Recently my family and I visited the Labrador Nature Reserve in Singapore. Even tough my son and I went to the Labrador beach a couple of times, our aim to go there was to fish. We had never actually explored the nature reserve there and did not know there was so much fun and history exploring the nature reserve.
The Labrador park is located within walking distance of Labrador Park MRT Station, the newly launched Labrador Nature & Coastal Walk comprises three distinct segments - Alexandra Garden Trail, Berlayer Creek mangrove trail, and Bukit Chermin Boardwalk. The Alexandra Garden Trail runs along Alexandra Road from Depot Road to Telok Blangah Road, through the Berlayer Creek mangrove area and skirts the foothills of Bukit Chermin. Currently one of two remaining mangroves in the south of mainland Singapore, Berlayer Creek is home to a myriad of fauna and flora - some 60 bird species, 19 fish species and 14 true mangrove plant species have been recorded here. Take a walk along the coastal foothill of Bukit Chermin on the Bukit Chermin Boardwalk. It is an elevated boardwalk which connects the Berlayer Creek mangrove trail and Labrador Nature Reserve to the promenade at the Reflections at Keppel Bay.
Labrador Nature Reserve contains the only rocky sea-cliff on the main island of Singapore. The10 ha coastal secondary vegetation was gazetted as a nature reserve on 1 January 2002. The park offers a picturesque view of the sea. A path built on the edge of the secondary forest provides a prime view of the cliff side vegetation coupled with a panoramic view of the sea. On week-ends, this place is full of anglers. Adults and children are busy casting their lines into the far sea hoping to catch something from the sea. On many occasions, my son and I went there fishing as well but we caught nothing. We remarked that even the fishes went on holiday overseas. Besides fishing, people also flock to the park to explore the little nature that is left in Singapore. While taking a leisurely stroll along one of the nature trails, one can spot squirrels scurrying up trees and watch birds, spiders and thousands of insects, permanent residents of the park. All these things of nature have their functions in keeping the rich forest a self-perpetuating habitat..
The Labrador beach
Besides its rich nature reserve, this place played a significant role in the history of Singapore during World War II. Remnants of the past like the secret tunnels and a fort enable visitors to have an interactive learning experience of the military history of the British rule during that era. Students, on their outdoor history lessons, will benefit from the educational value of these war relics and the military installations that were built on the highest points inside the nature reserve. Safely tucked away in the nature reserve, there were secret tunnels used by the British Army during World War II. They were left hidden and forgotten since then until they were rediscovered in 2001.Why was this place so heavily fortified by the British during World War II? Who were the enemies?
Leaning on mighty British soldiers
The big gun which was never used
During WWII, the Japanese were very aggressive and ambitious. They had always wanted the rich resources of S.E Asia to finance their war. Apart from waging a war in China, they also wanted to bring South East Asia under their control and the vast resources at their disposal. At that time, Singapore was still under British administration. The British anticipated that the Japanese would invade Singapore by sea. An ideal landing place for the Japanese marines would be here at the Labrador beach. They heavily fortified the place with big guns, forts, secret tunnels and lots of ammunition. Obviously they were prepared to engage the Japanese army. They even had one huge rock (the size of a small mountain) by the beach removed so as to have a clearer view of the sea. This was no ordinary rock. The rock was sighted by the legendary Cheng Ho, the Ming dynasty admiral who sailed into Singapore. It even appeared on the map used by the ancient Chinese for their voyages. The British had no regards for historical artifact. For many days and nights the British kept watch over the sea front for any Japanese war ships that might arrive and try to land there. The British were ready to ambush them and send them to heaven. If the British were so mighty, why did they build secret tunnels here? My explanation was that if the Japanese were too powerful to defeat, the British would then have an easy escape route to safety, maybe back to their motherland. While the British kept watch over the southern sea, the Japanese invaded Singapore from the north via the state of Johor in Malaysia (Thailand opened the gateway and allowed the Japanese forces to march into Malaysia). It seemed the Japanese were smarter than the British. Guess how did they march into Singapore? On Bicycles, they virtually cycled their way into Singapore. One could imagine while cycling into Singapore, the Japanese must have enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. What a way to fight a war. When the Japanese army eventually entered Singapore without obstruction, obviously the mighty British were no match to the fierce Japanese. As a result, without much fighting, the British surrendered to the Japanse. Not a shot was fired in the heavily fortified high ground at Labrador beach. History will tell you that the British gave up Singapore and went home to defend their motherland against the Germans. Morale of the story is: Do not expect foreigners to give up their lives to defend your country. You have to do it yourself. One needs to go to Labrador park to learn this important lesson in history. My family and I were glad that we made the trip to explore the park and learn a lesson in history.
