Thanks Danny for the additional clarification on the Xiaguan use of
dates on their tuos. Just as I thought I should throw my Millennia
tuocha away because it exceeds the 36 ge yue according to the health
department, supposedly. I will say I was shocked at the almost purple
patina when I opened one up the past couple of days. It wasn't the way
I remembered when I first bought some early this decade. I scraped the
one for a taste test and it was the way I remembered. I have other
sheng I like better but this is the oldest chronologically.

Jim
..
samarkand wrote:
> The timeline is actually more hazy than what Jing mentioned.
>
> The 'Jia Ji" tuo with the old imprint stopped production in 1993, and the
> 'Jia Ji' tuo with the "G" imprint began in June 1996. So there was a good
> three years inbetween.
>
> There are 3 types of 100gm tuos with that "G" imprint, not two. The last
> one is the 'Jin Si' tuo with a limited production.
>
> Xiaguan did and does print dates of production on the bottom of their boxes,
> though not all of them. In the beginning they used blue print ink, then
> sometime after 2001 they uses laser print.
>
> '36 months' is the 'Best Used By / Best Before' date. This is more of a
> formality than an actual warranty. Under China's export regulations for
> perishable items, it is mandatory that a warranty date be inserted. Many
> producers got around this regulation by putting either '12 months' or '36
> months' or a time frame so that the health and food regulations officials
> won't get on their backs.
>
> Danny
....for the curious use Google...