Starting in 2005, Pu'er tea first sparked an investment craze in Yunnan, which quickly spread throughout China. This Pu'er tea phenomenon also quietly took hold in the Malaysian Chinese community, reaching its peak in 2006-2007, similar to mainland China. So, how did the Pu'er tea craze emerge in Malaysia, one of its important markets?
In July 2007, due to market overexpansion, the Pu-erh tea market experienced a so-called "consolidation," but this did not significantly affect Malaysia, commonly known as "Big Malaysia." While the global economy was generally sluggish due to the oil crisis, Malaysia, a major oil-producing country, saw its economic growth rate and national income continue to rise against the trend, and the Pu-erh tea market remained active.
At the time, Xu Jinlong, chairman of the Malaysian Tea Merchants Association, stated: "Tea prices may be adjusted, but they will still be more than 20% higher than the year before last." This led to a continuous influx of tea merchants from mainland China and Taiwan, hoping to find new business opportunities in Malaysia. This is similar to what happened in the mid-1990s, when Yixing teapots from Taiwan experienced a market collapse but quickly found a second life in Malaysia.
"Malaysian dry storage" has been widely recognized by tea enthusiasts in various regions over the past decade, creating significant opportunities in the Malaysian Pu-erh tea market. Due to Malaysia's proximity to the equator, it experiences year-round hot weather, with average temperatures ranging from 21°C to 32°C and average humidity between 60% and 80%. This constant temperature and humidity environment provides ideal conditions for storing Pu-erh tea, resulting in faster aging, superior quality, and a naturally pure and rich tea flavor with a full and robust character.
Although Deng Shihai, a pioneer of Pu-erh tea in Taiwan, stated that Malaysian storage still has minor flaws, namely the lack of "autumn winds," which makes the aging or storage conditions of Pu-erh tea slightly less than ideal, this has not diminished the appeal of Malaysian storage. Local tea enthusiasts generally believe that Malaysia can absorb and store more tea, and then re-export it to its place of origin with superior aging quality, potentially becoming a distribution center for Pu-erh tea in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
In fact, most Malaysian Chinese are descendants of early immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, and therefore, the majority have a habit of drinking tea. However, in the past, traditional Tieguanyin and Wuyi rock teas were the main types consumed. Due to Malaysia's abundant tin mines, Liu Bao tea, which was imported in large quantities to meet the needs of tin miners in earlier times, and black tea, which is acceptable to both Malays and Indians, were also mainstream in the market. Although the popularity of Pu-erh tea continues to grow in Malaysia today, and the market seems to be shifting towards Pu-erh tea, many tea professionals still insist on promoting and selling Tieguanyin, Wuyi rock tea, and Liu Bao tea.
Unlike the early days when Pu-erh tea and Wuyi rock tea in Taiwan were both sourced from Hong Kong, Malaysia, during China's planned economy era, directly imported various types of tea from China. Large wholesalers belonging to the Malaysian Tea Merchants Association purchased tea from the China National Tea Corporation. These teas were initially called "overseas Chinese market teas" and had to be purchased along with other teas such as Liu'an tea and Liubao tea. It wasn't until the 1990s, after China's economic reforms and opening up, that various tea merchants, both large and small, were able to freely import tea, leading to the vibrant and diverse tea market we see today.
In Malaysia, out of a population of 25 million, Malays account for 13 million, while ethnic Chinese make up only about 6.1 million, with the remainder being Indians and others. Most of them are concentrated in cities like Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca, and Ipoh. Although only about 30% of the population drinks tea, the tea market maintains steady growth, which can be attributed to the prevalence of "tea art centers" in the country.
The tea art center evolved from the earlier "tea houses," and was heavily influenced by Taiwan in the 1990s. For example, the "Wisteria Group," which has developed into a chain operation, not only derives its company name from the long-established "Wisteria Tea House" in Taipei, Taiwan, but its founding members are almost all graduates of Taiwanese universities, specifically the "Malaysian overseas students" who were active in various prestigious Taiwanese universities in the 1980s. Examples include Chairman Lin Funan, a graduate of National Taiwan University, and Xiao Huijuan and Xu Yulian, both graduates of National Chengchi University. Even Qiu Rucai, one of the founders of the "Xianggen Tea Art Center," which was established independently after 1988, graduated from National Chengchi University in Taiwan in 1985. His new company's English name even uses the Taiwanese term "Dongding." Qiu Rucai also initiated the establishment of the "Malaysian Kuala Lumpur Tea Art Association," and continuously invited experienced Taiwanese tea experts to give lectures in Kuala Lumpur, and also held tasting sessions for Pu-erh tea of different grades and classifications. Meanwhile, Yu Zhiming from Malacca, a senior member of the Tzu Chi Foundation, was deeply influenced by tea culture in Taiwan and opened a tea shop on the old streets of Malacca. His dedicated study of tea art has yielded remarkable results in recent years.
In Malaysia, as early as before 1980, the "Snow Mountain Tea House" had already appeared in Port Klang, the outer port of Kuala Lumpur, almost coinciding with the rise of tea houses in Taiwan. At that time, it also included a yoga studio as part of its multi-faceted business, making it a pioneering example of tea houses in Malaysia. However, the business model of tea houses gradually shifted towards being more like self-study rooms with books, and thus evolved into a tea shop format focused on tea tasting and promoting tea culture – the "tea art center" that is prevalent in Malaysian tea culture today. Furthermore, there are also traditional large-scale tea merchants in Malaysia, some of whom existed even before Singapore gained independence from Malaysia, with some tracing their origins back to the British colonial era. In their early days, they primarily dealt in general merchandise, with tea not being their main business. They formed powerful trade associations to directly import tea from Chinese tea companies, including early grades of Pu-erh tea (such as the "Yin-grade" and "Seven-son" grades), Tieguanyin, and Wuyi rock tea, which they then wholesaled to downstream tea merchants, supermarkets, and department stores. Even today, with the widespread popularity of Pu-erh tea, they maintain their leading position, importing several containers of tea every month, demonstrating their considerable strength.
The ideal of re-exporting Malaysian-stored tea back to China remains to be tested, but expanding domestic demand seems even more urgent. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country, with mosques, Buddhist temples, and Hindu temples everywhere. How to attract the largest ethnic group, the Malays, to participate should be a major focus for the future promotion of Chinese tea.
Finally, here's a question for everyone: Have you ever tried Pu-erh tea stored in a Malaysian warehouse? Feel free to leave a comment and discuss.