Last year, my family and I took a stroll on a stretch of railway track in Upper Bukit Timah near the famous Rail Mall. The reason we visited the place was because the whole railway track from Woodlands to the train terminal at Tanjong Pagar Railway station would be demolished and southbound trains from Malaysia would no longer travel on this track to arrive at the heart of Singapore. We wanted to take a final walk at this historic railway line before it finally disappeared into history book. When we reached the destination, there was already a small crowd gathering at the place about to explore the railway track. We all carried our cameras with us to capture some historical moments.
The railway overhead bridge at Rail Mall
Why was the dismantling of this railway track so special as to attract a crowd to walk and explore it before it vanished into thin air? Why would people want to capture some memories of this place?
This is part of railway line that runs from Thailand to Malaysia and ends at Tanjong Pagar station at Singapore City Centre. The railway was built by the British before the war. For many years, the railway line serves as important transport route for the people of Malaysia and Singapore. However, after Singapore's separation from the Malaysian federation, the railway system remained in operation. The lands around the railway line remained under the control of the Rail operator, KTM of Malaysia. As a result, southbound trains from Malaysia would still travel deep into Singapore territory and stop at Tanjong Pagar station where the Immigration Offices of both countries were located. From here, passengers would alight to clear custom and immigration. This went on for years after Singapore's independence. The whole procedure seemed inappropriate as all countries of the world would have their immigration and custom checkpoint at the border. Singapore was the exception where the immigration checkpoint was at the heart of the Singapore City. The leaders of both countries had been on negotiations in the past decades to relocate the railway immigration checkpoint back to the border at Woodlands. In land scarce Singapore, to have the railway line cuts into Singapore in the middle, it affects development planning. Illegal activities on the KTM rail land were reported in the past. Residents who stayed near the railway line would grow vegetables and plant fruit tress on land belonged to KTM, the rail operator. Factory operators would dump wastes there. Others would use the land to breed ornamental fish for export. All these activities took place on the rail land as if there was no law and order there. Hence, the ideal solution was for KTM to relocate the rail station to Woodlands and return the land where the railway track was built to Singapore. As the matter was complicated and complex, the negotiations were however unsuccessful and no deals were made to relocate the immigration checkpoint.
After a change of leaderships on the Malaysian side, negotiations for the relocation of immigration checkpoint resumed. An agreement was finally reached between the two governments on this matter. A deal was reached such that Malaysia would give up the railway land in exchange for some land parcels in Singapore where both countries agreed to jointly develop. Both countries also agreed to build custom and immigration offices at Woodlands, the northern most part of Singapore. As the matter was finally settled, the railway track would have to go so was the railway station at Tanjong Pagar. The relocation of the checkpoint to Woodlands meant that the southbound trains from Malaysia would now stop at Woodlands. So the railway track from Woodlands to the City Centre became redundant and had to be dismantled. This was the reason why people flocked to this stretch of railway track still opened to the public before its demolition. Other parts of the railway line was already in the process of being removed. Some might not have taken the trains to Malaysia. Others might not have seen such a railway track and its surroundings. As a result, the KTM railway became an instant tourist attraction. It was indeed an eye opener for many young Singaporeans to wonder around the track freely as the train service had stopped. It was an opportunity not to miss as how often could anyone walk on the railway line without worrying about being hit by oncoming trains. Moreover, it was also a very good day trip for family members who enjoyed fresh air and sunshine.
On the railway track
The long railway line
Trekking on the railway line
Downtown Singapore
Woodlands is at the northern tip and Tanjojong Pagar is at the south.
There are hundreds of thousands of people practising taiji all over the world these days. Some are doing the Yang style taiji while others the Chen style taiji. Some do it for health and fitness reasons while others do it in order to win a medal in major taiji competition. But for whatever reasons, most people practise taiji as they think taiji is a slow and elegant form of exercise which is very good for health. Generally they are right as practising taiji daily will make you strong and healthy. Apart from the health and fitness reasons, not many people know the secrets of taiji. Even most instructors nowadays do not know the secrets, their masters who taught them taiji also do not know the hidden things about taiji themselves. Do you believe that there are secrets in taiji that most people do not know? Is taiji merely another form of exercise for old folks?
