A Tea Addict's Journal

Shopping in Shanghai

April 21, 2007 · 6 Comments

I walked to Tianshan Tea City from my place today, looking for some cheap teaware to use in Shanghai.  It’s a 20 minute walk if I don’t walk too fast, and I can make it there in 15 if I walk really briskly.  It’s a bad combination, I know.  Luckily, the place is not big enough to hold a lot of interest for repeated visits.  It’s two floors plus some ground floor open stores.  In total I think there are about 80 stores of various kinds.  Interestingly enough, there are more puerh stores here than last time, and that was only two months ago.

I had set out to look for some cheap teaware to use in Shanghai, since I didn’t want to bring more stuff than I was already carrying.  However, I got sidetracked into a Keemun store.  They sell basically only Keemun, with some other teas as well (some unknown green, plus some Taiwan oolong — a mixed bag).  I was attracted by the Keemun, because she had all the grades, and they were clearly marked.

I ended up tasting two, a Haoya (she said it was B when I asked), and a tea she called the “Li Cha”, which is a new style Keemun which is not broken up — it’s instead using whole buds.  Keemun, as most of you know, is the sort of classic Hongcha (red tea).  It’s got a distinctive flavour, and the leaves are usually quite fine and cut up… is it broken orange pekoe?  Anyway, the Li Cha is not like that.  Instead, it’s buddy, looking a little like a red version of biluochun.  I think I’ve seen stuff like this before called by different names, but didn’t know it’s from the same region as your classic Keemun.

The Haoya is quite nice, although slightly rough on the tongue.  The Li Cha is better, but it lacks that Keemun flavour I was looking for.  I want something that I can use as a sort of benchmark to judge other Keemuns by, and I figured this is a good place to stay (I must confess I know little about Keemuns in general).  I sat there for a while longer, tried their green tea, and had a cooked tuo that she bought for 200 RMB (way overpriced — she wasn’t selling the tea, just drinking).  I then bought some of the Haoya and left.  She offered me a 30% discount without me prompting it, which was nice.

I wandered around the market for a little longer, looking for a gaiwan and a few cups.  The gaiwans are quite nice — I think BBB is right in saying that the teaware here is nicer.  The nice gaiwans, of course, weren’t the cheapest, but they were tempting.  I had to leave to go to another place, so I never finished shopping for teaware… having just bought one tea tray and no cups/gaiwans to use it for.  I’ll either come back here or go to Jiuxing, the other tea market which is a bit farther away.  Maybe I’ll go next weekend or, if I have time, sometime during the week.

On my way out, I noticed another store that specializes in Keemuns.  I should go check that place out.

Categories: Old Xanga posts · Teas
Tagged: ,

6 responses so far ↓

  • HobbesOxon // April 21, 2007 at 4:55 pm | Reply

    Hot dog, a Qihong shop! Delicious – I had no idea such things existed. What a great base from which to start your investigations.

    Amber and I have been drinking more and more hongcha since your idea of dedicating that xishi pot (from Stephane Erler) to reds. The last we tried, in London, was quite similar to the description that you gave for the “Licha”: it was made from tippy longjing, and looked like a red version of it (reminding me of your red bilouchun). The longjing attempt was smooth and very delicate but, as you mentioned for the licha, lacked that special qihong something.

    I am very definitely keeping my eyes open for hongcha shops. Thanks for the post. 🙂

    Toodlepip,

    Hobbes

  • MarshalN // April 22, 2007 at 10:06 am | Reply

    They are actually less conspicuous in Beijing, for some reason. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. A lot of Qihong shops in Beijing sell other teas, and there’s one shop I think that specializes in Dianhong.

    They’re not easy to find….

  • lewperin // April 22, 2007 at 12:59 pm | Reply

    Yunnan Sourcing had (and may still have) a tea they called Black [i.e., red] Biluochun. I ordered some about a year ago and found it was corkscrew-shaped (hence BLC) leaf-and-bud sets of a big cultivar, possibly Da Ye, fully oxidized. It was OK, but nothing special: my breakfast tea for months.

  • HobbesOxon // April 23, 2007 at 9:29 am | Reply

    Could I trouble you for details of the dianhong shop, and any others you recommend, in Beijing?

    Many thanks,

    Hobbes

  • MarshalN // April 23, 2007 at 12:47 pm | Reply

    Um…. I honestly don’t remember where the dianhong shop is. I never went inside. I think it’s somewhere in Chayuan Chacheng, but I need to go there to remember which aisle it’s in.

    I can take you there once I return to Beijing.

  • MarshalN // April 23, 2007 at 12:54 pm | Reply

    Oh, and the BLC like tea is not Daye variety. This is quite small… biluochun sized, and the tea comes from Qimen.

Leave a Comment