The Tea Market In Guangzhou

 

The tea market in Guangzhou.  

Located in Fangchun, this tea market is the largest Chinese tea wholesale market.  You are simply spoilt for choice when you are looking for Chinese tea and tea ware there.  I had visited Fangchun many times for the past 10 years. Here are my recent observations from my recent trip.

The 'flavour of the month" is Chen Pi or dried orange peels. There were many new tea shops selling these peels, new and old.  There is no depth in the Chen Pi, say compared to pu erh or oolong where one can choose the pu erh region or even the roast levels of oolong tea. I foresee that these Chen Pi shops will slowly dwindle down significantly In the next 2 years. 

The world economy has slowed down. Physical and trade wars around the world had affected Chinese tea sales.  One must remember that drinking good Chinese tea is a luxury rather than a necessity.  There was a Chinese tea ponzi scheme that happened in Fangchun, China a few years ago. Many investors and some tea dealers were attracted by promises of handsome returns. 'Fang cha' tea had very fancy packaging as well. When the Ponzi scheme collapsed, many of these investors lost all their investments.  All these factors did not bode well for Chinese tea. My tea dealer friends are now predicting a lower 10-20% reduction in new Chinese tea prices.  Wholesale tea dealers now are selling tea online to the retail markets. I noticed many light box set up in many tea shops there, where these dealers would take pictures of their tea and market them online.  I was told such sales had helped mitigate the downturn of the Chinese tea market.

I was told that many pu erh and oolong tea producers are also cutting back on the tea production these few years.  There are no longer tea investors or speculators that buy tea by the cartons and were hoping to make a quick buck.

Pix shows a new Douji pu erh as well as a Douji ginger pu erh tea sachet pack. The Gan pu erh shown is a 12 year old teabag production and was a gift to me by me tea buddy friend there.  

I had also noticed the younger generation in China are drinking less traditional Chinese tea. They prefer the cold bubble tea or coffee at fancy cafes. It is possible that traditional Chinese tea will become a smaller market in years to come.    

A Week In Guangzhou

 

It had been 5 years since I visited Guangzhou.   I had visited Guangzhou on many occasions as the wholesale tea market there is the biggest in China. 

There were many changes in Guangzhou. There is now more subway lines throughout the city. There is a new line that has a stop right outside the main tea market in Guangzhou. Literally a doorstep away.  Guangzhou had changed during the past 5 years. in turn, these changes had affected the Chinese tea market. Here is what I had observed. 

1.  The economic infrastructure had improved.  Within the city, transportation is efficient and new. I saw several taxis and ride sharing vehicles were all electric. Even motorcycles.  Most people are now paying electronically and the use of physical cash was significantly reduced.  High speed trains connect many cities reducing transport time.  Impressive. 

2.  Yes, world trade has slowed down and China is affected as well. However, ecommerce business within China had cushioned the reduced China export economy.  I noticed many retail shops having mini photo booths, to take pictures of their products. Owners and shopkeepers now go online to hawk their products. There were even live telecasts where their followers can have access to 'flash sales'. Packing off the sold products was easy. Inexpensive door to door deliveries enabled the sellers to dispatch their orders, with the orders reaching any part of China with 2-3 days. My tea shop friends ordered fruits from Xinjiang and Fujian with these fruits arriving within 2 days.  Hungry?  Have your piping hot food orders delivered within 30 minutes.  The e-commerce industry in China is to me, a super size giant economic eco system and this economy is still growing like a speeding bullet.     

3. At the tea markets, shop keepers were also selling their tea  and tea wares  online. I saw many shops selling their stuff  online. Even though the Fangchun tea markets comprised primarily tea wholesalers, this had not stopped them from retailing their tea online. Sales of tea had slowed down these 2 years and in my friend's. words..."online sales had helped pay for many expenses".   E-commerce is a very big market within China.  It is a cut throat market as well.  Search for a particular tea say Chen pi , or dried orange peels, and I got more than a few hundred online hits or offerings for this product. Yes, buyers are spoilt for choice and sellers had to be on their toes to keep their prices competitive and their product offerings unique. 

to be continued......