November 4, 2008

  • India

    Domestic tea industry catches meltdown fever

    Sutanuka Ghosal & Anuradha Sharma KOLKATA

    tea_with_mint

    GLOBAL meltdown and liquidity crunch have started affecting the Indian tea industry as well. With some leading packeteers shying away from the auctions and buyers opting for a wait and watch policy, prices of tea at Kolkata, Guwahati and Siliguri auction centres have started falling.

    The serial blasts in Guwahati last Thursday have also dampened the mood at the auction centres.

    On the export front too, Indian tea may take a hit. The major blow is expected to come from Russia. A senior tea industry official told ET: “Association Rusteacoffee, the nodal body of tea and coffee producing companies of Russia, had recently held an anticrisis meet to review the situation. The association has pointed out that one of the main challenges now is the lack of liquidity and high risk of defaults in the distributing network, especially in regions of Russia, other than Moscow and St Petersburg.” In order to minimise such risks, the association has urged the Russian government to allow tea and coffee companies to access financial aid provided to agriculture sector, the official added.

    The packeteers from western India have stayed away from the Siliguri auction. “The average auction price came down by Rs 6 per kg in the last auction (Sale 44),” said SK Saria, a tea planter and former chairman of Siliguri Tea Auction Committee.

    “Not just a fall in prices, the industry is battling with huge quantities of unsold tea. As much as 43% of tea had to be withdrawn from last auction becausethey could not be sold off,” he added. Mr Saria said overall financial stringency has played a spoilsport to the industry that was looking up after a long gloomy period. Banks are not issuing letters of credits to the exporters and with exports faltering, buyers are not picking up stocks, he added.

    Siliguri Tea Traders Association secretary Rajiv Lochan said international buyers have already started tightening their purses. “They have scaled down quantities of purchases and have also delayed buying. We have received communiqués from our buyers in Russia asking us to hold orders till a later date. We do not expect great buying during Christmas this year. The buyers have also asked us to reduce prices by 10-15% on orders that were placed earlier and are awaiting shipment,” Mr Lochan added. 

    A senior tea industry official said fullfledged auction could not take place due to serial blasts in Guwahati. “Nearly 20 million kg of tea is lying at the Guwahati auction centres. This has also affected the price movement. The buyers are trying to put pressure to lower the prices of tea.” 

    Kolkata auctions witnessed sale of nearly 90% tea on Monday. “Good CTCs were sold in the region of Rs 100-Rs 120 per kg. Other teas were down by Rs 2-3 per kg. However, we are hopeful that prices will go up in the next few weeks over rising demand in domestic market,” the official said.

    http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RVRLTS8yMDA4LzExLzA0I0FyMDEyMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

     

November 3, 2008

  • China

    Mountain & the monk…

    china painting  

    long long ago, there was a mountain

    on the mountain, there was a temple

    in the temple, lived an old monk and a little monk

    the old monk tells story to the little monk everyday

    the story goes like that:

    long long ago, there was a mountain

    on the mountain, there was a temple

    in the temple, lived an old monk and a little monk

    the old monk tells story to the little monk everyday

    the story goes like that:

    long long ago, there was a mountain

    on the mountain, there was a temple

    in the temple, lived an old monk and a little monk

    the old monk tells story to the little monk everyday

    the story goes like that:

    ………………………………………….

     

    what does it call? a circling unending story, haha

     

    chinese is like this:

     

    从前有座山

    山上有座庙

    庙里有个老和尚和小和尚

    老和尚给小和尚讲故事：

    从前有座山

    山上有座庙

    庙里有个老和尚和小和尚

    老和尚给小和尚讲故事：

    as told to me by my chocolate lao shi

     

November 2, 2008

  • Nepal

    Nakalbanda revisited…

    IMG_3834IMG_3794

    Taking advantage of being Sunday today we all visited Nakalbanda tea estate in Nepal, where Dolly & Vikash have shifted to since last two months. The whole place – garden, factory and bungalow – were all looking spruced up. 

    Sam was with us and is returning back after a short trip to Kerala.

    Vincent has moved to Hangzhou yesterday and visited Meija Wu today alongwith Paul luo, our old friend.

