Tired of paying high prices for aged Puerh? Check out these prices
from the 70s,80s,90s on TaoBao. The only caveat you probably need to
speak Chinese and transfer funds to a bank account in China. Putting
together these strings is difficult for this Lowai.

Jim

70s
http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm

80s
http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm

90s
http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm

I acquired an account on Taobao and had several conversations with vendors.
having a bank account in China is not a requirement, since more and more of
them take PayPal and other e-money, or so I they told me.
IMHO it really worth it only if you can collect these cakes over time at
some place in China, have some of them checked out by a knowledgeable
person and later shipped or brought to the US by 20-30 cakes at once,
rather than ship them 1 by 1 individually as would happen if you
buy-and-ship directly.
We do have an office in Beijing and if I find something I really like, I can
buy it and have it sent to our office so later I or one of my guys can just
bring it back on the way home. But none of our Chinese employees (as far as
I know) have any serious knowledge of puerh and I do not want to stir things
up by asking them questions. In my experience (samarkand, SEb, correct me if
I am wrong) mainland Chinese feel uncomfortable when foreigners know more
than it is expected of them about things Chinese. Its better to maintain the
image of fascinated, interested, but ignorant laowai, who is just happily
learning, even with people who work with and for you. Honk Kongers are very
different and you get serious credit for each and every piece of intimate
knowledge of things Chinese, especially in language and ancient culture. I
do not know why, but I have some ideas.

But the fakes are abundant and your Chinese connection will have to be quite
knowledable about aged puer. There is a very little chance you will meet
such a person haphazardly. But if you do and befriend such a person - there
is no need for TaoBao - he will be able to supply you with excellent product
without you jumping through TaoBao hoops.

That is my analysis. Very, very IMHO.

Sasha.


"Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Tired of paying high prices for aged Puerh? Check out these prices
> from the 70s,80s,90s on TaoBao. The only caveat you probably need to
> speak Chinese and transfer funds to a bank account in China. Putting
> together these strings is difficult for this Lowai.
>
> Jim
>
> 70s
> http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm
>
> 80s
> http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm
>
> 90s
> http://216.239.39.104/translate_c?hl...0-all-2106.htm
>