CITY GUIDE >Dining Out
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CITY GUIDE >Dining Out
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Same tea, different names
By Ye Jun ( (Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-03 09:23 Although sales of pu'er tea have been hit by the global financial recession, it's time for China's tea industry to have its own brands, says Yang Shanxi, director of the Office of Tea Industry in the Yunnan provincial government.
He was speaking at the 4th Yunnan International Pu'er Tea Expo held in the provincial capital, Kunming. The market already has some big names such as Taetea, Long Sheng, Long Run, and Colorful Yunnan. Of these, the Taetea Group is one of the strongest contenders. Its predecessor, Menghai Tea Factory, began production in 1940. In 2007, it became the first Chinese tea brand to have its ad broadcast on prime time on China Central Television (CCTV), at a cost of 56 million yuan ($8 million). The Menghai Tea Factory was also the first to speed up the maturing of pu'er tea, in 1972. Under this process, the leaves are put under controlled humidity and temperature conditions.
Instead of several years, the new technique can get the tea ready for the market in less than three months, says Wang Hongbin of the Taetea Group. The new kind of pu'er tea is called shou pu, or artificially matured pu'er. It is now widespread in the market. |
