Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | Winter Solstice | 2009-2012

You are no doubt aware that the Winter Solstice is rapidly approaching. Here in Ulaan Baatar the solstice occurs at exactly 1:47 am on the 22nd. I am not yet quite sure what I will do that night, but if you see a light flickering on the top of Öndör Gegeenii Uul do not be alarmed, it is just me huddling around a fire (the temperatures have been going down to minus 35ºF / -37ºC at night). I do not know what you have planned for the Solstice, but as I alway do on these occasions I am asking people to refrain from making any Animal or Human Sacrifices.

As can be seen here the Waxing Crescent Moon sneaks by Jupiter around the Solstice. As an added bonus you should be able to see the usually elusive Mercury if you go out in the early hours of the evening after sunset.

Jupiter and the Waxing Crescent Moon should be putting on quite a show on the night of the Winter Solstice. Graphics courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

In case you were wondering it is exactly 1095 days, 17 hours, 25 minutes and 14 seconds from the 2009 Winter Solstice to the 2012 Winter Solstice (if you are keeping track that is 94,670,714 seconds), when as many people suspect the World is going to end. Indeed, the movie 2012 recently opened here in Ulaan Baatar, in English with Mongolian subtitles. I know of at least one company whose employees went en masse to see the show. Apparently they are working the date into their business plan. One of these people, who is also a professor at the Mongolian National University, opined that the movie was based on “scientific data.” Since I have not seen the movie I will not comment on that.

There are several Shambhalists here in Ulaan Baatar who are predicting that the Final War between the Forces of Shambhala and the Barbarians will also begin in 2012. They swear up and down that this has nothing to do with the whole Mayan Calendar Business. According to these sources, the signal in our three-dimensional world that the War would begin in the near future was the Destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in March of 2001. These same sources note that Chingis Khan, after invading Afghanistan, left a detachment of troops in the Bamiyan area to protect the Bamiyan Buddhas. The descendants of these people, known as Hazaras, still live in the region. Subjected to intense persecution by the Taliban, they were unable to fulfill their duty and the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed.

Bamiyan Valley, with the Buddha niche visible in the cliffs to the left

Bamiyan Buddha before destruction by the TalibanBamiyan Buddha niche after destruction of the statue

Keep in mind that even if the Shambhala War does begin in 2012 we will probably not notice any immediate effects in our three-dimensional world. The War will be fought in another dimension, and subsequent events in our mundane world will be a mere shadow play of a much vaster cosmic conflict.

See Stars Over Washington for the inevitable connection between the Winter Solstice and the continuing war in Afghanistan.

By the way, the first person from the Occident ever to see the Bamiyan Buddhas was the eccentric Hungarian Wanderer-Scholar Csoma de Koros, who is also responsible for introducing the Shambhala Mythologem into the Occidental World.

I have made my own preparations for 2012, come what may. I have hidden 15 kilos of Puerh Tea in a cave on Bogd Khan Mountain, the location known only to myself and one other person. The tea was five years old when I hid it and so will be ten years old in 2012. If the world does end I intend to enjoy the spectacle while sipping suitably aged Puerh tea. If the world does not end the tea should serve as a valuable hedge against inflation and the rapidly devaluing dollar.

China | Beijing | Maliandao Tea Street

Since I had completely run out of the puerh tea I had no choice but to pop down to Beijing and replenish my stores. Loose puerh tea is available at the State Department Store in Ulaan Baatar, but it is hardly the quality I am accustomed to drinking. As I mentioned earlier there had been a devastating collapse of the Puerh Tea Trade in China so I thought it might be a good time to stock up on Puerh in Beijing at fire sale prices. I took a cab from the airport (Mongolian Airlines still flies to the old Terminal #2 so I still have not seen the huge new terminal yet) straight down to Wangfujing Street and checked into a fleabag hotel just a half block from the Foreign Languages Bookstore, one of my usual haunts in the Big Dumpling.

Before checking out the books, however, I headed for the Maliandao Tea Street in southwest part of the city. There are over 1000 tea stores in this area but I always return to the shop of Ms. Na, who has an especially good selection of black and Puerh teas. “Long time no see!” she announced when I walked in the door. When I first met Ms. Na three years ago she spoke no English at all, but now she had obviously learned some colloquialisms. We were also able to conduct a rudimentary conversation on the subject of tea. Hoping to set the tone for the upcoming bargaining I said, “Puerh prices have gone down, yes?” She readily agreed, then suggested we sample her shop’s finest Puerh. This was sixteen year old tea from one of the most famous Puerh producers in Yunnan Province. Six months ago this puerh was selling for 10,000 yuan ($1,463) a kilo. Now the price was 2000 yuan ($292) a kilo.

Loose Puerh — $292 a kilo after Tea Crash

It was certainly delectable, with a wonderfully clear orangish-amber color, a breath-takingly bracing fragrance, and a flavor to bring tears of joy to the eyes of even the most jaded tea taster. But it was a bit out of my price range. I was more interested in the $20 to $30 a kilo Puerhs. Fortunately Ms. Na also had a good selection of these. The slow sampling process began, and two hours later I had bought an assortment of both disk and loose puerhs of differing ages, two kilos of Yunnan Gold black tea (two different grades), a kilo of Qi Mun (Keemun) black tea, and a half kilo of Tie Kwan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) Oolong. That, I thought, should be enough tea to last for the winter months.

The unfailingly gracious and charming Ms.
Na showing off a disk of seven-year old Puerh

Some nice disks of Puerh

See more on the Maliandao Tea Market.

China | Beijing | Maliandao Tea Street

Having exhausted my supplies of Yunnan and Qi Mun black teas and running dangerously low on Puerh tea I had no alternative but to wing down to Beijing to replenish my supplies. The day before I left Ulaan Baatar we were treated to ferocious dust storm and a snow storm simultaneously—Mongolia is of the few places in the world where this can happen—but in Bejing real spring had already arrived, with temperatures up into the low 70s F. Overhead was a faultless dome of blue sky, without a hint of Beijing’s fabled pollution.

I immediately grabbed my local tea consultant, Ms. R, and head for Maliandao Tea Street, one of the world’s greatest tea emporiums. This is a standard stop for me in Beijing. Although there are reportedly over a thousand tea stores on the street I always return to the shop of Ms. Na, who has a especially strong selection of black teas.

The estimable Ms. Na showing off a new brick of Puerh

I bought a kilo each of the highest grade Qi Mun and Yunnan Black and three bricks of Puerh.

Ms. R sampling the Qi Mun

Tie Kuan Yin Oolong

Although I am not a big fan of Oolong tea at Ms. Na’s instigation I sampled some new Tie Kuan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) Oolong which she had just gotten in and ended up buying 250 grams. It is so hard to say no to the entreaties of the charming and gracious Ms. Na!

Ms. R virtually glowing after sampling the Tie Kuan Yin

Another tea seller in the same store

Nice selection of Puerhs