Puer tea has been grown for centuries in the "Six Great Tea
Mountains" of Yunnan Province. In imperial China it was a prized
commodity, traded to Tibet by horse or mule caravan via the
so-called Tea Horse Road and presented as tribute to the emperor in
Beijing. In the 1990s, as the tea's noble lineage and unique
process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, it achieved
cult status both in China and internationally. The tea became a
favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language
comparable to that used in wine appreciation and paid skyrocketing
prices for it. In 2007, however, local events and the international
economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse.
"Puer Tea" traces the rise, climax, and crash of this cultural
phenomenon. With ethnographic attention to the spaces in which Puer
tea is harvested, processed, traded, and consumed, anthropologist
Jinghong Zhang constructs a vivid account of the transformation of
a cottage handicraft into a major industry--with predictable risks
and unexpected consequences.
Jinghong Zhang is a lecturer at Yunnan University.
"This is an engrossing study of the Puer tea industry and the
many cultural spheres that surround it. It will be of keen interest
to the Western tea trade as well as historians, connoisseurs, and
enthusiasts. Tea publications rarely, if ever, discuss the complex
relationships that quite literally bring tea to the table. Never
has the anatomy of tea been dissected in such a wide ranging,
thorough, and engaging way."--Steven D. Owyoung, co-translator of
Korean Tea Classics
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
