This summer, after six and a half years living in Shanghai, I left China for Finland. From the birth place of tea to a nation obsessed with coffee… in fact the Finns are the largest consumers of coffee per capita on the planet.
So, number one on my ‘must do before I leave’ list was a final trip to Shanghai’s Tianshan Tea Market to stock up and get my final fix of… what… well just whiling away the afternoon, browsing teapots and tea paraphernalia, smelling the tea aromas, sitting and tasting a plethora of expertly brewed teas, and yes, getting a little tea drunk along the way.
I met up with Jasmine and Jenny at Jenny’s sister’s shop to ease myself in with a nice oolong. Jasmine is my good friend and fellow tea enthusiast, and Jenny we met when we took Chinese tea classes at her teahouse a few years ago.
Jasmine, Jenny & me
I remembered that the first shop I ever visited at the tea market was a cosy little Pu’er one, so we headed back there. We tried an 80 year old aged pu’er, blacker than coal and not for the faint hearted. Think the most stinkiest blue cheese, but tea… a little on the pungent side! I settled for a ‘shu’ pu’er – one that’s been fermented rather than ‘sheng’ pu’er which is raw. I also picked up some Dian Hong, from the early Spring harvest, probably my favourite Chinese black tea.
After purchasing enough green, oolong, black and pu’er tea to see me through a long dark Finnish winter, it was time to turn my attention to tea equipment. As well as numerous small tea pot shops, there’s also a large shop selling anything and everything to do with brewing tea. I’d had my eye on a tea set there for a long while so it was time to make the purchase. A beautiful jet black ribbed ceramic tea set. And with that, I said my final farewell to Tianshan Tea Market. You served me well over the years.
Tianshan Tea Market
520 Zhongshan Xi Lu,near Wuyi Lu
中山西路520号, 近武夷路