If we overheard correctly on the news, this winter is the coldest in Yunnan since they started keeping track of the weather. We can't say if that is or isn't true, but we can tell you it is truly cold here at the moment. Temperatures have plunged below zero and on Sunday afternoon we saw our first snow in almost nine years. Little did we know that we would wake up on Monday to find the world outside covered in a white blanket. And though beautiful this white world may be, it does create the challenge of keeping warm as insulation of most housing around here is rather poor, and there is no central heating system.
The China Beverage Industry Association (CBIA), which was established in 1993, held its annual meeting last week in Shanghai. During this event a number of awards were handed out, and I was invited to receive the International Friendship Award. No need to say I am really pleased with this honour.
Earlier this year I received a visit from Mrs. Emma Bladyka from the Specialty Coffee Association of America. She wrote this article of her trip, which, of course, was a pleasure to read for us all at the office.
It is turning into an annual event: during our home leave we never seem to find the time or the opportunity to keep this blog updated, hence the recent blog silence. Right before I started my home leave, I had quite a few business trips, one of which took me all the way to South America. Rather tired of travelling all the time, we took it easy back home and played tourist on some city visits. Cities well known to ourselves, but new for our little girls, who thoroughly enjoyed the boat and horse carriage trips. On of those day trips took us to Bruges, a beautiful city where old and new go hand in hand. With all this talk of coffee, one would almost forget that Pu'er is also renowned for his tea. Saturday saw the start of the 13th China Pu'er Tea Festival, a biennial event since 2005. Tea industry experts from over 30 countries and regions are present at this meeting. With a forum and seminar on tea industry development, tea safety, tea trade and new tea varieties to name a few of them, it promises to be an event-packed meeting. If you want to join in, you will have to hurry though, as today is the third and last day.
A few days ago it dawned on me that I kicked off this website just over three years ago. Without intending to do so, my previous post came exactly three years after the very first one. All this time I stuck to the original lay-out, but to celebrate its third birthday, I figured a face-lift was in order, hence the total new look. I hope you like it. And of course the initial intention of posting something once a week still stands (even though the past has proven life sometimes got in the way of blogging).
Over the past three years a great number of fun, clever and catchy citations found their way to the weekly coffee quotes, but slowly I am running out of new ones. I'll still be keeping my eyes and ears open for them, but to make up for the loss of a weekly quote I'd like to introduce a new section on this blog: the photo of the week. Every week my wife and I will be going through the vast amount of photos we collected over our years abroad and pick one we want to share with you. It can be just a snapshot we like, a photo with a little story behind it or one that brings back memories. We sincerely hope you will like this new addition to this website.
Sichuan has once again been hit by a severe earthquake. I was in Pu'er and didn't notice a thing, but my family, who were in Kunming at the time, did feel it. Like many we have been following the news on this tragedy and we feel for those who were hit by it, directly and indirectly.
Last Thursday I attended the Guangzhou Coffee Expo 2012. This expo took place from the 22nd to the 25th and on the opening day a lot of attention went to the coffee development in Yunnan, and more specifically in Pu'er, as 97% of coffee in China is grown in Yunnan province, large part of which in Pu'er region. Hence Pu'er is becoming known not only as the City of Tea, but also the City of Chinese Coffee.
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AuthorI wouldn't be surprised to find out I was born with a passion for coffee. For the life of me, I can't remember not loving coffee. And by that, I don't just mean drinking it, but everything involved from its cultivation over the processing to the final product that is my loyal companion throughout the day. Archives
February 2014
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