Tea Tie Guan Yin from Anxi.

It is believed that the ideal model of perfect competition does not exist or is very difficult to approach, but we found such a model! And it is called the Anxi Tea Market! My economics teacher would be delighted :) Just imagine: a huge market where hundreds and hundreds of shops are gathered in one place and all sell one product - Tie Guan Yin tea! How can you even compete there?! I can't imagine.

In short, around this city, Anxi, there are kilometers and kilometers of tea fields where light oolongs are produced. The preparation is also the same, differing in nuances. Of these nuances , Mao Xie, Huang Jin Gui, Lao Tie Guan Yin, Kao Tie Guan Yin and others are added to Tie Guan Yin. But the essence is the same. So, local producers needed a place where they could sell their goods, where they could present them. In the fields and mountains, except for us, who wanted to climb, we did not notice anyone there. And even if you wanted to, you can’t go to everyone, so such a place became the tea market in the city of Anxi, which the Chinese gave a loud name - the tea capital of China. And so a situation arose when the demand for light oolongs was very high, but all these traders came together in one place and sat down to sell their tea there. You go into a shop, and there is Tie Guan Yin. You go into the next one, and there is Tie Guan Yin again. And so it is everywhere. And tea and Chinese by the end of the day merge into one Chinese and one Te Guan Yin.

In general, there is a certain frontal place at the market, where Chinese sit with bags and sell directly from them. If you want to brew - there is a table with disposable cups around the corner, go brew. In fact, it is better not to buy anything there.

Well, it was in this city that we absolutely accidentally discovered the Yan Kan tea blend, which after that trip has forever remained in the Tea Line assortment. When we arrived that time, we had 2 or 3 days, and there was a lot to do. My temperature rose and I was walking around sick, coughing and with red eyes. In one of the shops, a Chinese man asked, “What, are you sick?” I said yes, I am sick. He went and got me a bag of herbs, drink them, he said, everything will pass. In the evening, I didn’t have much hope, but I brewed this blend, and I slept better. I don’t know what role Yan Kan played, but it definitely helped me, and we liked the taste so much that we bought more herbs from that Chinese man and brought them to Russia. It turned out that it helps other people with colds too, which is great.

In general, it is certainly worth going to Anxi at least once to see it all with your own eyes: a colorful city, and most importantly, a colorful tea market, which feeds this city.

Tex: Vinogradov Andrey
Photo: Polyakov Alexander