The 888,999 are made by the DeHong WuLiang tea factory. That seems to
be the only cakes they make. The 999 is embossed on one side with the
tea character on the other. The 999 is the hardest cake I have. I use
a piece of it to widdle away at other black cakes. If the wrapper ever
gets lost you know who made it. One of these days I'll get the 888.
There is a 66 made by the 6FTM. I haven't seen a 666.

Jim

PS Google was acting up this morning so if you've seen this before
curse Google

Konrad Scorciapino wrote:
> Since there is a 999 cake[1], I always thought it had to do with the
> grading, but [2] says that the 888 is used for being 'lucky'. Comparing
> with [3], it seems that there are different cakes (but from the same
> region) with the same number.
>
> Anybody knows the truth behind these 888, 999 and perhaps 666 cakes?
>
> --k
>
> [1]
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-Aged-999-Pu-...QQcmdZViewItem
> [2] http://www.tuochatea.com/tea_cake/888_pu-erh.htm
> [3]
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Dragon-888-Ripe-...QQcmdZViewItem