Hi Seb,
this is an apology and explanation of my reply to you. I was quite negligent. First of all I do know the difference between Sheng and Shou, but when I read your response I was confused and had to go back and read the thread because I couldn't remember commenting on Sheng. Thats because I didn't. I have to admit I didn't actually read your post before I replied (yes, i'm embarrassed). I hope this post will keep you from thinking i'm too much of a moron.

We have a lan here and sometimes others read whats on the screen while we are talking. My partner, an aussie from Hong Kong (who knows little about tea), was looking while some of us were talking and asked me what was meant by buying a type of puer call Sha Qing(at least thats what I heard) while I was talking on the cell to someone else. That term means killing out, though for some reason I can only attribute to a brain fart I said green in my post. It is just a term for a part of puer processing and has been used to cheat people. The response was quickly typed without reading the post (again... sorry) and submitted. I didn't even realize you weren't in the states and was thinking "Oh my God... is that crap in the states too".

In other words it was a hasty and negligent reply that resulted in a comedy (I hope) of errors. If my wife had been there it probably wouldn't have happened. She is my saviour in language problems. I always take her with me for some good reasons. Most of my friends mix mandarin and cantonese freely in their converstations and talk fast. This presents several problems for me on a regular basis. I don't pretend to be fluent in either, my apptitude for languages is poor(though I get better every day), and I have a disability that makes Cantonese in particular a regular problem. I'm tone deaf (don't laugh). Her interpretations are a double edged sword, however. She often knows what I mean and uses language beyond my capacity in our dealings. That she keeps me well informed when I can't keep up is still not always covering many nuances. For instance, if she says sheng sheng she is talking about the stars. Sheng can also mean new. It is my understanding that the nuances for green and raw are used seperately and the meaning new (only when related to green... not raw) means basically only "new" in this context. Correct me if i'm wrong. The result is I always ask how old it is just to be sure like everyone else does. If you are fluent enough to never have such problems I envy you. I'm probably a year or two away from that yet.

When I went back to it my answer was as confusing to me as it must have been to you. I don't know if i've completely explained myself or not because I can't remember all I was thinking (or apparently not thinking) but I am sorry for the confusion.

I haven't dealt much with westerners on tea (a small client base of friends, family, and business associates) but have been interested in going further with it (there is enough that it should pay for itself or be curtailed). I don't intend to make a lot of money with it (I just love tea and have other more profitalbe business interests) but one reason I came to this forum was to start learning how to talk about this to westerners. I am learning fast that there is a huge difference in the communication I am used to and what is common elsewere. Also, I need to remember that others don't know me and I should be more careful. Many will not be as forgiving of my brain farts as my friends and family.

At any rate, I had been busy with other things for a day or two and just got back and saw this. I figured I owed an apology and explanation. Hope its accepted. I'm an old (53) and old fashioned guy in the same fashion as you so I think we have more in common than I might have realized at first. My wife and family call me a zhong guo guoai loh (hope I spelled it right.... i'm being more careful now.... really).

embarrassed..... Renny