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

The literature in English on Chinese tea is still rather limited, while that in Chinese is reaching the size of the famous tea mountains themselves. This important book is a major contribution to the English speaking world of people interested in tea.I saw my first Puer tea cakes in Beijing in 1983, but not knowing what kind of tea they were I dismissed them as a kind of very cheap strange tea and thus missed the chance to get to know some of the most interesting tea on the market at an early point. My next encounter with Puer tea happened in 2005 and 2006 when I was visiting different tea places in Hangzhou, Fujian and Guangzhou with some Chinese tea experts. Besides studying and enjoying the local teas there was always much talk about and interest in having some Puer. At a tea appraisal in Guangzhou I got to see and taste hundreds of very different Puer tea cakes. Frankly speaking, I had at the time no clear idea what I was enjoying, but got fascinated and began my study. It took years to find any reliable information in print and only through drinking with connoisseurs in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and with Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese did I begin to truly appreciate the many differences. This eventually led me to join a tea tour to Xishuangbanna and other parts of Yunnan in 2011. The small group met in Kunming and was joined by the anthropologist Jinghong Zhang, the author of this book, and after flying down to Jinghong we immediately set out for Yiwu, one of the main places of her research over the years, and for the first time, the veil was lifted and I got to know some of the secrets of Puer. However, even after another visit to Xishuangbanna the following year there were still many unanswered questions about this tea shrouded in mystery.Jinghong Zhang's contribution is of immense value as it answers many of those and even unthought-of questions. The book does not describe, compare or discuss many details about particular Puer teas like other books and articles about Puer tea, but gives an insight into the history of Puer tea, from its earliest beginnings as tribute tea and an export article carried on horseback and mules to distant lands over long mountain trails and up through the Qing dynasty until everything changed in 1949 and what happened then. The book reveals how handcrafted Puer tea was replaced by State factories, how ancient tea trees in the natural environment of the forests were felled to give way for terrace plantation and finally, how, after a lapse of half a century, the tea farmers of Yiwu who had been reduced to mere providers of raw material for the tea factories, were encouraged and taught by some Taiwanese how to make tea as had their ancestors from the remaining ancient tea trees which eventually lead to a craze about Puer tea. It is really a very engaging story of Post Mao Reform China. The book covers all relevant subjects of the rediscovery of Puer tea, its boom as a financial investment due to the tea’s improvement with age and therefore increasing value to its sudden bust in 2007 and the consequences this lead to for both growers, producers, merchants, investors and, of course, the drinkers of this fabulous tea due to various factors fully explained and much more.This book alone (there is no other such study) describes an important chapter of tea history. It is very well researched, not only scholarly and through all relevant literature, but with a lot of field work, personal experience, interviews with major actors in that history and everything related. The book is very well written and weaves its story around the Chinese concept of Jianghu, literally meaning “rivers and lakes”, but referring to that non-governmental and therefore unregulated space in which hermits, knights-errants and others outside mainstream played their roles in society in an unpredictable way and who have been the subjects celebrated in literature and on film. It is a very interesting angle on this complex history and goes a long way to explain the fascinating story of Puer.The text gives a lot of well documented references. At the end, the book gives a systematic description of the different kinds of Puer tea. Each chapter has substantial notes There is a full list of reference works, an index, and not least, a glossary of all Chinese words and statements appearing in the book covering everything from tea to philosophy and politics etc.with the English translation and including the respective Chinese characters, which is of great help to those familiar with Chinese.I can warmly recommend this important book to all seriously interested in the history of Chinese tea in general, and it is an absolutely must read for all lovers of Puer tea.This from a life-long drinker of tea living in Japan and deeply immersed in Japanese tea ceremony and all aspects of tea.

If you love Pu'er tea, you've noticed there's a lot of mystique about it. If you love Pu'er tea and read about it only in English, it sometimes seems there's only mystique. Or, if you don't want to call it mystique, call it rigid rules that don't necessarily correspond to reality.It's like being a child who's told by adults that there are simple rules for everything. When we grow up, most of us learn that life is not quite as simple as our elders had told us.Reading this book is a way for the Anglophone Pu'er tea lover to grow up. You'll see that the definition of Pu'er tea is contested and always has been, that the standards and practices you thought were immutable are far from that. You'll see that the Pu'er tea industry, from the farmers to the vendors, is made up of people who, understandably, follow their own varying interests as best they can, and that their understanding of their own interests is fallible.If you want to know where Pu'er tea comes from, how it is made, who makes it, and how it all got that way, and if you want to be told all this by someone who isn't trying to sell you anything beyond the book you hold in your hands, read this book.

