July 10th: Puer City

In the morning we drove up to Puer Tea Gardens, overlooking Puer City (map) where Austin was interviewed by the media.  We briefly explored the Chinese Tea Institute and their library of dried tea leaves before being whisked off to a tea tasting and more interviews.  On the way out of Puer City we had an eventful lunch where Tim Ferriss was filmed eating a chicken head (our guides ate them without much fanfare) followed by a trip to a Laos furniture shop to see some beautiful tea tables.

We arrived in Jinggu after a winding drive along a river through lush mountain forests.  In Jinggu we had dinner across from our hotel and Glenn “invented” bijou / mango shots which were quite delicious.  After a brief affair with the internet (our first access of the trip) at the local Cha Ma Shi tea factory, Austin, Christine and I enjoyed 70 minutes foot massages to help us wind down for the night.