Yunnan Wholesale Tea Market

Pu'er or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea produced in Yunnan province, China. The town of Pu'er is named after the tea that is produced close by. Fermentation in the context of tea production involves microbial fermentation and oxidation of the tea leaves, after they have been dried and rolled. This process is a Chinese specialty and produces tea known as 黑茶 hēichá commonly translated as dark tea. This type of tea is different from what is known as black tea in English, which in Chinese is called 红茶 hóngchá . The best known variety of this category of tea is pu'er from Yunnan Province, named after the trading post for dark tea during imperial China. Pu'er traditionally begins as a raw product known as rough máochá and can be sold in this form or pressed into a number of shapes and sold as raw shēngchá . Both of these forms then undergo the complex process of gradual fermentation and maturation with time. The wòduī fermentation process developed in 1973 by the Kunming Tea Factory created a new type of pu'er tea. This process involves an accelerated fermentation into ripe shóuchá which is then stored loose or pressed into various shapes. The fermentation process was adopted at the Menghai Tea Factory shortly after and technically developed there. The legitimacy of shóuchá is disputed by some traditionalists in contrast to aged teas. All types of pu'er can be stored to mature before consumption, which is why it is commonly labeled with the year and region of production.
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