Maliandao Tea Market is the oldest and most famous building on the west side of Maliandao Tea Street. On its third floor, I recently found a booth (No.7) selling quality Pu'er tea. And it was a great find indeed, a first class agent that sells the "National Treasure" brand of Pu'er tea. Their teas have won many prizes in tea competitions over the past several years. All teas come from their own ancient tea plantation.

When I approached the booth, a middle aged woman warmly invited me over to have a seat and sample their tea. She introduced herself as Manager Chen, and told me that many customers have stopped by and realized how great their tea tastes. I sampled, and I couldn’t agree more.

Their cake teas weigh a bit less than a pound (380/400 g). Prices range from RMB 90 to RMB 6,000 per piece. The expensive ones are made from ancient tea trees more than 2,700 years old.

Their Tuo Cha, or bun-shaped tea, has two ranks: grade A and extra grade (top grade). The original price for one bag of Grade A tea that contains 5 buns (100 g per piece) is RMB 180. But aiming to let more customers know their products, you can buy a set for only RMB 58. For extra grade, you can have one bag at RMB 70, although its original price is RMB 220.

As for gift boxes, they offer one containing two big-leaf tea cakes (100 g per piece), one big-leaf tea brick (150 g), and a chisel to chip at the cakes. It costs 120 yuan. A green package containing 120 grams of ‘Jade brick tea’ only costs 30 yuan. Plus, they have more small packages of Pu’er tea quite fit for presents.

What I appreciated

Prize-winning Pu’er tea, a wide range for choice

What customers appreciate

Healthful Pu’er tea, high quality, small packages for gifts

Chinese tea lovers know there are six types of Chinese teas: green, black, dark, yellow, white, and oolong. Among them, dark tea mainly includes Hunan dark tea and Yunnan Pu’er tea. And people see them as ‘brothers’ due to their similar history, shape, and health benefits.

It’s not common to see dark tea retailers on the famous Maliandao Tea Street. But I did find one on the basement of Beijing International Tea Centre. The shop is run by two ladies. One comes from Anhua, the hometown of Hunan dark tea. The other comes from Yunnan, home of the Pu’er tea.

The two first met in Yunnan, and almost as if by fate, immediately became friends. They soon decided to open a shop together in Beijing to sell the ‘brotherly teas’.

Dark tea is a fermented tea whose health benefits are known in all Oriental countries. Japanese call it ‘slim-keeping tea’, Koreans call it ‘beautifying tea’, and Chinese people call it ‘wholesome tea’. Drinking dark tea can help you lose weight, sober up, improve digestion, and lower your blood pressure.

Prices vary by the tea’s age. For casual drinkers, you may try a 2007 two kg brick of dark-flower tea for RMB 230. Whereas a two kg brick of 1992 dark brick tea would set you back RMB 1680.

What I appreciated

Healthful Hunan dark tea, Yunnan Pu’er tea

What customers appreciate

Health-giving Chinese tea

Situated near Yonghegong Lamasery, the tea shop named Tianfumingcha (天福茗茶) offers various kinds of Chinese tea and delicious tea candies at reasonable prices. This tea shop chain counts over 600 branches in China. It originates from Taiwan, and has become popular for the quality of its service and products.

The day I visited the shop, they were offering flower tea on sale. A smiling shop assistant let me have a taste of it: light, with a discreet jasmine flavor. As I made my way into the shop, another shop assistant greeted me and inquired for my needs. Similar to other branches, this shop is mainly decorated in yellow, green and brown hues. Their teas are displayed on the right side and in the back. On the left side of the shop, several kinds of tea snacks are displayed orderly on the shelves. Tea pots are exhibited at the back of the shop. It is a little bit tiny but has soothing atmosphere.

According to the shop assistant (who could not speak English), their products are chiefly transported from Fujian province. She recommended me to shop for tea according to seasons. For example, as a female customer, if I plan to lose weight in the springtime, Puer tea or red tea are both solid choices. I picked out a box of Puer tea (100 g): the box was weaved in bamboo slates, and looked pretty exquisite. Apparently, this packaging has a lot of success with customers as it looks good for gifting.

