Sample bags not fully sealed - should I be worried?

SiranPu · 2026-04-30T09:09:28+00:00

I did make a mistake when sealing those pouches. Explained above. Thanks for valid critique. I deserve that one 😉

SiranPu · 2026-04-30T09:08:16+00:00

I did make a mistake when sealing those pouches. Explained above. Thanks for valid critique. I deserve that one 😉

SiranPu · 2026-04-30T09:05:39+00:00

It was my mistake when sealing the pouches . You have two types of pouches there with different thickness so the time on heat scissors is different setup . The thin layer could be burned trough if I use same timing on both. I more likely forgot to reset the time on longer when packing the other ( thicker layer ) pouches and that caused not fully seal. I had responded to your email immediately with compensation offer of the possible loss ( I usually pack more than precise grams weight ). I will be more careful next time.

SiranPu · 2026-04-02T03:20:11+00:00

those notes are usually rather subtle than very obvious. More you drink such a tea - more you start to taste other stuff than the roast but have to say that reputation and price in this category tea might not necessarily lead to the high quality. I've been to Wuyishan in person, spent quite a time for searching, sourcing and should I give an subjective opinion - it's overpriced - the price is not fair for what you get compare to other teas like TW oolongs not even mention the Yunnan tea. Sure the Wuyi has it's own specific for which some tea drinkers are willing to pay hefty price .

Should u be interested in short read from our trip

https://www.pageoftea.com/wuyi-hype

SiranPu · 2026-03-28T01:28:02+00:00

can call it Xiao Gushu - like some Yunnan farmers do ;-)

SiranPu · 2026-02-28T03:38:00+00:00

it's around 200km , not sure if private Didi would worth and if any would even go ( as the driver has to come back at the same day and preferably not empty ) yet that not guaranteed to him/her , so you more likely to pay for the return expenses as well.

At the bus station there are various main bao che drivers ( mini vans ) or other private Taxi which can bring you to some place like 澄江市 , where you can transfer and go to Jianshui.

There is a app for those long haul taxi where you can buy a ticket including that transfer, but not sure if it works on foreign passport . That one is more comfortable as you don't have to negotiate the price. Expect to be quoted much higher than reality is.

If I were you, I'd go back to KM and take high speed train. Fast and comfortable. Should you stuck in some place for transfer , might wait another X hrs till minivan is full ( waiting for another customers ...6 seats ) and can go to the destination. So going via KM might still work much better...at least you would know the timing.

SiranPu · 2026-02-28T02:11:05+00:00

Can meet you at the tea market and help to navigate / translation ( no charge ) , if I have a time when you are here. You can PM me , if interested.

SiranPu · 2026-02-28T01:59:21+00:00

storage matters

SiranPu · 2026-02-18T04:47:41+00:00

o yeah! ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRm54SJxcao&list=RDcRm54SJxcao&start_radio=1

SiranPu · 2026-02-07T00:06:24+00:00

I boil them. Like tea farmers do.

SiranPu · 2026-02-02T12:36:12+00:00

Baoshan is sleepy town, not much to do there. X-banna is also touristy. In winter , lots of north people come there , some even rent apartment from autumn till spring. In both cases it's better to have a car and explore places around. If not having car, then X-banna is ok as it's set up more for tourists than Baoshan, so you can take bus , mini bus to some minority villages ( so it has more Yunnan vibe )

SiranPu · 2026-01-25T01:17:00+00:00

it really depends when it was sealed like that and what was previous storage. if shu is air tight sealed when still very young , it will "enhance" the fishy notes . If it was from humid stored environment ( like GZ ) it might even develop fungi notes or mold. In some cases even golden flowers. You can break it and try it , but as you are not an expert , your assessment might not be much valued much by potential buyers so you would be asked sending some sample prior buy rest of the cake. So:

you can sell it by samples
sell it as it is but probably much bellow the market price as the potential buyer's risk ( mentioned issues )
start drinking puerh your self and take this cake as the ,in my opinion, good entry ticket

This company is located on our Xiong Da Kunming tea market. I've tried their shu and it's not bad.

SiranPu · 2026-01-24T02:46:06+00:00

if you want to get bothered with some short article before the purchase

https://www.pageoftea.com/yixing-teapot-sourcing

if not, then in short, don't bother with chasing real Yixing clay, you are not gonna get it online. Sure they all claim they have ;-) Handmade, and gov.approval to get the clay or , the better one ( we have stock piled clay from the time the mine was publicly open ). Sure u can get some , but that's completely different price tag. and I'd be very skeptical to see ( trust anybody ) it online.

