Want to Taobao? Here's how.

**P_K** · 12-21-2009, 02:31 PM

The basics in the field guide

http://taobaofieldguide.com/

Third party agent to facilitate purchases out of Hong Kong.

http://www.taobaonow.com/

Keep in mind that you will pay for the item, taobao fee plus shipping to HK. Then you will pay for EMS shipping to your final destination. Therefore the weight of what you buy becomes an important factor.

Shipping with TB discount:

first 500g 108 yuan
each additional 500g add 45 yuan
so 1kg = 153 yuan etc.

All of your searches will go in the left box at the top of the page. For example if you were searching for Yiwu Zheng Shan.

易武正山

Here's what it would look like:

http://search1.taobao.com/browse/0/n...at_topsearch=1

Each item has a title line and below that is the sellers name and their store, which you can click on to see what else they have.

Translation to Chinese

Text or whole web page
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

pinyin tea terms to Chinese character
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

pinyin to Chinese character and more
http://us.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

**P_K** · 12-21-2009, 02:32 PM

Puerh factories

十二先生 - Shi’er Xian sheng - 12 Gentlemen
安宁海湾 - Anning haiwan (haiwan tea factory)
百茶堂 - Bai cha tang
陈韵号 - Chen yun hao
大益 - Dayi
斗记 - Douji
福海 - Fu hai
观自在 - Guanzizai
刮风寨 - Guanfengzhai
海浪号 - Hai lang hao
澜沧古茶 - Lancang ancient tea
郎河茶厂 - Lang he tea factory
勐海茶厂- Menghai tea factory
勐库 - Meng ku
勐养国艳茶厂 - Mengyang guoyan cha chang
南涧 - Nan jian
兴顺祥 - Xingshunxiang
下关 - Xiaguan
囍字号 - Xi zhi hao
永聘号 - Yong pin hao
郑四隆 - Zheng si long - yi wu area pu factory
中茶 - Zhong cha (CNNP)

**P_K** · 12-21-2009, 02:33 PM

Puerh Mountains

巴达山 - Ba da shan
布朗 - Bu lang
老班章 - Lao ban zhang
老曼峨 - Lao man e
蛮砖 - Man zhuan
勐宋山 - Meng song shan
南糯 - Nan nuo
那卡大山 - Na ka da shan
游乐 - You le
无量山 - Wu liang shan
易武正山 - Yiwu zheng shan

**P_K** · 12-21-2009, 02:34 PM

Misc. tea terms

07年饼 - nian bing - search by year (just change to the year you want)
生茶 - sheng cha
熟茶 - shu cha
普洱 - puerh
毛茶 - mao cha
沱茶 - tuo cha
老茶 - lao tea
古树 - gu shu - old tree
老树 - lao shu - old tree
春茶 - spring tea
砖茶 - zhuan cha rectangular shape tea
盖碗 - gaiwan
茶盘 - cha pan - tea table
红韵 - hong yun - red rhyme

Teapots

宜兴茶壶 - yixing tea pot
宜兴紫砂茶壶 - yixing purple sand teapot
大红袍 - da hong pao
朱泥 - zhu ni - vermillion clay
紫泥 - zi ni - purple mud
本山 - ben shan type of -
绿泥 - lu ni or green clay
黄泥 - huang ni - yellow clay
灰泥 - hui ni - ashy clay
青灰 - qing hui - blue grey a type of hui ni
红泥 - hong ni - red clay

**P_K** · 12-21-2009, 02:35 PM

Oolong tea

岩茶 - yan cha - cliff tea
武义 - Wuyi
白鸡冠 - Bai ji guan - white cockscomb
北斗一号 - Bei dou yi hao - big dipper no. 1
铁罗漢 - Tie Luo Han - iron wise man
八仙 - ba Xian - eight immortals
奇兰 - qi lan - rare orchid
水仙 - shui xian

单丛 - Dan cong
凤凰 - Feng Huang - Phoenix Mountain
大乌叶 - Da Wu Ye - big dark leaf
芝兰香 - Zhi lan xiang - Orchid Fragrance
醉佳人 - zui jia ren - drunken beauty

