Happy New Year! A bright, warm(ish) welcome to 2026 for us in Guangzhou sparks a year of movement and change as the Chinese Zodiac year of the horse approaches.

Changes in Fangcun - No more 'Big Teapot' just off the main road...

The first major news is that we will be closing our tea shop in Guangzhou, Fangcun. With changes to market conditions and improvements to both online marketing as well as accessibility to Yiwu means that the current market conditions do not favor a shop front in Fangcun. The modernizing tea market means that wholesale markets no longer function in the same way that they used to which brings less benefits to small, family businesses like ours. In addition, several main parts of Fangcun tea market are going to be heavily affected by redevelopment over the next few years. Combined with the fact that our lease happens to end during the CNY period, it's brought us to the decision that we will close the store front in Guangzhou and continue our work from Xishuangbanna.

This relocation will not affect our remote customers in any practical way. Long-term storage of our tea will be maintained under the similar storage conditions that we've controlled for in Guangzhou. Shipping is still going to use the same set of services and if anything, the lack of focus on maintaining a shop front means more investment into the online business.

To help in our relocation, we are looking to increase cash flow and move some loose inventory. There will be a 20% off sale on all retail products (non-sample packs) through to the last day of shipping from Guangzhou. There will likely be a shipping break when the move begins to the end of the CNY period, estimated to be the majority of February.

Another major update is that Gaoshan village has been undergoing redevelopment to better manage tourism in Yiwu. With the impending opening of the highway which exits right at the base entrance to the village, accessibility will be much less of an issue and the village will be able to host many more visitors and offer a more complete tourist experience. With easier access to the village and better paths for hiking through the tea forests, it will be made much easier for tourists who are short of time and/or physical fitness to get more out of a visit to Yiwu.

Taking advantage of this, we are starting to openly host tourist group visits to Yiwu starting in summer of 2026. The base itinerary will include a visit to historic Yiwu old street, visiting tea villages, hiking in tea forests, participating in tea production, and of course plenty of tea tasting. More on this will be in a more specific and seperate update when we are ready for bookings. If you are looking to plan early, feel free to get in touch and pre-book your visit directly. Also, as part of our tourism and education focus, better planning and support for extended tours and private visits outside of the tour groups will also be made available and can be customized according to personal needs.

Thank you for your continued interest and support, and please to not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.

Tags:

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