I have been studying and drinking tea for many years. Indeed, I have traveled to all the places that Dr Zhang mentions in this excellent book therefore can speak with some knowledge.I find Dr Zhang's observations and formulations to be full and correct.Dr Zhang's knowledge of the pu'er industry in the most turbulent of times that she discusses here makes this the number one work for both general reading and academic knowledge.For the general reader this book is a "page turner". This may at first seem strange that a book on such a specialised and apparently dry subject would be like this. However, the intricacies of the relationships of the growers, producers, buyers and consumers make this read like a detective novel of the highest grade. This book is far from "dry".Still, at the end, it makes me wonder about the foibles of human beings and our quest for riches over contentment. After all, it is "just" a cup of tea - or is it? Dr Zhang's work will make sure you reconsider that statement.In the mean time you will be fully educated about the art and science of pu'er tea and the politics of this facet of business in China.Highly recommended.

Living in Greater China for almost 6 years now has given me an opportunity to unravel a new mystery every day. This is true for language as well as culture. I have developed over the years a great appreciation for tea at the expense of completely giving up on coffee. Pu'er is my go to morning tea. Dr Zhang in her book has done a wonderful service to the foreign Pu'er aficionado. Giving more clarity as to why the world of Pu'er is so unclear and confusing to many of us...welcome to the 江湖 of the Pu'er world!!!

Yes, this book is scholarly written. It was meant to be. It's a study in Anthropology (which was printed on the cover)! No pretty pictures, just facts and info. I find it extremely interesting to read.

Fantastic tale of a learner. Very academic and also personal. This is a treasure of a text if you are interested in Puer tea. I live in South China and have traveled to Yunnan a couple times now. What this book shared has been distinctly valuable.

A good account of the different actors in the Puer world and their history and biases, it is also a wonderful story of culture clash. I found reading this enhanced my appreciation of the tea rather than leaving me disillusioned, which is something I feared might happen. Where else are you going to find this information?

If you are interested in tea / tea culture this is a great read which looks a Puer from a unique angle/perspective. I like how the author framed the product within social and historical contexts.

I think I came away more confused than I started surrounding Pu'er tea. To be fair my appreciation of the complexities surrounding the characterisation and definitions of Pu'er tea greatly increased. I guess I was looking for simple answers to my many questions on Pu'er tea that appear to not exist, all a bit more complicated answers. The one area the book did cause me to reevaluate my position on was the benefits of 'regulation / standardisation' in the modern artisan/speciality tea industry. I'd be more of a cautious backer to regulation now.

Great book on Puer tea. Very informative and well written.

Degusto tè e ne sono appassionato da più di 25 anni e trovare testi di qualità sull'argomento non è per nulla facile (troppi libri di marketing e pochi libri veramente degni sull'argomento). Ancora più difficile è trovarli sui Puer.. Il testo è veramente eccezionale (se si potesse darei 6 stelle), con una ricerca bibliografica e tecnica notevole. Da veramente un'ampio quadro del mondo della produzione del Puer e della sua storia, non solo evolutiva, ma anche economica e di motivazione. Una cosa che non viene molto pubblicizzata è la presenza di link per poter scaricare e/o guardare online un documentario che ha girato la scrittrice nei luoghi e con in produttori che si occupano di Puer e credetemi ne vale veramente la pena. Per un appassionato o per un addetto ai lavori è libro da avere assolutamente.

Concordo con Daniele e la sua recensione, un testo (e i video che lo corredano, davvero interessantissimi e che possono essere aperti dalla pagina dell'editore senza comperare il volume, se volete dargli un'occhiata) che documenta con grande acume le recenti vicende del puer, la "bolla speculativa" e la "corsa all'oro" di cui è stato oggetto una decina di anni fa questo tè dello Yunnan, ne racconta le vicissitudini storiche recenti e meno recenti, si interroga sulle ragioni di tanto interesse ed altrettanta confusione circa l'identità di un prodotto (nelle sue diverse varianti) che sfugge a una precisa definizione e allo stesso tempo interessa amatori e consumatori cinesi, taiwanesi, statunitensi... Un lavoro documentaristico che coglie più di un bersaglio e permette di avvicinarsi a una realtà altrimenti difficilmente conoscibile, specie per un pubblico forestiero.