The other odd thing I find puzzling about the recipe number is grading
information. I think it is more indicative of taste or leaf quality
than leaf size. So how can the grade for one factory be the same as
the grade for another? I got a tong (10x100g) bundle of cooked Jingmai
mtn wild tree from Lancang factory. The first cake has a neifei with
just the number 5038 which I think is the recipe. The second cake just
has the Lancang logo for the neifei. I didn't check the others. It
would be the oldest recipe I've seen and predate the modern factory
recipes from the mid seventies.

Jim

Jason F in Los Angeles wrote:
....
> Mike P.'s translation help is where I got most of my terminology.
> Fangcha = "Square" tea, tong = 7 cakes (i think i first read this on
> the Hou De site). As far as numbered cakes go, the convention is that
> they stand for a recipe and the last number is the factory, but those
> same numbers (7542, 7262, etc.) appeared on cakes from different
> factories all over Maliandao, so either other factories are attempting
> to recreate Meng Hai recipes (for example), confuse the marketplace of
> novice customers (possible!), or there's something else to the story
> we're not getting.