Yang's style taiji
There are many stories regarding the origin of taiji. It was told that in the Chen village, there were already people practising taiji (the Chen's style) during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. A certain man Yang Lu Chan later learnt the skills of taiji from a master in the Chen village. He later brought the art of taiji to Beijing where he became famous for his taiji skills and no body in the Capital could defeat him. His mastery of taiji skills was so advance that it was said that a bird could not even fly off from the palm of his hand. He later founded the Yang's style taiji and began teaching taiji to Princes and court officials. From the Yang's style, later came the Wu's style and Sun's style taiji. One can imagine, if taiji is just merely a form of exercise, it would not have influenced so many people and it would not have spreaded so widely. The early practitioners of taiji were obviously drawn to this form of boxing because taiji was a martial art for self defence. Its Yin and Yang theory was profound with the ability to defeat your opponent using very little effort. To master the taiji skills, one need to find a good master who knows the secrets of taiji, the Yin Yang theory. With proper guidance and training from a good master, one can then learn and practise taiji the correct way.
I started to learn taiji when I was a teenager only to give it up when I went overseas to study. In the late 80s, my fitness level dropped to such an extent that when I found myself panting heavily after climbing 3 flight of steps. I realised I needed to improve my fitness. So I took up the Yang's style 108 taiji lessons in a community centre. I learnt other Yang's style routines of sword, sabre, fan and staff as well. Sure enough my fitness improved after doing the Yang's style taiji regularly. I remembered once there was power failure in where I lived and I was able to walk up 21 storeys without panting to reach my apartment. Later I also learnt the Chen style taiji because of the explosive power in its movement. I particularly like the Chen's style big sabre which I love to swing the heavy weapon around me. The movement of the Chen's style big sabre looks awesome, like general fighting his opponent in ancient warfare.
I was contented with the Chen's and Yang's style taiji for more than 20 years until one day my friends invited me to meet up with another master from the Wu's style taiji who was teaching in the Chinatown area. Reluctantly (I did not want to learn another taiji style again) one night after work I went over to the place where they trained for the Wu's style taiji. The master was in his early 50s and immediately he showed me his skills in the Wu style. No matter how firm I stood he was able to uproot me effortlessly. He tossed me around as tough I was like yo yo. He did it so easily and effortlessly and he did not use any strength at all. Mind you, I am of a much bigger size than him (he weighs under 55 kg while I am well over 70 kg). With over 20 years of training in the Yang and Chen styles, I could not even keep myself steady when his hands touched mine. I had really encountered a master who truly knew his trade. Even tough I have heard of stories of great taiji masters of the past era, I had yet to see one myself. He really convinced me that there was still something I did not know about taiji, how to use taiji techniques effortlessly to uproot your opponent and defeat him. I told myself that I had to learn taiji from him and gave up all the styles I learnt earlier. From him, I hoped to find out the secrets of taiji, how he could do the techniques so effortlessly.
Soon I began my new taiji lessons with him, the traditional Wu's style taiji. He patiently taught us the Wu style and unfold the secrets he learnt from his master, another great man who learnt it from Wu Kong Yi, the legendary grandson of the founder of the Wu style, Wu Chuen Yu (an imperial bodyguard who learnt taiji from the invincible Yang Lu Chan). His style is known as the small movement of the traditional Wu style. All the steps revolve around the body's central position. The ability to discern forces acting on the body (such as hands and legs, etc), known traditionally as the Yin and Yang forces is essential to grasping the the true and correct technique of taiji. If a person stands in a central position with a stance such that the body weight is distributed in a Yin/Yang fashion through the legs, he is in a very stable posture. From this position, twisting and turning the pelvic (or other body parts) can generate a great amount of energy effortlessly, more than enough to uproot any opponents bigger than you. Now I knew that taiji was all about internal movement, moving the bones and joints and muscles of the body. Of course to do that is not easy, it requires strenuous training. One also needs to direct the "Qi" or energy to the body parts to make the movement effective. To summarise, apart from finding a good master who know the this art, one also needs to be intelligent and smart enough to put the technique into application. No wonder less and less people acquire this skills theses days. Most are contented with the elegant soft movement of taiji and are not too concerned about the combat aspect of the taiji movement. We regularly practise the push-hand technique with one another, and with the master. It was fun as we began to understand the taiji concept, never uses force to oppose an incoming force, stay relax and yield to your opponent's force but never lose body contact with the opponent; and strike when the opponent's force is deflected. But his must be done when your body maintains a central position, ie you must know how to place the CG of the body and your legs (forces from the legs) must be flexible when changing from Yin to Yang and, etc. The more I know about this truth, the more I find taiji to be really profound, not simple at all. You may spend 10 years practising taiji only to find that you are still at the kinder-garten level. Such is the complexity of taiji, no wonder few would want to take up this art of self defence.