铁观音 - Tie guan yin

Green tea

黄山 - huang shan
毛峰 - mao feng
竹尖 - zhu jian - Bamboo Tips
竹叶青 - zhu ye qing Emei green bamboo leaf
毛尖 - mao jian
六安瓜片 - Lu’an guapian - melon slice
绿茶 - lu cha - green tea
太平 - tai ping - region of huangshan
猴魁 - hou kui - monkey king
太平猴魁 - tai ping hou kui
恩施玉露 - En Shi Yu Lu - Enshi Jade Dew
顾诸紫笋 - Gu Zhu Zi Sun - Guzhu purple bamboo shoot
龙顶 - long ding - dragon’s peak
珍珠绣球 - zhen zhu xiu qiu - shaped into balls, literally Pearl Embroidery Ball
珠 - zhu - pearl *shape*

Black/Red tea

坦洋 - Tan Yang - village for hongcha
滇红 - dianhong - any kind of hong cha
云南 - Yunnan
红茶 - hongcha

**Maitre_Tea** · 12-21-2009, 02:42 PM

Here are some places that I've ordered from, and I've had good results for the stuff I've ordered

http://shop35329398.taobao.com/
I really liked the stuff I got from this shop, the 2002 Mengku Jing Pin

http://shop33282611.taobao.com/?sear...New=null&ends=
Seems like they have a large selection of Menghai stuff, pretty good prices from the snooping around I've done.

http://shop34851426.taobao.com/

http://shop33321229.taobao.com/
The Tao Bao outlet of Awazon, if anyone is interested. The prices are lower, but not as low as I would've thought.

Some guidelines, from what I've gleaned thus far:
1. Like with Ebay, look for vendors with lots of sales and high satisfaction ratings, I think it's recommended to only go with vendors with at least 500 transactions and 99%+ approval rating.
2. Employ the (guided) scatter-gun approach. Buy single things from several vendors that match what you're looking for. Buy in bulk the one you're happiest with. Even though the prices are low, there is still a good chance that it might be a fake. Sure, a tong of 7542 may only cost around $45, it's wasted time/money if they all turn out to be fake.
3. Something old will be more risky than something modern, and I've heard from Hobbes that modern (post 00) stuff should be fairly reliable

**joyfulwoogie** · 12-21-2009, 02:56 PM

Hey this information is great.

Perhaps this is the beckoning call for me get back into puerh.

**ouch** · 12-21-2009, 04:45 PM

Outstanding post!

**joyfulwoogie** · 12-21-2009, 08:36 PM

I just placed an order through Taobaonow. Let's see how things turn out.

Prices are too good to be true compared to what I am used to paying. I am not sure if I should be happy or sad...

**Maitre_Tea** · 12-21-2009, 08:46 PM

What kind of stuff did you get?

**mmack66** · 12-21-2009, 08:49 PM

So this isn't a thread about Billy Blanks?

**P_K** · 12-23-2009, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by ouch

Outstanding post!

Thanks! I don't see me using this a lot...but it's always nice to have options.

**TacoBell** · 12-24-2009, 04:33 PM

We should make this a sticky. I will certainly want to come back to it again and again

**warlandsboy** · 12-24-2009, 04:42 PM

I am so lost.

**joyfulwoogie** · 12-24-2009, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by Maitre_Tea

What kind of stuff did you get?

I got all sheng puerh from 2000-2004. I am checking out 4-5 major puerh stores and am ordering 10-15 cakes from each stores. Some YiChangHao and Xiaguan, and other less known factory cakes.

sheng puerh of 2008 to 2010 are on the list if this order goes through well.

I am pretty excited.

**Maitre_Tea** · 01-07-2010, 08:06 AM

I don't know if you've seen this, but MarshalN of the seminal tea blog "A Tea Addict's Journal" has just blogged his guide to Tao Bao:

Part I
Part II

**Scotto** · 01-07-2010, 09:55 AM

I admit it is certainly intriguing. I'd like to hear more from people outside China who were successful.

I'd love to find some reasonably priced Yi Chang Hao stuff.

**P_K** · 01-21-2010, 11:10 AM

Here are a couple of pots I bought on TB -

The orangish one is 130ml
The dark one is 150ml

With all fees and shipping they were about $35 ea. I am pleased with their quality. Took about six weeks to get them with x-mas and new years in the mix.