Posted on 10/01/2010 2:55:36 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Chinese financial speculators are caught in a buying frenzy for a variety of tea that has seen its prices soar to levels only rivalled by the finest wines.
The rare tea made from bushes from the tea gardens of the Ming Dynasty emperors has become the latest craze for wealthy Chinese investors with their sights on a quick profit.
Prices for the Dahongpao tea, which is only grown in a small mountainous area of east coast province of Fujian, have increased tenfold since the middle of last year with online tea traders selling a single kilo for more than £1,000, the country's state media has reported.
"I never thought it would get so expensive," a tea producer, Wu Zongyan said. "It's one price one day, another price another day. Between when we pick the leaves and when it's ready to sell, the price has already gone up."
Chinese traditionally prize tea as the symbolic heart of national culture and believe that in varieties and taste differentials rival that of wine. China is prone to extreme speculative bubbles as opportunity-starved investors seek a home for their cash outside the traditional venues of the stock and property markets which are themselves notoriously volatile and speculative.
In the past year auction houses in China and Hong Kong have all reported fetching record prices for everything from Imperial artwork to French claret and, most recently, Communist-era stamps as speculators search for an outlet for their money.
CCTV, the state broadcaster has reported that the classic signs of a bubble were already evident in the Dahongpao tea trade, with the number of shops selling the tea in Wuyi, the town where the tea is produced, leaping from 200 to 1,500.
As with fine wine, dealers are also reporting fake teas are starting
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Has Michelle ordered some for the White House?
If a person went to a fancy restaurant and ordered the top dollar tea could they really taste the difference or is it mostly snob appeal?
If a person went to a fancy restaurant and ordered the top dollar tea could they really taste the difference or is it mostly snob appeal?
It's a snob thing. Liberals order it to show off and look sophisticated in their cafes where they gather with their other wealthy friends to discuss the NYT "arts" section.
But the TV told me China is a paradise and that we should be just like China.... /sarcasm.
Yes, if it really is the quality tea advertised, one would taste the difference. I just spent three years in China where they grew some of the best green tea in the world. I spent the last two years traveling around China looking for tea. I am no expert, but I can identify tea by its taste.
Luckily I bought a couple of pounds of the Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) just before we left two months ago. Had some yesterday noon. One can easily distinguish it from the other oolong teas.
Yes, but does a difference in taste have mean a difference in quality/price?
Some tea is expensive because it comes from the boonies and there is little of it. Does that make it a better tea or just more expensive because of scarcity?
yitbos
We lived at the base of Emei Mountain in Sichuan and it is the home of one of the newest green teas (developed in 1965). One can taste the difference based on price. It is very expensive for the finest and I was given some of this by the university I worked for. It is a taste difference which I do not believe justifies the price difference. In fact, we were told by locals to by a common tea that the locals drink. I thought it was almost as good as the expensive tea.
A lot of it, as you rightly stated, is hype.
Like wine and fishing rods.
yitbos
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