China tea town hopes name change will brew success

By Emma Graham-Harrison

PU'ER, China (Reuters Life!) - A small notice at bus stations in southern China advises travelers they can no longer book tickets to the town of Shimao, because it no longer exists.

Instead, they will find friends, relatives and business contacts in Pu'er, the name of one of China's most famous and expensive teas - and now capital of the region it grows in.

"Everyone has heard of Pu'er, no one has heard of Shimao," says small-time tea grower Zhao Qiang, summing up the reason for the abrupt change, which took effect from April 8.

With tourism a rapidly growing business in China, officials are competing fiercely to draw in yuan-bearing visitors from richer areas. And in a country devoted to tea, the name of a famous brew is a big advantage for a provincial town.

Although coffee is increasingly becoming popular, tea remains the brew of choice: China consumes 700,000 tonnes a year.

Nestled in the tropical hills of southern Yunnan province, the streets of Shimao, or Pu'er, are scattered with tea shops and tea houses, posters for famous tea brands -- testament to the leaves' earning power.

Traditionally sold in brittle "biscuits" wrapped in paper and bamboo leaves, the best Pu'er commands prices that rise above $1,000 a kilo.

Unusually for China, where most teas command their highest prices when relatively fresh, the best Pu'er teas are those that have been aged, like fine wines, sometimes for more than a decade.