Ⅰ.Pu’er Tea in Asia
In Asia, Chinese Pu’er tea is mainly exported to Republic of Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.Among them, the import of Pu’er tea in Republic of Korea has increased significantly since 2000; the Pu’er tea market in Japan entered the revival period in the 1980s, and its import volume increased further after entering the 21st century.The main tea-drinking countries in Southeast Asia are Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, etc., among which the“Super Horse”of Malaysia is very famous.
(Ⅰ)Repulic of Korea
The introduction of Korean tea culture can be traced back to the Sui and Tang Dynasties at the earliest.The Korean tea present also has a long history.In 1980s, before the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Republic of Korea, tea was introduced into Republic of Korea through Taiwan and Hongkong, which started the modern tea drinking culture.At the end of 1980s, the first Pu’er tea store—Yuanbai Tea Factory was officially opened in Busan.In the late 1990s, tea shops mainly selling Pu’er tea appeared in many cities of Republic of Korea.Republic of Korea is a country with the largest development of Pu’er tea in foreign markets, and its consumption growth rate increases year by year.After the 1990s, with the development of economy,the eating habits of Koreans have been improved.The have paid more and more attention to health.The efficacy of fermented food has long been deeply rooted in the mind of Koreans.In their minds, fermented Pu’er tea, like KIMCHI, is microbial fermented food, so they are easy to accept that“other drinks are for quenching thirst, but Pu’er tea is for health”.In addition, Koreans were very concerned about the value-added function of Pu’er tea.Therefore, investing in Pu’er tea became a new financial management method for Koreans.After 2000, many Korean tea followers personally went to Yunnan, the place of origin of Pu’er tea, to buy raw materials to customize their own brand of Pu’er tea.So far, the sky-high“aged tea”became a spokesperson of luxury goods or a witness of history.Fresh tea of different famous brands and pure tea of ancient tea trees became the mainstream.
Fig.2-22 Instant Pu’er tea
Fig.2-23 Pu’er tea paste
虽然普洱茶在韩国流行，但随着韩国生活节奏日益加快，外卖饮料占据大量市场，绿茶、红茶都以袋装茶出售，茶饮料市场份额也逐年增加。相比之下，需要采用工夫茶冲泡品饮的传统普洱茶不能满足广大韩国群众尤其是年轻人的喜好需求。因此，未来的韩国市场，普洱茶需要进行速溶普洱茶、普洱茶膏、普洱茶饮料等新产品的进一步研发与创新拓展。
（二）日本
20世纪60、70年代，日本经济迅速发展起来，随着人们生活水平的提高，“三高”类的疾病也大量出现，以减肥、降血脂效果著称的普洱茶开始引起日本人的关注，许多日本人称云南普洱茶为“快瘦茶”“减肥茶”，形成了七八十年代的日本普洱茶热。从1978年开始，日本茶商纷纷到中国广交会上抢购普洱茶，或经由香港进口普洱茶，到1980年普洱茶出口日本达到了千吨以上。
进入21世纪，中日茶文化交流更为频繁，云南普洱茶企业也在积极开拓日本市场。目前，云南普洱茶每年在日本的销售量为三四百吨，这是普洱茶在日本的第二次兴起，除了第一次兴起的健康战略外还加大了普洱茶文化的全面推广，让普洱茶融入日本人的心里。
（三）马来西亚
1990年代末，一些台湾地区茶人把普洱茶带到马来西亚，经过数年培育，到2005年在大马华人社区刮起一股普洱茶旋风，直至2006—2007年达到顶峰。马来西亚是热带雨林气候，常年气候恒温恒湿，普洱茶存放于马来西亚的转化速度很快。马来西亚虽然是一个很不错的普洱茶市场，但普洱茶大部分只在华人社区流通。