Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic (Culture, Place, and Nature)

Puer tea has been grown for centuries in the "Six Great Tea Mountains" of Yunnan Province, and in imperial China it was a prized commodity, traded to Tibet by horse or mule caravan via the so-called Tea Horse Road and presented as tribute to the emperor in Beijing. In the 1990s, as the tea's noble lineage and unique process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, it achieved cult status both in China and internationally. The tea became a favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language comparable to that used in wine appreciation and paid skyrocketing prices. In 2007, however, local events and the international economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse. Puer Tea traces the rise, climax, and crash of this phenomenon. With ethnographic attention to the spaces in which Puer tea is harvested, processed, traded, and consumed, anthropologist Jinghong Zhang constructs a vivid account of the transformation of a cottage handicraft into a major industry--with predictable risks and unexpected consequences. Watch the associated videos at https: //(http://archive.org/details/PUERTEADVD1) archive.org/details/PUERTEADVD1 . Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Transliteration, Names, and Measures......Page 14 Maps......Page 17 Introduction......Page 20 Spring......Page 46 Chapter 1: "The Authentic Tea Mountain Yiwu"......Page 48 Chapter 2: Tensions under the Bloom......Page 70 Summer......Page 94 Chapter 3: "Yunnan: The Home of Puer Tea"......Page 96 Chapter 4: Heating Up and Cooling Down......Page 121 Autumn......Page 136 Chapter 5: Puer Tea with Remorse......Page 138 Chapter 6: Transformed Qualities......Page 158 Winter......Page 174 Chapter 7: Tea Tasting and Counter-Tea Tasting......Page 176 Chapter 8: Interactive Authenticities......Page 194 Conclusion: An Alternative Authenticity......Page 212 Appendix 1: Puer Tea Categories and Production Process......Page 220 Appendix 2: Supplementary Videos......Page 225 Notes......Page 226 Glossary......Page 234 References......Page 242 Index......Page 258 Puer tea has been grown for centuries in the "Six Great Tea Mountains" of Yunnan Province, and in imperial China it was a prized commodity, traded to Tibet by horse or mule caravan via the so-called Tea Horse Road and presented as tribute to the emperor in Beijing. In the 1990s, as the tea's noble lineage and unique process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, it achieved cult status both in China and internationally. The tea became a favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language comparable to that used in wine appreciation and paid skyrocketing prices. In 2007, however, local events and the international economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse.__Puer Tea__Watch the associated videos at https: //. Puer Tea has been grown for centuries in the "Six Great Tea Mountains" of Yunnan Province. In imperial China it was a prized commodity, traded to Tibet by horse or mule caravan via the so-called Tea Horse Road and presented as tribute to the emperor in Beijing. In the 1990s, as its noble lineage and unique process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, Puer tea achieved cult status both in China and internationally. It became a favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language comparable to that used for wine appreciation?and paid skyrocketing prices for it. In 2007, however, local events and the international economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse Spring -- Chapter 1 The Authentic Tea Mountain Yiwu 33 -- Chapter 2 Tensions Under The Bloom 55 -- Summer -- Chapter 3 Yunnan: The Home Of Puer Tea 81 -- Chapter 4 Heating Up And Cooling Down 106 -- Autumn -- Chapter 5 Puer Tea With Remorse 123 -- Chapter 6 Transformed Qualities 143 -- Winter -- Chapter 7 Tea Tasting And Counter-tea Tasting 161 -- Chapter 8 Interactive Authenticities 179. Jinghong Zhang. A China Program Book. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.