    Marie of ISTOM, France is our next lot student and we plan to place our students here nowonwards.

    marie

     

October 30, 2008

  • China

    Vincent: new Marco Polo… 

    DSCF0024[1]DSC01991

    Vincent, before proceding with his university education, is in Beijing to meet China Tea Marketing Association, Lao she tea house, and Dong Li to see tea marketing in Maliandao, before carrying on to Hangzhou.

    DSC02020DSC02002

      

October 28, 2008

  • India

    Diwali jie kuai le…

    DSC08835 DSC08829

    Economic recession might have dampened spirits but Diwali lights up the mood and we just performed the puja in office.

    Vincent landed in Beijing today morning and by remote controlled guiding we organised a safe passage for him where he will spend two months at Zhijiang Forestry University with Prof. Su to learn tea culture.

    DSC08849 DSC08841

     

October 25, 2008

  • China

    Aunty Jane…

     

    c-tea

     

    Sir

     

    As have mentioned yesterday, Zhuang zi is another important person in Daoism. Same to Lao zi, he also thinks everything should follow natural law, it’s foolish to persue power and money, which will eventually fade away.

     

    now let’s get down to some stories in the book Zhuang Zi. These stories are somewhat like fable, short, yet carries implied meaning of life.

     

    1 Zhuang Zi Meng Die(庄子梦蝶) zhuang zi dreamed of butterfly

      One day, when Zhuang zi is sleeping, he dreamed of himself becoming a butterfly. This butterfly flies freely in the garden, in the grass, in the sky. It flies so happily that nearly forget itself. When Zhuang Zi wake up, he stills feels his his arms are like wings, waiting for flying.

      So Zhuang Zi signed, what is indeed the reality and what is dream? Is it this me leading a life of human dreaming of butterfly, or that butterfly flying freely in the sky dreaming of me?

      

      Chinese old saying always goes, life is a dream. western Christinality also say, life is a fream before everlasting in paradise.

      But, is that so? At least to me, life is by no means an illusion dream.

     

    2 Zhuang Zi Zang Qi (庄子葬妻) Zhuang zi in the burial of his wife

      Zhuang Zi’s wife died. When people came to her burial, they found the husband did not cry, instead, he sat on the ground, beat a drum, and sang.

      Poople were angry: how can u be so happy at your wife’s death?

      Zhuang Zi answered: Then what should I do? Life fllows its law, when there’s birth, there’s death;  when there’s death, there’s another birth. It’s as natural as the 4 seasons in a year, spring summer autumn winter, cycle around and will neaver stop. Now my wife goes back to the earth, sleeping in the arms of the world. So why should I be sad? I’m here singing to give her my congratulation.

     

    Death are so common in 2008. Forget all the sadness, please.

      

    After this, let’s come to Zhuang zi’s friend, Hui zi.

     

    3 Zi Fei Yu, Yan Zi Yu Zhi Le(子非鱼，焉知鱼之乐) you are not the fish, how do u know the fish’s happy

     

      this is a quite intersting story in debating.

     

      Say there’s one day, Zhuang zi went out with his friend Hui zi.

      When they went across a bridge, Zhuang zi looked down and said, “See how freely the fish swims, this is what their happiness lies.”

      Hui zi answered, “you are not the fish, how do u know the fish’s happy?”

      Zhuang zi smiled, “you are not me, how do u know i have no idea that the fish’s happy?”

      Hui zi said, “Ｉam not u, so i don’t know; u are not the fish, so u don’t know either.”

      Zhuang zi still smiled, “let’s come back to the beginning, when u ask me how i know fish’s happy, in fact u ask because u know i know it; and it is on this bridge that i know the fish’s happy.

     

      ok, i hope u won’t be confused with so much knows. u know i know u know that.

     

    4 to be continued…….

      there’s much work now, the story is postponed

     

October 24, 2008

  • India

    Protests hits tea, tourism in India’s Darjeeling

    IMG_5950

    Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:22pm IST

    By Sujoy Dhar

    KOLKATA, India, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Fresh protests for a separate state in India’s famous Darjeeling hills are threatening its tea and tourism industries, traders said, as the Gorkha community continues to press its demand for autonomy.

    Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalis, are demanding a separate state of “Gorkhaland” be carved out of West Bengal state’s Darjeeling region to protect their Himalayan culture and heritage, and protests have picked up again this month.

