This was the green Xiaguan(left) tuocha I could buy locally till early
2005. Now no green tuocha since. Luckily I stocked up for < buck
each. Before I got dangerous in Chinese I sent one to Sasha and he
said the production date on the bottom of the box(center) was Jan 2000.
My box shows the yi character for the month. This box shows the jiu
character but the year is the ling character. Everybody scoffed and
said probably a forgery because Xiaguan didn't print production
information on their boxes. I came across this picture on a Japanese
website with the certification(right) from 1999:

http://i14.tinypic.com/34eqb86.jpg

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> This was the green Xiaguan(left) tuocha I could buy locally till early
> 2005. Now no green tuocha since. Luckily I stocked up for < buck
> each. Before I got dangerous in Chinese I sent one to Sasha and he
> said the production date on the bottom of the box(center) was Jan 2000.
> My box shows the yi character for the month. This box shows the jiu
> character but the year is the ling character. Everybody scoffed and
> said probably a forgery because Xiaguan didn't print production
> information on their boxes. I came across this picture on a Japanese
> website with the certification(right) from 1999:
>
> http://i14.tinypic.com/34eqb86.jpg
>
> Jim

So this is a picture of your tea? Or someone else's?

Do you have a picture of the tea itself, and not just the box?

MarshalN wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > This was the green Xiaguan(left) tuocha I could buy locally till early
> > 2005. Now no green tuocha since. Luckily I stocked up for < buck
> > each. Before I got dangerous in Chinese I sent one to Sasha and he
> > said the production date on the bottom of the box(center) was Jan 2000.
> > My box shows the yi character for the month. This box shows the jiu
> > character but the year is the ling character. Everybody scoffed and
> > said probably a forgery because Xiaguan didn't print production
> > information on their boxes. I came across this picture on a Japanese
> > website with the certification(right) from 1999:
> >
> > http://i14.tinypic.com/34eqb86.jpg
> >
> > Jim
>
> So this is a picture of your tea? Or someone else's?
>
> Do you have a picture of the tea itself, and not just the box?

It's a picture from the Internet. Everything is the same except for
the yue. The tuocha has lots of white bud and remaining green area on
top fading to dark purple on the side ( I remember one of the first
ones I tried looked much more green than this). It has the embossed G
character. The wrapper has two lengthy columns of different Chinese
characters down each side. You will probably know but what does the
field "36 ge yue" indicate?

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:

> It's a picture from the Internet. Everything is the same except for
> the yue. The tuocha has lots of white bud and remaining green area on
> top fading to dark purple on the side ( I remember one of the first
> ones I tried looked much more green than this). It has the embossed G
> character. The wrapper has two lengthy columns of different Chinese
> characters down each side. You will probably know but what does the
> field "36 ge yue" indicate?
>
> Jim

I seem to remember reading about this on Sanzui that the ones with
those dates are fake -- later date.

And I don't think they started putting the embossed G on the tuo until
the last year or two.

Jing remarked the embossed G started in 2003:
http://tinyurl.com/ye3nh6

This provenance with the tael(bulk) ticket and my tuos on hand suggest
otherwise.
http://i14.tinypic.com/34eqb86.jpg

You really have to ask yourself the question who is Chinatown riped me
off for a buck tuo assuming it was fake? I'm still curious about that
'36 ge yue' meaning. If it means something like the 'next 36 months' I
think it would be possible to pickup an embossed G tuo with the year on
the bottom of the box and conclude incorrectly which year it started.
At the minimum the tael ticket and the information on the box ties
together.

Jim

MarshalN wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
>
> > It's a picture from the Internet. Everything is the same except for
> > the yue. The tuocha has lots of white bud and remaining green area on
> > top fading to dark purple on the side ( I remember one of the first
> > ones I tried looked much more green than this). It has the embossed G
> > character. The wrapper has two lengthy columns of different Chinese
> > characters down each side. You will probably know but what does the
> > field "36 ge yue" indicate?
> >
> > Jim
>
> I seem to remember reading about this on Sanzui that the ones with
> those dates are fake -- later date.
>
> And I don't think they started putting the embossed G on the tuo until
> the last year or two.

Space Cowboy
> Jing remarked the embossed G started in 2003:
> <http://tinyurl.com/ye3nh6>

Jim, this link is dead.
Michael

It's a link I uploaded this morning to Tinyurl for a post Jing made in
this group. I just doubled checked and it is bringing up the RFDT
post. This is the ugly url:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.f...7?dmode=source

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:
> Space Cowboy
> > Jing remarked the embossed G started in 2003:
> > <http://tinyurl.com/ye3nh6>
>
> Jim, this link is dead.
> Michael

Well duh. Jing said the Te tuo was embossed in 2003. This is the Jia
tuo and first embossed in 95 so it can't be an anachronism..

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> It's a link I uploaded this morning to Tinyurl for a post Jing made in
> this group. I just doubled checked and it is bringing up the RFDT
> post. This is the ugly url:
> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.f...7?dmode=source
>
> Jim
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
> > Space Cowboy
> > > Jing remarked the embossed G started in 2003:
> > > <http://tinyurl.com/ye3nh6>
> >
> > Jim, this link is dead.
> > Michael

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


"Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Well duh. Jing said the Te tuo was embossed in 2003. This is the Jia
> tuo and first embossed in 95 so it can't be an anachronism..
>
> Jim
>
> Space Cowboy wrote:
>> It's a link I uploaded this morning to Tinyurl for a post Jing made in
>> this group. I just doubled checked and it is bringing up the RFDT
>> post. This is the ugly url:
>> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.f...7?dmode=source
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> Michael Plant wrote:
>> > Space Cowboy
>> > > Jing remarked the embossed G started in 2003:
>> > > <http://tinyurl.com/ye3nh6>
>> >
>> > Jim, this link is dead.
>> > Michael
>

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...

Space Cowboy wrote:
> 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.
>
Rather than worry about the tea's supposed age.... how does it taste?
How does it look?

You're not reselling your tea, so whether it is actually 15 years old
or not.... doesn't really matter, does it? So long as it tastes good

Most puer doesn't come with a date provenance. You have to take
somebody's word for it. The ticking of the clock adds more to the
value than aging of the taste. You notice most discussion in this
group starts with how old is the puer followed by how great it taste or
the corollary it can't taste good because its not old. My puer
economic advice to investors buy the cheapest recent crops and sell
them in the future for more money to those who think time is more
important than taste. Mine will probably go up the crematorium shute
with me if it doesn't cost my estate extra but I leave that decision to
the court appointed Executor.

Jim

PS This post wasn't directed at MarshalN who is entirely correct that
it is more about taste than dates but I think learned something about
Xiaguan tuo dating from the Danny and Jing posts who I thank again. I
just wished I had some tuo with the jiushi niandai stamped on it.

MarshalN wrote:
> Space Cowboy wrote:
> > 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.
> >
> Rather than worry about the tea's supposed age.... how does it taste?
> How does it look?
>
> You're not reselling your tea, so whether it is actually 15 years old
> or not.... doesn't really matter, does it? So long as it tastes good