

A Qing dynasty tea brick was sold for a record price of 7.6 million yuan at an auction Hubei province.

The auction winner is the owner of a trading company in Shenzhen. He said the tea brick was worth more than he had paid for and estimates it could have gone for at least eight million yuan.

The tea brick was produced during China’s last dynastic period, the Qing (1644-1912), at the Hubei Provincial Zhaoliqiao Tea Factory.

A tea brick is composed of whole or finely ground layers of black tea, green tea, or post-fermented tea leaves that are pressed into a rock solid brick and undergo a period of controlled fermentation.

The rising popularity in green fermented tea bricks has changed the quality of the teas sold.

Dong Junpo, general manager at the Zhaoliqiao Tea Factory, states that poor-quality tea bricks are sold for 40 percent less, a move aimed at capturing a bigger market share.

According to the chairman of a tea procurement company, the majority of consumers do not know to distinguish the different grades of tea, making them victims of the new cheap marketing plan.

[Image via: Wikipedia]