It is not easy to describe all these things in a few paragraphs. One thing is sure; that the secrets of taiji can be learnt only if you can find one master who is willing to teach you. Of course, nowaday, there are very few masters who actually know the correct way to practise taiji. Over the years, most of the good masters are not around anymore. Many young people are also not interested in taiji as they have the perception that taiji is for old retirees who have nothing better to do. If this trend continues, the real skills of taiji may eventually be lost forever. The so-called masters these days are the one who teach taiji for a living. They themselves have not learned taiji the correct way (or from a true master who knows this art of self defence) and most often these masters have no real skills at all. They can continue doing taiji for 20 or 30 years yet they skills will not improve if they do not know how to practise it the correct way. Most often when they encounter a real master, they will be easily defeated or uprooted. Yang Luchan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Lu-ch%27an Wu Chuen Yu : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Ch%27uan-yu
I love art, I particularly like works from impressionist artists especially works from artists such as Claude Monet, Cezzane, Edgar Degas, etc. I like Monet's masterpiece, Impression, Sunrise. The painting depicts overall visual effects instead of details, and used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour—not blended smoothly or shaded, as was customary—to achieve an effect of intense colour vibration. What in the world is this art form called impressionism?
Impression, Sunrise, Claude Monet
Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists. Their independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, in spite of harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari.
Woman with a Parasol, Claude Monet
Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. The development of Impressionism in the visual arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media that became known as impressionist music and impressionist literature.
In today's contemporary art, when an artist starts to paint something, he can choose to paint every details from the subject he is painting. Or he can choose to paint his subject in such a way that he does not care about details, as long as he gets his colour right and he can show the effects of light on the colour he uses on his subject. Some may this type of art from, if you stand from a far distance you can get a better appreciation of the painting, meaning the details begin to stand out. From near the painting may look messy and the subject does not stand out. Abstract art is even more difficult to appreciate as most often people do not understand what was on the painter's mind when he painted an abstract art work.
I learnt to paint in oils during my teenage years. I did not take up painting seriously as I thought that generally artists find it difficult to survive in this real materialistic world. Famous artist such as Vincent van Gogh did not make a fortune by selling his works. In fact he was so miserable in life that he became mad and at one stage and cut off his own ear. He constantly lived in poverty. To survive, he relied mainly on financial help from friends. His works become so valuable only after his death and fetch millions of dollars in auction houses. Most people back then always think that artist could not enjoy the fruits of his works during his lifetime, but after his death then only he became famous and his works start to sell. As a result, I only took up painting as a hobby and chose engineering as my career. In my mind, engineers will have survived better than artists in good times and bad times.
Vinvent van Gogh, Self Portrait
Sun Flower, Vincent van Gogh
Things have changed since the past decades. Even here in Singapore, you will find artists who are able to sell their works and earn a decent living. They own big houses and live comfortably. If you look at the artists from China, their works can command even higher price in auction houses. Most of the famous artists are multi-millionaire. One of such artists is Chen Yi Fei whose works sell for millions of dollars. Nowadays when people more affluent, they will invest in arts. As a result there is always a market for good pieces of artwork.
Appreciate good paintings is indeed a very good past-time. You can admire the vivid colours that an artist used and the effect of light on the colours he used to depict his subject. This is the highest form of relaxation for those who are constantly under the stress of daily life. If you can't afford to own any paintings, just make a visit to local art museum and you can still enjoy beautiful paintings at your own free time. Better still, if you have time to spare, why don't you pick up some brushes and start to paint. You don't know how much fun you can have by painting your own subjects, be it still life or landscapes. There are a lot of teaching materials for beginners to start this out as a hobby. I recommend oil painting to beginners as oils are opaque. One can easily paint over the mistakes one makes for many times until one is satisfied. Water colour is not easy for beginners as it is not that forgiving as long as mistakes are concerned. One cannot just simply paint over the mistakes as the colour will get thicker and not easily covered with another layer.
