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China 2018 Day 1 & 2 | Shanghai | Chance encounters lead to firm friendships Towards the end of my trip last year I met Chuanchuan in Shanghai.  We spent just a few moments together but those moments were enough to ignite a curiosity in me around her and the community she is part of in Shanghai.  I took her details and on returning to the hotel felt compelled to message her and ask if I could return for tea the following day.  Her answer was yes and so I travelled across town to visit her again.  A few hours...

And so it was that our journey was coming to its end.  What better way to finish than by visiting one of the most spectacular natural landscapes in China : Wuyi Shan. I was last here 2 years ago and to be honest, at that time was quite overwhelmed by the place & the tea produced here.  This time - a little older, perhaps [or maybe not!] a little wiser I was looking forward to my time here.   We came to meet a number of growers in Wuyi but this blog will focus on our time with Mr Wu...

After a few intense days of tea hunting we were all keen to be heading to Jingdezhen. It was my first time here and I was feeling excited!  Ceramics have long been a passion of mine - our tea bowls made by UK ceramicist Rachel Dormor are core to the Comins experience.  I was keen to learn more about the place and people living and working in the 'Porcelain capital of China'.  A stop here had not been on the original itinerary however one of our great customers who joined us on the trip had suggested it & we agreed it would...

Arriving in Qimen town in the late afternoon we were immediately struck by how much smaller the city seemed than places we have visited before.  The main hotels were along a straight strip running through the city so we dropped off our bags and headed out.  The town was busy - it was holiday season full of families and friends enjoying the early evening.  Wandering through the town we came across these couples dancing - a common sight in squares across China in the early evening.  Old & young, experienced & novices this is a wonderfully spontaneous sight & the very talented Howard Boyer [who...

Day 6 started early in Huangshan town having had some time to explore the 'old street' crammed full of shops & restaurants the night before.  We wandered up the road, for breakfast.... ...past the tourism toilets [sorry couldn't resist a photo!] before hailing a cab to our next destination.  You can already see a hint of the magnificent mountains in the background. Anhui province is home to four of the top ten Chinese teas.  As well as Huangshan Maofeng tea there is also Qimen Black Tea, Lu'an Guapian tea & Taiping HouKui tea.  Breaking down the name 'Huangshan Maofeng' we see that : "Huangshan" means...