    The ruling communist government in West Bengal opposes the idea, as do Bengali groups in the foothills to the south of Darjeeling. There have been sporadic outbreaks of unrest between ethnic Nepalis and Bengalis as a result.

    Caught in this battle are tea traders, who say exports of premium Darjeeling tea may fall 20-25 percent this year due to political unrest in the hills.

    The region’s vast tea gardens ship highly prized and fragrant brews around the world, churning out about 10 million kg a year.

    “This third protest in the past few months has left the garden managers and workers jittery and we estimate 20 percent loss in production in tea gardens,” Rajiv Lochan, secretary of the Siliguri Tea Traders’ Association, told Reuters.

    “This is the end of season and pruning is supposed to begin in a while.”

    Exports of Darjeeling tea had been expected to rise 20-25 percent over last year’s 6 million kg, but now the industry is staring at substantial losses.

    Most of it goes to the Middle East, Pakistan, Russia, and Germany.

    The Gorkhas have rejected offers by state and central governments to talk about increased autonomy, saying only statehood would solve their problems.

    At least 1,200 people died in the first Gorkhaland campaign in the 1980s, but protests ended a few years later after Gorkha leaders accepted limited autonomy.

    “We will not settle for anything less than a separate Gorkha state this time,” said Roshan Giri, a protest leader of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Gorkha People’s Liberation Front), which is spearheading the protest.

    Hundreds of protesters took to the streets this week and forced car owners to replace the government licence plates with ones saying “Gorkhaland.”

    Tourists have also been avoiding the Darjeeling hills, with thousands of cancellations reported by tour operators since April this year.

    “The tourist inflow is 20 percent less and we are estimating an annual loss of 200 million rupees ($4 million),” said Anil Punjabi, who heads the eastern India unit of the Travel Agents Federation of India.

    Darjeeling, known for the picturesque Himalayan mountains, tea gardens and hospitality, is a premier tourist destination. (Editing by Bappa Majumdar and Bill Tarrant)

    http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINDEL24614820081023

     

October 23, 2008

  • India

    The missing people… 

    IMAG0129Assam_popu_div  

    Dan’s World Tea Tour exposed me to the missing link between mangloid and negroid races – the Mishing tribals, whom we visited on 21st October 2008 in their village in the tea garden belt of Mangaldoi-Tezpur-Jorhaut. 

    The Mishing Tribe belonging to Tibeto Burmese group have agriculture as their occupation. They inhabit districts of Tinsukia, Sibsagar, Sonitpur, Jorhat and Golaghat. Mishing people found the most fertile land on the banks of River Brahmaputra and settled on sides of the river. Though their production was great, frequent floods prevented them from climbing the economic ladder. The main festival of Mishing tribe is Ali-Lye-Ligangin the month of February which is the harvest festival. They speak language known as Mishing language.

    The tales & traits of origin, language,culture,tradition & other social aspects of all Tani people have similar root. The Mishings too like other Tani people had their abode in the upper course of Yangtze – Kiang & the Hwang – Ho river valleys of China. The Tani people have since time immemorial contributed to evolution of a vibrant culture now flourishing in the regions they inhabit.

    assam-tribal-peoplemishing

     

October 19, 2008

  • France

    SIAL 2008…

    DSCF0011[1]DSCI1170[1]  

    Vincent Moreau and Marjorie Galaud, our two past students from France, organised our booth on Tea Board stand in Paris yesterday. Vincent has covered south Europe and soon will be a force there. Doke white tea was a hit there.

    DSCI1143[1]DSCF0007[1]

     

October 17, 2008

  • USA

    Dan’s World Tea Tour…

    IMG_6044IMG_6125 

    Entering through Sri Lanka, South India, Kolkata, we reached Siliguri on 15th October and visited Giddapahar, Margarets’s Hope & Makaibari tea estates and special attraction was the perfect sun rise at Tiger Hill yesterday. 

    We met Indian Tea  Board, J Thomas & Parcon tea brokers, Siliguri Mayor and various other tea bodies. Stay in Darjeeling Planter’s Club was memorable event.

    IMG_5981IMG_5868

    http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081017/jsp/siliguri/story_9978395.jsp