Ping-pong diplomacy (乒乓外交) refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and People's Republic of China (PRC) in the early 1970s. The event marked a thaw in U.S.–China relations that paved the way to a visit to Beijing by President Richard Nixon. Below is a Yixing teapot made in the 70s to commemorate this event. The teapot features a row of ping pong bats at the middle section of the teapot to mark this event when China and the US restored diplomatic tie.
Teapot of ping-pong diplomacy
The ping pong diplomacy unfolds the story of a landmark trip by the US table tennis team to China in 1971 that eventually led to a visit by US President Richard Nixon to China and the gradual tempering of relations between the two countries. No one can deny that the US-China relationship remains deep and complex, let's take a closer look at how one visit by a sports team made a world of difference.
What makes the whole story so interesting is that it all unfolded very quickly; there weren't really plans in place for a formal visit, and then within the span of a week the US team was making a landmark visit to Beijing, the first group of Americans to do so in an official capacity since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949. How did such a momentous historical event come about so quickly? Well, the story goes that the previous week, the US table tennis team was in Nagoya, Japan participating in the Table Tennis World Championships. US star Glenn Cowan was getting in some extra practice volleying (is that the term? We'll go with that for now) with Chinese player Liang Geliang. The pair apparently ran over their allotted time in the practice space and were asked to leave by a local official. Cowan had missed his team's bus, which had already left to take them back to their hotel, so he began wandering around looking for a way back to the city. The legendary Chinese player 庄则栋 (Zhuāng Zédòng) saw Cowan and waved him onto the Chinese team bus, which was heading in the same direction. While some members of the Chinese team were cold to Cowan, 庄则栋 presented him with a gift of a silk-screen picture of the Huangshan Mountains, a traditional gift in his native 杭州. He later recalled asking himself, "Is it okay to have anything to do with your No. 1 enemy?"
This friendly exchange did not go unnoticed by Chinese authorities. Though Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai had initially denied the US team's request to play exhibition matches in China, news of 庄则栋's kindness prompted a change. Mao was said to remark, "This Zhuang Zedong not only plays table tennis well, but is good at foreign affairs, and he has a mind for politics." Impressed, China's leadership immediately extended an invitation to the US team, and on April 10th, just four days after Glenn Cowan's fortuitous tardiness, the US National Table Tennis Team became the first group of Americans to enter China in decades. The exhibition matches (most of which the Chinese team supposedly let the Americans win) went well, and a year later the Chinese team flew to the US for another series of matches. The US team's visit to China became all the more significant in February of 1972, when US President Richard Nixon landed in Beijing for a week of visits and meetings, forever altering the landscape of Sino-American relations.
President Nixon in the table tennis exhibition hall
Chairman Mao and President Nixon
Upon his return to the United States, one of the American players told reporters that the Chinese were very similar to people in the U.S. He said:
"The people are just like us. They are real, they're genuine, they got feeling. I made friends, I made genuine friends, you see. The country is similar to America, but still very different. It's beautiful. They got the Great Wall, they got plains over there. They got an ancient palace, the parks, there's streams, and they got ghosts that haunt; there's all kinds of, you know, animals. The country changes from the south to the north. The people, they have a, a unity. They really believe in their Maoism."
I have been collecting puerh tea since the late 1980s. I have now a lot of puerh tea in a great variety of shapes from brick, disc, to bowl and mushroom-shaped. They are all stacked in my store room, under the drawers and in cabinets. The age of this tea ranges from late 70s to early 20s. My tea collection is going to last a few generations (if I don't sell it off). You may be interested why on earth do I need to keep so much tea. Sometimes I do wonder why I collected so much tea.
Puerh Tea of the 80s
A 500 g piece
It all began when I started work in Singapore in the early 80s. The colleagues I mixed with were all tea drinkers and they only drank puerh, good and high quality puerh that used to cost $250 per disc back then. Later I found out that this puerh was actually more than 100 years old (Song Ping Brand which has become so precious nowadays that the tea often appeared in auction houses). This aged puerh gives off a deep fragrance and aroma that is difficult to describe. The tea is dark brown in colour and the taste is very soothing and with a unique aged puerh characteristics. Those were the last memories I had with this aged puerh.
During those days, drinking century old puerh was only possible for those with deep pockets. Of course if one likes puerh, he can always settle for tea that is 20 to 30 years old which costs under $30 per disc of 300 grams. There were puerh bricks, discs, bowls and mushrooms in tea shops and supermarkets everywhere in Singapore. I used to buy them from my colleague at $20 to $30 per piece.