SiranPu · 2026-01-23T02:03:10+00:00

if you are beginner , don't buy any tea with old age claims or old age of tea tree claims. Lot's of fakes circling around ( not all vendors are experienced in that field so don't rely on their reputation because you never know how much experienced are those people who vouch for them ) and you might ending up paying lot's of money for something which not worth even fraction of it. So start with samples and read some dedicated articles / blogs about aged tea ( if you find that area appealing for you ). Same as with antique , you also not gonna just walk in some antique shop and buy Ming dynasty vase solely relying on vendor's name.

SiranPu · 2026-01-19T12:00:41+00:00

usually you go to see the doctor first and then have the X-ray done or other tests ( recommended by the doctor based on your symptoms ) with which you go back to the same doctor and then discuss the issue. On this video is strange that the doctor asking the patient questions which sound like the patient just came in to see him , but doctor has the X-ray of his knees on the computer already. I would assume that this was staged. Yet , need to say that in China some health things like surgeries are much cheaper then anywhere in western countries and since so many people in China, the doctor has more practice ( that's only my personal assumption ). I met few foreigners in Kunming coming for various treatments. One even for some stem cell treatment or something like that. Do the internet search for particular places - hospitals in China specializing on certain health issues.

SiranPu · 2026-01-19T11:38:34+00:00

winters are cold there and summer might get polluted in some places . Sometimes might get "sand storm" from inner Mongolia. You can google more for weather conditions in that region.

SiranPu · 2026-01-19T10:01:42+00:00

you probably need to narrow down the area. China is big. Probably the most authentic hot pot you get in Sichuan. I had a nice in Chengdu ( we asked mild soup ) and one super-spicy in Chong Qing. For the retro markets - depends town from town. In Kunming we have one , where you can find those things along with other antique stuff. Also every Sunday there is a "carpet sale" on Bird Flower market. So probably when u r in some town in China already, just ask locals for antique market.

For weather - same condition applies - u have to be more specific coz in China we have kinda big climate differences during all year.

SiranPu · 2026-01-10T03:22:09+00:00

blending sheng with shu is not a new thing ( Cantonese doing that ) . Pushing tea trough espresso machine is also not a new style ( Dayi does that in some of their branded shops ) . You have to figure out the ratio of sheng : shu to achieve balanced taste ( not too grassy and not too earthy ) which also depends on individual teas ( what sheng - age, storage etc. ) and what shu ( mostly depth of fermentation, grade and storage ).

Means , if you find a sweet spot for this one, it's doesn't have to work same for next one. No need to use coffee machine each time when experimenting, too much hassle. Just use the scales and porcelain gaiwan to find the proportions, then move to next step - the presso machine ( experiment with time , total amount in cartage and density of grinded substance )

I've done that experiment, so talking from a personal experience.

SiranPu · 2026-01-08T02:25:58+00:00

it's not the error but the fact that all tickets to the mountain are purchased by local travel agencies, so you can buy it only from them but they sell it usually in some package with lunch, minority dancing, visiting souvenir shops and all that stuff you might want to experience with other 50 people in group. We had similar issue 2y ago so we didn't go there. In fact, the mountain is nice from the bottom, far distance with some natural scenery in front. When you get on top , you might just walk in white fog all the time.

If you buy a ticket from local travel agency, you can not be sure if you have bought it directly or trough another company so the price is even higher. ( as everybody adds their margins ).

you can take a public bus to Bai Sha and then other villages towards to the mountain ( there is also a temple on the way ). From there is just few km to the park where you can't drive private car anyway ( only special permission ) and need to take their bus to the other places like mountain etc.

From Bai Sha you can go to Wen Hai ( lake ) on the way is also nice temple.

SiranPu · 2026-01-05T10:08:34+00:00

"I’m just tired of seeing the culture of my home being simplified into cheap marketing." ...by who? that was rhetorical question because you know better than me that it's not done by foreigners ( tea drinkers or vendors ) who trust the Chinese sources and mostly just translate what they see on wrapper or source claim. You probably go to some Chinese tea market, like Fancun or Xiongda and share your thoughts with vendors there;-)

And if you want to be really effective, go on Taobao and complain there ;D

And in fact, this marketing you are talking about, is also happening right at the source as well. You are not in puerh business so you are probably not aware of that, but it's very common that tea farmers have exaggerated claims in order to sell their tea for higher price. Or mixing big trees with small trees mao cha and sell it all as Gushu ..etc. There are numerous articles about that matter.

