Ya-Ya's Tea Board

I spent my first few days in and around Shanghai. Shanghai is quite ideally situated for anyone interested in tea. Not only does it have good tea markets, but it’s close to some places that play an important role in the world of tea: West Lake (the home of Long Jing) and Yixing (the pottery village that produces the famous teaware) are within a few hours’ drive, Huang Shan (the Yellow Mountain and home to Mao Feng green tea) and Qimen (famous for its black Keemun teas) are about 6-8 hours away.

People interested in tea will eventually end up at one of the big “tea malls”. I’ve met up with one of my friends and business partners, Luo, at one of these malls. A three-storey building which houses over 200 businesses specializing in all aspects of tea: one shop exclusively dedicated to Bi Luo Chun green tea, many shops for Yixing teaware, a store for tea kettles, art for the tea room, pu-erh stores, etc. A tea dream come true. These malls could possibly make me change my (generally pretty negative) attitude towards malls. Luo (who runs a small shop in this mall with a friend) and I spent 9 hours straight on the first day drinking tea, talking, walking around and looking through the offerings of the different shops. The next day, we went for an adventure trip to the famous pottery city Yixing, which I will describe in a future post.

Luo had a train booked to leave Shanghai at 11:30 a.m., so we arranged to meet again early at his tea shop to have another chat and cup of tea, before I would visit the Shanghai World Expo for half a day. Well, he changed his plans and we spend most of the day at the tea mall chatting, drinking tea, buying teaware, etc. (I again – see coming post about Yixing – picked the most expensive teapot in a store and had to pass on its $350 price tag). But I purchased some really nice Bi Luo Chun and pu-erh, as well as some Yixing teapots. And I fell in love with Yunnan’s “Purple Pottery” teaware, with it’s magnificent clay inlay designs. I managed to pull myself away by about 4 in the afternoon!
So much for half a day at the Shanghai World Expo I thought…

Then I found out that the Expo is open into the night as well and there’s a reduced price ticket after 5 p.m. So I went. And it was
– breathtaking
– unbelievable
– utterly insane

In short: INCREDIBLE!

Since all countries spend so much money on their exhibitions, the result is truly marvelous. Art, culture, all condensed into one big, temporary gallery. It must have been the most futuristic thing I’ve ever seen. The arrival of the ‘everywhere screen’. Moving pictures on the floor, the ceiling, the walls and everywhere in-between. Touchscreens, building-sized screens, you name it. It was there. Unbelievable…

Some impressions (of the Expo and China in general):

China is outrageous. It is utterly unorganized to the outside eye, but seems to follow some sort of rules. Traffic at intersections seems murderous, but at the same time, everybody seems to watch out for each other.
Chinese seem to be very gentle to their children. There seems to be much more physical contact between parents and their kids than I am used to for Western families. This holds true even for teenagers!
The Chinese pavilion at the Expo is truly a masterpiece of architecture. The last time I was that excited by a building was when I visited the Taj Mahal.

All day, I shake my head, laugh and think: This is unbelievable. But it happens before my eyes.
Shanghai is full of extreme opposites. In front of an expensive shopping mall sits an old man mending old shoes by hand. He might make a few yuan a day while the cheapest pair of shoes in the shop might cost 500 yuan.

A life hanging out in tea malls is o.k. Drinking tea all day, talking about this and that isn’t bad at all.

I’m strangely fascinated by China, but I feel out of place at the same time (although maybe not quite as much as most Westerners that I talked to).

Everything works out in China. Don’t ever worry. It will work out.

The next day, I was going to take the train to Huang Shan. I hoped it was the right Huang Shan since there are two towns of the same name, about 1 hour apart from one another. These were my thoughts: I’m supposed to be picked up at the train station by a Ms Wu (well, if I arrive at the right Huang Shan, the one that Ms Wu is waiting at). I know what time I leave Shanghai, but I don’t know how long the journey takes or when I arrive (my friend Luo reckons I arrive “sometime in the evening. Maybe 8 o’clock, maybe 12”). I trust that Ms Wu has arranged some sort of accommodation for me (well, since I don’t know which town I’ll stay at, I’m having a hard time to book a bed unless I book 2!). Should I worry? Hell no, this is China. “Everything o.k.”

Well, I arrived at the right Huang Shan (the one with Ms. Wu) with a slight delay at 3 a.m. and yes, she had arranged my accommodation. But that story will be covered in a later post…