Is Pu-er in Zomia

Is Pu-er in Zomia?: Tea Cultivation and the State in China Peter C. Perdue Agrarian Studies Colloquium, October 24, 2008 "We ordinarily count Yunnan among the provinces of the Chinese empire, but if one leaves the main lines of communication, entering the interior, traveling through the deserts and mountains, you are always in the territory of Yunnan, but you are no longer in China; you are in an uncivilized country without roads, without inns, surrounded by thieves who want your purse or your life, and sometimes both." (Archives of the Société des missions‐étrangères de Paris, 539: 220. Cited in Atwill 2005, p.23) In the early years of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and China, American visitors to China were treated to large banquets hosted by their official sponsors. These banquets usually included large quantities of exotic foods unfamiliar to the Western palate, and they ended with many rounds of toasting to the glorious future of Sino‐American relations. After enduring, or possibly enjoying, many courses including luxuries like sea cucumber, ox tendons, or birds’ nest soup, the foreign guests were expected to down many glasses of maotai, a highly distilled sorghum liquor produced in the hills of Guizhou in southwest China. If they survived the ordeal, they were prepared for the lengthy negotiations with Chinese officials the next day, followed by another banquet and toasting round.