Between you and Mydnight China is the last place to buy tea off the
shelf. The barter markets work for the locals but not for strangers
with no time. You were smart enough to know what things should cost
via auction sites. However looking at the cost of the trip the
Internet dealer markups don't look that bad and the selection is about
the same as your suitcase. I'm thinking of the 2008 Olympics and
killing two birds with one stone. Besides the adventure was there
another purpose for this trip? Did the puer sellers think they were
special versus sellers of other teas? Thanks for sharing your
experience.

Jim

PS: I have a shipment in route of green,black,same factory,2003. The
black is my first hydrothermal 'aged' puer. This is my first chance to
compare the same leaf processed both ways.

Jason F in Los Angeles wrote:
> Heylo all,
>
> I had a great time in China. I posted at the puerh_tea LJ community
> about my experiences shopping for tea.
> http://community.livejournal.com/puerh_tea
>
> The post focuses mostly on pu'er and gives recommendations for places
> to go and how to shop. There are also some pictures, so give it a
> glance if you like, especially if you'll be in Beijing anytime soon
>
> ~J