas that smell
great but taste lousy. I think the only given is you follow it from
the bush to the pot. I still can remember the first time I stepped
into a TenRen shoppe in the early seventies and haven't been back. It
was the first time I ever felt sticker shock from tea. They also sell
crap for the commercial shelves. Taiwan teas are becoming more
available and I guess there was a time when they were the only player.
Usually what happens the market passes you by and you're wondering
where all the customers went. Anybody in this group would be
absolutely thrilled you supplied them with all the fresh cheap Chinese
tea they could drink but don't quit your day job. I hate surly clerks
but we've spent two generations telling kids it is better to have an
inflated sense of self worth instead of being smart.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:
....lots of trimming...
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas
and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang.

I wouldn't expect the culture of selling tea in China to be the same
elsewhere. I don't want to buy any loose tea where somebody's nose has
been. In my local tea shoppe there are smelling samples. We've all
been disappointed in some tea we bought. I've had teas that smell
great but taste lousy. I think the only given is you follow it from
the bush to the pot. I still can remember the first time I stepped
into a TenRen shoppe in the early seventies and haven't been back. It
was the first time I ever felt sticker shock from tea. They also sell
crap for the commercial shelves. Taiwan teas are becoming more
available and I guess there was a time when they were the only player.
Usually what happens the market passes you by and you're wondering
where all the customers went. Anybody in this group would be
absolutely thrilled you supplied them with all the fresh cheap Chinese
tea they could drink but don't quit your day job. I hate surly clerks
but we've spent two generations telling kids it is better to have an
inflated sense of self worth instead of being smart.

Jim

Mydnight wrote:
....lots of trimming...
I asked one to explain some things to me about some different teas
and
she didn't know very much other than how much it would cost me to buy
some from her. Also when I requested to try some of their tea before
buying it, I was refused and told I must buy it first. Audacity. To
me that's like buying a car without test driving it first. I thought
the prices were a little steep as well for what I thought were low to
mid grade quality teas, but I'm not 100 percent sure because I didn't
drink any. I did smell some of it and, against their demands, chew a
leaf of the 'tungding' wulong. It was not very fresh and it didn't
taste like what they were saying it was; it just tasted like a cheap
Guan Yin Wang.

On 3 Jan 2005 08:36:31 -0800, "Space Cowboy"
wrote:

I wouldn't expect the culture of selling tea in China to be the same
elsewhere. I don't want to buy any loose tea where somebody's nose has
been.

Yes, but since the shop is so popular and abundant all over China, I
thought they would at least keep some of the customs and courtesy. I
don't mind someone's nose being in the tea that much because the first
washing is supposed to take care of any germs or whatnot that are left
on the leaves. Over there, they don't care if you stick your hand in
the jar and feel the leaves; and most of the shopkeepers go through
new shipments by hand and pick out stems. I guess the first washing
is more practicable instead of it being a tradition in China.



In my local tea shoppe there are smelling samples. We've all
been disappointed in some tea we bought. I've had teas that smell
great but taste lousy.

One of the best bits of advice I got about tea was from a rather
pragmatic shopkeeper in a tea market where he bluntly asserted in the
local dialect, "You won't learn shit about the tea until you drink
it." Consequently, he's a good friend of mine now.

I think the only given is you follow it from
the bush to the pot. I still can remember the first time I stepped
into a TenRen shoppe in the early seventies and haven't been back. It
was the first time I ever felt sticker shock from tea. They also sell
crap for the commercial shelves.

Definitely.

Taiwan teas are becoming more
available and I guess there was a time when they were the only player.
Usually what happens the market passes you by and you're wondering
where all the customers went.

It's bad management that's the cause in this case, I think.

Anybody in this group would be
absolutely thrilled you supplied them with all the fresh cheap Chinese
tea they could drink but don't quit your day job. I hate surly clerks
but we've spent two generations telling kids it is better to have an
inflated sense of self worth instead of being smart.

Ya, I sorta planned on doing this service more out of a hobby rather
than a sole profession. It wouldn't take too much time out of my day
to throw some tea in the mail. If I were to open a shop, it would
probably be in China with the help of some of my friends.



Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.

On 3 Jan 2005 08:36:31 -0800, "Space Cowboy"
wrote:

I wouldn't expect the culture of selling tea in China to be the same
elsewhere. I don't want to buy any loose tea where somebody's nose has
been.

Yes, but since the shop is so popular and abundant all over China, I
thought they would at least keep some of the customs and courtesy. I
don't mind someone's nose being in the tea that much because the first
washing is supposed to take care of any germs or whatnot that are left
on the leaves. Over there, they don't care if you stick your hand in
the jar and feel the leaves; and most of the shopkeepers go through
new shipments by hand and pick out stems. I guess the first washing
is more practicable instead of it being a tradition in China.



In my local tea shoppe there are smelling samples. We've all
been disappointed in some tea we bought. I've had teas that smell
great but taste lousy.

One of the best bits of advice I got about tea was from a rather
pragmatic shopkeeper in a tea market where he bluntly asserted in the
local dialect, "You won't learn shit about the tea until you drink
it." Consequently, he's a good friend of mine now.

I think the only given is you follow it from
the bush to the pot. I still can remember the first time I stepped
into a TenRen shoppe in the early seventies and haven't been back. It
was the first time I ever felt sticker shock from tea. They also sell
crap for the commercial shelves.

Definitely.

Taiwan teas are becoming more
available and I guess there was a time when they were the only player.
Usually what happens the market passes you by and you're wondering
where all the customers went.

It's bad management that's the cause in this case, I think.

Anybody in this group would be
absolutely thrilled you supplied them with all the fresh cheap Chinese
tea they could drink but don't quit your day job. I hate surly clerks
but we've spent two generations telling kids it is better to have an
inflated sense of self worth instead of being smart.

Ya, I sorta planned on doing this service more out of a hobby rather
than a sole profession. It wouldn't take too much time out of my day
to throw some tea in the mail. If I were to open a shop, it would
probably be in China with the help of some of my friends.



Mydnight

--------------------
thus then i turn me from my countries light, to dwell in the solemn shades of an endless night.