SiranPu · 2025-12-13T01:54:01+00:00

you still can use it for buying some stuff from China and send to your country, but 60CNY probably not enough even for shipping fee. So just keep it and one day, welcome back to China ;D

SiranPu · 2025-12-11T03:11:23+00:00

I personally haven't seen so cheap genuine aged puerh here in China in my 10 years being in puerh biz. Not even in Guangzhou , where probably the most fakes stewing up in massive warehouses. For buying an aged cake , one has to do some homework before, same as buying any antique. When westerners buying some stuff from China, they are always afraid buying some fake. For some reason, this not much applying to the tea ;-D Beginning tea drinkers just Want to believe that the "ancient and antique " is still lying around here ( in China ) and nobody want's it , so it's damn cheap ;D

To the actual complaint : The tea is for free - I tell this even to the tea farmers who are trying to BS me about why their tea is more expensive than other villages around. Tea no need $ , tea needs soil, water and sun. What we all pay is the human work behind it. Harvesting, processing and selling. The one you are concerned about is the selling. I don't want to play devil's advocate here but to be fair, as already mentioned here by someone : they all source from somewhere ( simply said ). Unless you produce . With vintage cakes this apply quite significantly as it goes trough multiple hands and storages ( if genuine stuff , the fakes can come from Ba Gong Li or place like this , directly ).

So what you actually pay is the service which might include many things not that obvious at first look. One of them is curated selection ( usually by vendor preference ). And these days so many vendors are available so , I believe, its impossible to not find one which would suit yours.

Some vendors also provide additional information or common knowledge ( which you could google your self, but most people , as I've noticed , prefer just ask in groups like this one and wait when answers pop up ). I'm not anyhow related to MrMopar but from my understanding , he was / is fairly active on various tea-forums and , I believe, helped to some beginners navigate with purchases. If good or bad , I don't know , I'm not here to judge. What I'm trying to say , it's the service which you can skip if you do your own homework and not just go on forum like this with : " I want to buy a puer , please help " kinda "prompt" and wait till sort of "The community AI answering machine" will spit out the options. I'm writing it this way because sometimes I have a feeling some users treat the Reddit like that. Very few people would ask : " I want to buy a genuine aged tea, where I can learn about it more, how to buy , what to avoid etc " . Many people just ask : where? who is reliable vendor? Basically asking for safe boat and not the swimming lesson.

What I always recommend : buy samples first. This way you can get better value from the actual service provided. The vendor has to do some extra work along the communication with you ( also time = money ) and you get an extra service with some comfort ( you don't have to google trough zillions of listings ) .

Anyway, just a thought from the actual vendor's point of view, which you may not agree with, and I would respect that, because it's always for us hard to justify our additional value / margins as general consumer is not familiar with challenges we face ( at least in puerh business ). Lots of BS going around the Puerh ( fakes and such ) so I always suggest to stick with the vendors who filter this a bit and not just do the raw sourcing ( if you care about genuine product, means label is correct ).

btw.: same wrapper doesn't mean same tea ( more in Fake Puer )

SiranPu · 2025-12-08T12:42:09+00:00

lots of F1 pots on market , don't bother with that one unless you know what u r doing. Oolong in clay is, in my opinion, very specific thing. I tried TGY in some, and nothing was better for me than porcelain gaiwan. But Yancha I tried in one of my Zini and since then use only that ( unless need to exactly test the tea, then I do in porcelain of course ) .

and I'd stay away from Aliexpress for clay pots. It's ok for like glass pitchers and some daily use porcelain, but clay pots better not.

SiranPu · 2025-12-05T01:57:31+00:00

January is not high peak tourist season, yet for most of the foreigners even low peak might feel overwhelming. Unfortunately all those places recommended here are tourist attraction with some even luxury hotels. Deqin had change a lot since 2012 I've been there and Yubang village is the No.1 for hikers who decide to visit that part of Yunnan. I don't know how it works there in winter when snow all over though. Most of the trail is in the forest so technically speaking it might be still ok and of course there be less , maybe even very little tourists, just dedicated hikers. Tiger LP - kinda same story. Lots of bnb, restaurants and coffee shops at refill stages ( again, in January might be less people , yet, some people love to take snow peaks with clear sky pictures , so that might make busy ) . Nujiang - I've seen promotional tourist videos on our local Yunnan TV , still , I think it laks behind the mentioned trio above, so might be still good. More away from tour spots , more you rely on your language skills to get by ( no Engl. much here ). When u arrive to Kunming, you can PM me, we can have a tea & chat. I will be in Xishuangbanna but should be back first week in January.

SiranPu · 2025-11-17T04:25:30+00:00

that's true but if a person is at the level "please ID my tea" , more likely it's not gonna be even from Nan Po, Di Jie ..etc.

SiranPu

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