Even if the only thing you know about tea is that it's made by Lipton and comes in the little baggie, shopping at Tian Shan is good fun. A 20 rmb taxi ride from People's Square or a solid 10 min walk from Line 3, the mall looks something like a temple from the outside and is 3 floors of shops selling tea and tea related items.
Walk into almost any of these shops and soon enough you'll be sitting with a small cup, infusion after infusion being poured out for you to try. On my last visit I thought I'd whip through quickly, take some pictures, buy a bit of tea and 10 minutes later be out the door. I made it to the second floor. One hour later I was still there, sipping Taiwanese oolong, sharing spicy roast duck, chatting about vacations and the advantages of high altitude cultivation, or at least that's what I think we were talking about. Many thanks to my new friends at Tea Spirit (shop # 2070, tel: 2650-6489) for the duck, and for allowing me to massacre their language. Tea Spirit has a small and interesting selection of uniquely glazed tea cups but, one of the best ways to go about your visit, is to just stroll around the mall until you see something you like or are invited in for a sample, which should take all of 30 seconds. Many vendors are not just interested in selling but are also quite passionate about their products. If you show interest, they'll discuss the differences between teas and regions at length as long as their English, or your Chinese, holds out.
My favorite place to shop for cups and the like is Mu Yun (ground floor, shop # 1023, tel: 6228-7105), stocked with handmade ceramics and carved bamboo from neighboring Zhejiang province. Their selection in a cut above the rest and many of the items are actual works of art, without being priced accordingly, instead of mass produced look a likes. The selection is constantly changing but I'm always taken by the beautiful hand carved fans that go for about 500 rmb and the carved bamboo panels that range from 600 to 2000+ rmb, tea cups from a few kuai to 70 or 80 rmb for more unique pieces. Also of note are their bamboo tea accessories where the quality of the workmanship is again evident. Even if you don't fancy buying a whole tea set, Mu Yun has functional and unique little pieces of art that make great presents.
There are 4 basic types of tea you will find at the mall. Green tea most people are familiar with, a lightly oxidised tea. Oolong, a semi oxidised tea is often pretty close in flavour to green tea and is my personal favourite, at it's best grassy and almost sweet. Red tea, or what we know as black tea, is more heavily oxidised. Pu'er is special tea, actually from a different type of tea plant, and is the Bordeaux of the lot. Aged pu'er teas are sought after and are extremely pricey, fetching more than 50 rmb per gram. You'll see dinner plate sized cakes of this tea, wrapped in identifying paper, adorning the walls of many of the shops. I think pu'er tastes like ashtray water but it's worth giving it a go just to say you have. Add to this all of the different grades of tea, the different methods of rolling and drying, flavored teas (lychee, rose, ginseng, etc... ), herbal teas, etc... and it would take you a solid week of tasting to conquer them all. Finding a tea you like is a lot like finding a wine you like, having a sample of one or two of the above will give you a jumping off point from which to explore further, and the staff will be more than willing to keep you sampling until you're jacked beyond belief in the hope that you'll purchase.
Although not that much English is spoken this definitely won't stand in the way of business (does it ever?) and, language barrier or not, staff will normally ask you to sit and taste before buying. I think things are usually pretty quiet and they enjoy the company.
Tian Shan Tea City - 520 Zhongshan Xi lu - Map and Details
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