Then one day, I walked into a tea merchant in Chinatown and saw a great variety of puerh tea on display in his shop. The prices were very reasonable.
Puerh piece of 100 g
Puerh mushrooms
After a few purchases with the tea merchant, I found that the quality of the tea he sold was very good and the price was very affordable. Then I began to chat with him. Later we became good friends and then I started buying puerh tea in large quantities. He even gave me wholesale price, the price he quoted to his business associates. I started buying the tea bricks in boxes, one box contained 256 pieces. At one time, I used to own more than 1000 pieces of such tea bricks. One day, the tea merchant told me, old tea was for consumption. You had to keep some newer tea so that in future, when all the old tea was consumed your newer tea would become old and fetched a good price. I listened to him and started buying newer tea as well.
Besides tea bricks, I also collected large quantities of round puerh discs (some came in one bunble of 7 wrapped in bamboo leaves), puerh bowl and mushrooms. If you ask me why I have collected so much tea. The obvious answer is I like the tea and would like to own a lot of this tea so that I have unlimited supply of this tea. I wasn't even thinking of any financial gain as I didn't think that the tea could become so pr icy. Of course I was wrong. The price of aged puerh went up and up in the last decade. It all began in the late 90s, people all over the world began to like puerh. When people are affluent, they will go for the best thing in life. The rich were going for the top grades that were selling at a few thousand dollars per piece. Century old puerh becomes hot item in auction houses in China. Even the humble bricks of the 80s are now selling at 600 USD per piece at internet outlets.
In early 2000, collecting puerh becomes a hobby as people start hoarding the tea in huge quantity. Many stories were told on how people get rich by selling off their old tea. This is particularly true for some restaurant owners in Hong Kong. These people stocked large quantity of puerh from China for their restaurant business. Traditionally, Hong Kong people like to enjoy morning sessions of 'Yum Cha' in restaurants where they consume 'Dim Sum' with puerh tea to go with these delicacies. In the late 90s when restaurant owners wound up their business, they realised that the tea they had been stocking over the decades was so valuable that when they disposed off the tea, they made more money than running the restaurant business all these years. Now the art of collecting puerh tea spreads to the western world. There are many web sites dedicated to puerh tea drinking and collecting. These western web sites are created solely for westerners to have a better understanding of puerh tea; things like where the tea is harvested, how it is processed, the various type of tea, its health benefits and how to appreciate the tea. Very often you can hear a foreigner asking the shopkeeper the vintage year when he picks up a piece of puerh cake in a tea shop.
There are two types of puerh tea, one is the 'cooked' or 'riped' type and the other is the 'raw' or 'green' type. The 'cooked' tea has gone through a fermentation process artificially. When the tea leaves have been dried and chlorophyll removed, water is sprayed onto heaps of tea leaves. Plastic sheets are then used to cover over the leaves for a couple of days to start the fermentation process. The fermented tea is then pressed into various shapes, ready for storage or consumption. This type of puerh can be consumed straight away after manufacture but the smell is rather smoky and the taste is like burnt grasses. The tea can be kept for a few years then the taste and flavour will improve but its quality can never be compared to the green tea which has been aged naturally. The 'green' puerh is processed from green tea leaves and pressed into various shapes. This green tea will taste rather harsh and bitter and is damaging to health if consumed in large quantity. To remove this harshness, the tea needs to be stored for at least 20 years or longer for the tea to go through the fermentation process naturally before it is fit for consumption. Of course the longer the tea is kept, the better the taste and fragrance and the higher the value. This explains why hundred year old puerh tea costs a fortune.
Another form of packaging
1980s puerh bricks
In the late 70s and early 80s, tea producers in Yunnan experimented blending 'cooked' and 'raw' puerh and presses the tea into bricks. The result was incredible. The tea produced had a deep fragrance and the flavour is soothing and remarkable. This is the famous 1973 puerh bricks which is a gem in the collectors' eyes. Market price is more than a thousand US dollars per piece. Of course there are other more expensive tea like the 'red label', 'yellow label', the branded type like the 'song ping', etc. Recently I saw one piece of puerh disc selling at $33000 in a downtown supermarket! I could not imagine who on earth would fork out a whopping $33000 just to drink this tea. Its really crazy; well there may be crazy people around, who knows.
