China's largest pu-erh wholesale market by floor areaand the easiest place in Yunnan to taste eight different mountains in a single morning. Two halls, four aisles, 1,240 stalls. Wear comfortable shoes.
Surveyed by Han Wenjing
Confirmed in person, twice.
Wholesale buyers leave by ten. The light is better in the morning and the floors are cooler.
A holds the most pu-erh — old growth, single-mountain — and it sets your tongue for the day.
Refusing a cup is, quietly, the rudest thing. Three swallows per cup is enough.
The first visit is a hello, the second is a taste, the third is a transaction. Do not skip steps.
WeChat works almost everywhere, but the family-run rooms in C-aisle still prefer paper.
A 357-gram cake is twelve months of drinking, slowly. Most people overbuy. The market will be here in October.
Smaller, sleepier. The one where farmers walk in from the mountains.