10.20.13 In the current economic climate, tea in China is enjoying a renaissance of awareness and appreciation that crosses psychographic and demographic barriers, with tendrils of influence reaching far across the seas. Tea culture has always reveled in the attention of the upper classes whenever the country is settled and prosperous. It used to be the drink that lubricated gentle prose and poetry from scholars of classic literature. It was the drink of the gentry and equally the drink of the agrarian poor, whose daily solace after a hard days work in the fields would be a pot of hot water flavored by a few precious leaves. Its no different now, although rare are the rough brews thrown together in large copper pots meant only to quench the thirst of the sweaty manual class. Instead, there is a whole new order, where leaves are carefully classified according to taste, terroir and the ting-a-ling of cash registers and whole new support industries are flourishing alongside catering to the new tea connoisseurs. New kilns and old kilns are producing tea wares that range from rustic ceramics to delicate porcelains. There are tea pots of every size and shape, cups as delicate as eggshells, tiny jugs that allow the brew to breathe before being poured into cups, holders that support tea colanders, ewers that hold tea cups between brews, tea urns that store the leaves Then there are the tea slabs and tables made from blocks of sculpted tree roots and slabs of black stone and marble.For a price, tea connoisseurs can enjoy their tea-making with the full paraphernalia, although tags are seldom fewer than four figures and the zeroes may stretch to hundreds of thousands of yuan for the true collectors. Tea is big business. And the collectors and connoisseurs are willing to pay. In Kunming, the capital of Southwest Chinas Yunnan province, specialist shops display tea tables created from ancient tree roots, mostly imported from Myanmar. The tabletops are smoothed and carved, and matching stools make it a set. The going price for a good set is no less than 10,000 yuan ($1,629), and the better woods can cost up to 100,000 yuan. Tea slabs sculpted from a single block of black stone start from 5,000 yuan upward. In Kunming, too, the tea merchants are laughing all the way to the bank, especially those who have had the foresight to bank up on stocks of puer tea. Orders are pouring in all over the country and from abroad.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 08:15:05 +0000