>I'm beginning to wonder if we aren't talking about two different things
>which maybe sound similar in Chinese and are translated into English
>alphabet similarly, but in reality have different names? Is such a thing
>possible? It seems like one Chinese tea name can have a half-dozen English
>incarnations, so maybe the reverse can happen too.

na, i was talking about that they said the tea was refined and good
for all kinds of different ailments. The qing shan liu shui means
green (blue/green color) mountain green water. But, yes, the
translations of certain kinds of teas aren't exactly correct. The
thing that gets me is that many teas are sold with their regional
dialect equilivants but when I ask the vendors, they assure me they
are right. Tie Guan Yin, for instance, is the mandarian name;
cantonese is like ti kuan yip or something...and sometimes i see it
under the fujian/taiwan language name too. heh. how confusing.

>
>

>
>Well it's entirely possible I was. FWIW I have only ever heard of
>"kuding" as meaning holly, but I have a fairly novice knowledge of tea, and
>only from a Western perspective. It sounds like you've gotten to experience
>Chinese tea on its own turf; if you've encountered a green tea called
>kuding, I am definitely prepared to believe you.

I'll ask some of my chinese friends about it i think it's a class of
green tea (kuding means bitter) as well as a specific type...sorta
like wulong.

My experience in Chinese tea comes from the time I spent in China,
mainly in Guangdong. They drink the more expensive teas there because
there is alot of money in Guangdong...I learned more about green tea
in the Sichuan province where they are more likely to drink this tea.

>
>Some of the teas pictured on the page Apprentice sent are so lovely...a
>feast for the eyes. I keep going back to look!
>
>Jennifer
>



Mydnight

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

Mydnight > wrote in message
> The qing shan liu shui means
> green (blue/green color) mountain green water. But, yes, the
> translations of certain kinds of teas aren't exactly correct.

I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
tasted it.

Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
correct).

Qing Shan Lu Shui (Qing1 Shan1 Lu4 Shui3).

(The Immoral Mr Teas) writes:

> [...Is it really kuding? and what's kuding, anyway?...]
>
> Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
> out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
> not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
> QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
> messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
> pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
> so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
> correct).

I think the same confusion obtains between Liu An and Lu An.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

>I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
>never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
>west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
>well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
>leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
>interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
>tasted it.

It's something I'm trying to figure out as well. When I lived in
Sichuan, I had the qing shan lv shui but I've also seen it referred to
as Kuding cha too, moreso in the south, guangdong, guangxi area. I
think Kuding is a branch of tea as well as a type; qing shan lv shui
being a type of kuding maybe. I have to ask some of my teashop pals
about it; I'll let you know.

I did ask about the meaning of Kuding, though. Ku is bitter and the
ding part is meaningless in this situation. It's just considered
'bitter'.

Isn't it beautiful tea, though? Excellent hui gan too!

>
>Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
>out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
>not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
>QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
>messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
>pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
>so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
>correct).

Well, the pinyin for the character ÂÌ (if you guys have Chinese
installed) is Lv; the v denoting the ¨¹ because largely pinyin is an
attempt to romanize Chinese within the confines of the English
alphabet to avoid confusion. I think most people know it as either Lu
or Liu because it would be confusing otherwise to westeners unfamilar
with the sound it represents. Also, not all Chinese know the exact
pinyin to everything, especially if they are older or were around
during the time of the Revolution or before. I actually thought it
was liu myself and didn't ask anybody about it because the sounds are
similar in the language. heh. Thank for the correction, Mr. Tea!



Mydnight

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

I drink a pearl of Kuding everyday. Like puer it is suppose to lower
blood pressure, bad cholesterol. I've also seen it sold as loose
leaf. It is a herbal and bitter. The di1ng character in my
dictionary means 'cube'.

Jim

(The Immoral Mr Teas) wrote in message . com>...
> I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
> never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
> west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
> well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
> leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
> interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
> tasted it.

(The Immoral Mr Teas) writes:

> [...Is it really kuding? and what's kuding, anyway?...]
>
> Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
> out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
> not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
> QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
> messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
> pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
> so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
> correct).

I think the same confusion obtains between Liu An and Lu An.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

>I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
>never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
>west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
>well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
>leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
>interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
>tasted it.

It's something I'm trying to figure out as well. When I lived in
Sichuan, I had the qing shan lv shui but I've also seen it referred to
as Kuding cha too, moreso in the south, guangdong, guangxi area. I
think Kuding is a branch of tea as well as a type; qing shan lv shui
being a type of kuding maybe. I have to ask some of my teashop pals
about it; I'll let you know.

I did ask about the meaning of Kuding, though. Ku is bitter and the
ding part is meaningless in this situation. It's just considered
'bitter'.

Isn't it beautiful tea, though? Excellent hui gan too!

>
>Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
>out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
>not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
>QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
>messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
>pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
>so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
>correct).

Well, the pinyin for the character ÂÌ (if you guys have Chinese
installed) is Lv; the v denoting the ¨¹ because largely pinyin is an
attempt to romanize Chinese within the confines of the English
alphabet to avoid confusion. I think most people know it as either Lu
or Liu because it would be confusing otherwise to westeners unfamilar
with the sound it represents. Also, not all Chinese know the exact
pinyin to everything, especially if they are older or were around
during the time of the Revolution or before. I actually thought it
was liu myself and didn't ask anybody about it because the sounds are
similar in the language. heh. Thank for the correction, Mr. Tea!



Mydnight

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

I drink a pearl of Kuding everyday. Like puer it is suppose to lower
blood pressure, bad cholesterol. I've also seen it sold as loose
leaf. It is a herbal and bitter. The di1ng character in my
dictionary means 'cube'.

Jim

(The Immoral Mr Teas) wrote in message . com>...
> I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
> never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
> west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
> well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
> leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
> interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
> tasted it.

Mydnight > wrote in message
> The qing shan liu shui means
> green (blue/green color) mountain green water. But, yes, the
> translations of certain kinds of teas aren't exactly correct.

I picked up some Qing Shan Lu Shui earlier this year in Gansu. I'd
never seen (or heard of) it before (and haven't seen it since outside
west China). I am told it's a Kuding (Ku meaning bitter, ding meaning,
well, um ding?) though it looks totally different to the twisted big
leaves one associates with Kuding. I picked it up thinking it an
interesting new green tea. I was (not UNpleasantly) surprised when I
tasted it.

Hey, I'm getting sidetracked here. The point of my reply is pointing
out the pinyin of lu=green. Admittedly, lu with dots over the u, but
not liu. Why do ALL the quoted sales threads refer to QS Liu S and not
QS Lu Shui? Are chinese sellers second guessing pronunciation and so
messing up their own pinyin? Or was this common romanisation before
pinyin. I've only ever seen the name of the tea written in characters,
so I'm just surprised (and Mydnight's translation of the name is
correct).

Qing Shan Lu Shui (Qing1 Shan1 Lu4 Shui3).