Besides Chinese teas, the shop sells a lot of tea snacks: Tieguanyin tea candy, green tea candy, red tea candy, and plums in different tastes. Prices range from RMB 20 to RMB 60 per bag (200 g).

Prices for tea range from RMB 10 / 50 g to RMB 100 / 50 g. Bargaining is not customary here.

What I appreciated:

Puer tea, tea candy

What customers appreciate:

Good service, quality products

If you like Chinese tea, you won’t regret paying a visit to Tea Researcher. The shop offers many types of tea, from various tea planting regions in Asia, and also from Europe and Africa. Until then this tea shop has opened less than a dozen branches in Beijing.

I was at first attracted by a tea gift box composed of two packages of Dahongpao (大红袍). Dahongpao is one of the rare and excellent Wulong teas (often spelled Oolong) and its price is pretty expensive. According to the tea shop assistant (who could speak a little English), the variety of Dahongpao carried by the shop is of a high quality. Its prices range from RMB 65 per 15g to RMB 238 per 60g.

Tea Researcher packages their teas in different hues: the green tag denotes Chinese tea, the purple one is reserved for Japanese and Korean teas. European and African teas are packaged in blue and brown boxes respectively.

The shop assistant recommended both Dahongpao and Dongding Wulong, a tea harvested and fermented in Taiwan. The taste of Wulong tea is even more magnificent when you infuse it in a Zisha teapot (Zisha a special mineral deposit which is ground to make a paste with which skilled craftsmen make very exclusive teapots). She also told me Mocha (抹茶) imported from Japan would benefit a girl’s skin. Sencha (煎茶), another popular tea from Japan, has a little sweet and freshly green taste.

Prices range from RMB 50 per 15g up to RMB 300 per 60g. More expensive gift boxes were priced at over RMB 500. No bargaining.

What I appreciated:

Dahongpao tea, good service

What customers appreciate:

Quality tea, good service

Plum Garden, or Meiyuan in Chinese, is a teashop near middle North 3^rd Ring Rd. They mainly offer Chinese green tea at reasonable prices.

Plum Garden has many repeat customers from the local residents, due to its selection and service. When I visited this tea shop, the hospitable middle-aged shop assistant offered me a taste of their new arrival Cuifeng – Green Hilltop – tea. Produced in Zhejiang province, Cuifeng does indeed give a taste its name suggests. It is priced at RMB 16 / 50g to RMB 36 / 50g. The taste of Cuifeng is light with a bit chestnut smell. The color of its tea soup is jade green.

Green tea offered in the shop comes in several categories, like Longjing, Maojian, Cuifeng, and Cuizhu. The prices for Longjing range from RMB 20 / 50g to RMB 80 / 50g, and for Cuizhu from RMB 50 / 50g to RMB 100 / 50g.

The store also offers a nice variety of Puer tea, between RMB 20 to RMB 100 per package.

The shop assistant can also offer tips on how to brew each kind of tea, to bring out the best flavor available. She just can speak a little bit English words to talk with foreigners.

What I appreciated:

Cuifeng and Cuizhu green tea

What customers appreciate:

Price and selection

Wuyutai is a famous Beijing tea brand dating back to the 19^th century. Among its numerous stores in Beijing, I visited its outlet on Huixin Xijiebei Street in Chaoyang district.

I found the quaint tea shop clean and orderly, with 2 shop assistants to help the customers. Many gift tea boxes rested on the left side, while the regular-packaged teas were displayed near the front. They had a large selection of teas, including green tea, Wulong tea, flower tea, and red tea. The prices ranged from RMB 10 / 50g to RMB 100 / 50g.

According to the shop assistant, the heavy Tieguanyin Tea is popular in autumn season, which the shop also offers as a gift box for RMB 50 (100g). Unfortunately, the shop assistants cannot speak English, so you would do well to have a written note of the tea name when you visit.

