13th Puer Festival and 2013 International Tea Convention
If you have never experienced an international event in China, this is how it feels. You are treated to the best that China has to offer. From the time we landed in Simao (Puer) Airport, we were greeted by beautiful girls dressed in traditional minority costumes and reporters. Then escorted to our hotel to meet the other dignitaries at a banquet in our honor. Everything is perfect, each of us are as
signed a student from Puer University who acts as our personal guide and interpreter while we are in the city. By the end of our stay, we fell in love with our guide, her English name was Becky.
Each morning we are taken by bus to the event venue as police escort clear the road ahead of us. You get a sense of how important this event is to the Chinese government.
After the formalities of the opening introductions, we have a gala show outside on the square with possibly 20 different ethnic minority groups performing for us on a huge stage. Everything is bigger than life. No time to rest, one event after another all first class. Just enjoy the video, I can’t explain all that took place, you just have to go next time.
At the end, each of the participants were given a gift of a Commemorative Puer Box, containing a Bing, Toucha, and loose leaf puer. Each box and tea are serialized. As you know it is very important to select a special place to age your puers. We have chosen the private alter at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America. Our intent is age it there for about 10 years. I can only imagine the chi that it will collect as it rests in such a serene environment.
