Health-giving tea in Beijing

At the southeast of Xuanwumen lies a Yunnan Pu’er Tea Market, only five minutes by cab from Tian’anmen Square. For a tourist, this is a convenient place to taste Pu’er tea, considered the ‘health-giving tea’ by many Chinese. Drinking this tea help you lose weight, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of cancer.

Yesterday I visited a nice Pu’er tea outlet called YiWu HongQing on the second floor there. The shop assistant was Mr. Hao, who warmly invited me to sit down and taste their tea. He introduced to me the company’s natural tea plantation at YiWu, the most famous tea mountain area in Yunnan province. All of their Pu’er teas were hand-plucked from ancient trees, and processed entirely by hand.

You can buy two kinds of Pu’er teas: Sheng Cha, which is raw, unfermented tea, or Shu Cha, which is fermented tea. Unfermented tea soup looks golden brown. They taste a bit bitter at first, but give a slight sweet after-taste. Fermented tea looks like red wine when brewed, and tastes a bit sweet. They give you a primitive feel.

For being carried more conveniently, Pu’er teas are compressed into different shapes like cake, bun, brick, and melon. Prices vary by age and quality. The longer preserved ones could cost up to RMB 5600 for a 400g cake. But newer teas can be bought for as little as RMB 70 per 400g cake.

What I appreciated

Healthful Pu’er tea from the most famous YiWu Mountain

What customers appreciate

Health-giving tea, top quality Pu’er tea