As the year-end approaches, I've reduced outdoor activities, staying in the shop to summarize the 2013 Pu-erh marketing and plan essential tasks for 2014. During this time, I spend more hours in the store receiving tea friends from various places and industries for tea chats.

When everyone asks me about my experience playing with Pu-erh tea, I summarize a few points: 1. The Big Picture, 2. The Price Chain, 3. Dialectical Materialism. Regarding the Big Picture and Price Chain, many previous blog posts have covered them, so I won't go into detail here. What is 'Dialectical Materialism'? Simply put, it means understanding, researching, and playing with tea by combining its history.

For example, as we previously discussed the 'Cultural Revolution Brick,' people in the border regions still needed to drink tea during the Cultural Revolution; it was a living habit that wouldn't be interrupted. Therefore, Pu-erh tea bricks must have been produced during this period, and in large quantities. Simultaneously, consulting Pu-erh history reveals that ripe Pu-erh tea originated around the 1970s. So, the existence of large quantities of ripe Cultural Revolution bricks seems somewhat unreliable from a timeline perspective. These conclusions are derived dialectically by combining various historical timelines of Pu-erh.

This year, a tea friend came for a chat. He mentioned someone marketing Gua Feng Zhai tea from 2001, and we all laughed together. In Yiwu, until 2005, Gua Feng Zhai's raw material was unknown to outsiders. Even if known, it wasn't considered special; at that time, Ma Hei, Da Qi Shu, and similar areas were the prized ones. Trying to sell Gua Feng Zhai back then meant few would want it, so its leaves were often passed off as local tea from Yiwu or Man Xiu, or heavily blended. The true concept of Gua Feng Zhai tea largely emerged around 2005-2006.

Another day, discussing Menghai Tea Factory's production of Ban Zhang tea with friends, considering the rise of Lao Ban Zhang around 2003-2004 and the factory's own ecological tea base on Brown Mountain—Xin Ban Zhang—it's highly unlikely Menghai Tea Factory used Lao Ban Zhang raw materials for pressing cakes, aside from the early 'White Cabbage' series. If any were used, it was probably mostly Xin Ban Zhang. Both are 'Ban Zhang,' but the difference between new and old is significant.

Given the numerous experts in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it's improbable that a high-quality tea could remain undiscovered by the market for fifteen years in their hands. The likely outcome is that it was just an ordinary tea. An analogy: meeting an 18-22 year old girl at a marriage agency who is beautiful, slim, elegant, well-mannered, pure-hearted, with modest requirements, and you happen to find her—this is utterly impossible. Are all the men around her blind?

Therefore, in the Pu-erh realm, I don't believe a tea that has been around for years, with considerable exposure and excellent qualities, would remain unknown. For instance, I once found a great mid-aged Menghai tea with excellent leaves and superb storage, yet surprisingly cheap. I bought it, but the origin turned out to be problematic. Otherwise, would the thousands of Menghai speculators in the market be blind, waiting for me to pick up a bargain?

In summary, using dialectical materialist thinking to play with tea significantly reduces the chances of being deceived or fooled, provided one thoroughly understands Pu-erh production history. Many ask me about the future changes of Yiwu tea, seeming puzzled. I say, look at those 'Hao Ji' teas; they are mostly made from Yiwu raw materials. Or, the 99 Yi Chang is also Yiwu material. As for how far back Lao Ban Zhang can be traced, probably only to the 'Big White Cabbage' series. What is this? It's the method of playing with tea through dialectical materialism, hahaha.