>> Yes, marketing BS frustrates me just as much as the next guy. However,
>> it is a very different set of ethics that says it is OK to flat out
>> lie about the very ingredients and even the manufacturers name. It is
>> a very different set of ethics that says it is OK to blatantly copy,
>> down to the smallest detail including the logo, any product at will
>> and then sell it as if it were real. That is something you should be
>> able to "trust" in any culture.
>
>Perhaps, but trustworthy product labels don't exist in any
>culture or country, regardless of our wishes to the contrary. So
>why not just hone and trust your own instincts instead of trying
>to rely on essentially meaningless pieces of paper and
>financially motivated verbal claims? I bet you'd get cheated
>less often....

Well that depends on your definition of trustworthy. If you set aside
the marketing issue, which my "street smarts" tells me is usually
served up with BS, most Western and European countries I have visited
could be trusted in so far as manufacturer and raw contents. Yes, I
have honed my skills, and that is exactly why I am complaining. The
standards that I have encountered in dealing directly with Chinese
vendors have been appalling. Also consider that I have to "trust"
quite a bit unless I want to hop on plane and go there myself, which
is not very practical. When dealing via Internet or mail order you
have no choice, you have to trust to a certain degree.

What you call a "meaningless" piece of paper is often the only
indicator of pedigree that you get when you are not there to see and
taste the tea beforehand. Yes, it *is* supposed to have meaning, and
it does otherwise nobody would bother to forge it. If goods are to be
hidden underneath packaging then the wrapping must have meaning.
Anything less is not acceptable.

Yes, I am street smart, and I pride myself that I have been ripped off
far fewer times than most others. However that does not excuse a lack
of ethics on the vendors part, they do know it is wrong as many
Chinese vendors have told me so, just nobody enforces it with any
penalties *yet*. It is also my experience that nothing changes unless
there is discontent. If I am not man enough to stand up for what is
right and complain when things are not acceptable then I cannot ever
expect things to change. Capitalism is a new concept for Chinese
businessmen and it appears they are going through a phase of excess,
much like we have, but they will respond to their customers eventually
if enough customers complain.

Lets face the truth, China has been forging just about everything very
blatantly because they can and because nobody punishes them for it. It
is not only tea but movies, watches, and just about any type of
consumer goods imaginable. If we the customer don't educate them that
this is not acceptable it will never change. If we continue to buy $20
Rolex watches (wink-wink) they will continue to make them. The Chinese
legal system, and government, simply hasn't been able to keep up
widespread capitalism, but they will eventually if enough of us speak
up and not become passive sheep waiting to be fleeced.

Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net