What I appreciated:

Tieguanyin Tea; Chinese honored brand

What customers appreciate:

Large selection, traditional brand

Decorated in traditional Chinese style, HuaXiangYuan Tea Shop specializes in TieGuanYin (Iron Avalokitesvara) tea. Very popular with the Chinese, TieGuanYin calms the nerves and gives a soothing feel to those who drink it. Due to the nature of its large, heavy leaves, full enjoyment requires a traditional tea set for brewing.

Designated by DiaoYuTai State Guesthouse, a famous hotel built in 1958 for receiving foreign dignitaries, as their exclusive tea producer, HuaXiangYuan Tea is renowned for its unique taste and superior quality. In fact, the national government even uses HuaXiangYuan’s tea as gifts to foreign dignitaries.

The tea shop comprises two floors. On the first floor, various well-packaged TianGuanYin teas are displayed on shelves. Furthermore, there are several classical hardwood tables and chairs. Customers can sit here and sip TieGuanYin tea in a traditional Chinese setting. On the second floor, there are some private rooms for customers to hold tea parties.

Prices for various TieGuanYin teas in fine packaging range from RMB 260 to RMB 7500 per 500g. They also offer various Pu’er tea cakes and bricks for RMB 180 to RMB 980 (250g/357g).

What I appreciated

Top-quality TieGuanYin Tea, decoration with traditional characteristics.

What customers appreciate

Some of the best TieGuanYin tea in China, traditional Chinese setting.

Decorated in a traditional style, Yipingudao (English name: Supreme Tea Life) is a tea shop specializing in quality Pu’er tea from Yunnan Province.

In the shop, you will see a spacious interior with a traditional Chinese atmosphere. Various Pu’er teas are displayed on a wooden shelf. Cake-shaped Pu’er teas, which weigh 200g to 1000g, cost RMB 40~380. A brick-shaped Pu’er tea is priced at RMB 135 (250g).

Tea sets are on display as well. A rectangular tea plate made of ebony with eight pieces of porcelain pea pot and cups looks graceful, and is priced at RMB 408. A set of the famous purple clay tea sets made in Yixing, Jiangsu Province costs RMB 160.

The most attractive thing in the shop is the Thousand Taels of Tea. You will find it right on your left side after entering the door of the shop. It looks like a columned tree trunk that is 147 cm in height, 20 cm in diameter, and 1000 taels in weight (an ancient measurement unit). It was made in Anhua, Hunan Province, and was collected by the tea company in January, 1989. As it is no longer produced, the tag price is a whopping RMB 168,000!

This tea company also owns a large teahouse nearby, so you can actually try out their teas before buying.

What customers appreciate

Quality Pu’er tea, exquisite tea sets, reasonable prices.

GuDaoTianFeng TianXiaPu’er is the complicated name of a shop which specializes in Pu’er Tea. This shop carries over 50 varieties of Pu’er teas coming from the Yunan Menghai Tea Plant which owns 10,000 acres of tea land in the mountains.

Pu’er Tea has a distinct, smokey flavor. Its brew is darker in color than green teas, but not as brown as the water of a Darjeeling, for instance. Its taste is stronger than longjin tea, and some people might find it a bit too peculiar. Pu’er Tea is highly regarded in China where it is considered highly beneficial to one’s health.

In the shop, the varieties of Pu’er teas are displayed orderly on the shelves. Some green plants here and there enhance the shopping environment. Two ancient and simple tea tables and some round stools made of tree stumps offer a welcome seating to tea lovers. The pungent aroma of Pu’er tea drifts in the air.

Prices for tea cakes (raw/processed, 357g/per) vary widely, from RMB 55 to 1,600 apiece. Prices for tea bricks (raw/processed, 250g/per) range from RMB 60 to RMB 860. Bowl-shaped compressed teas (raw/processed) cost RMB 5~40 for 50g. Prices for 50 g of loose-leaf tea (raw/processed) range from RMB 9 to RMB 260.

The shop also carries some tea ware: the larger tea cups cost RMB 28 each, and the smaller ones RMB 30. Prices for tea sets (4 pieces) range from RMB 150 to RMB 250.

What customers appreciate

The diversity of Pu’er teas, agreeable environment for a tea tasting party, reasonable prices.