On October 31 and November 1, 2026, we brought Chen Sheng Hao to Vancouver for TEATOPIA 2026, the World Tea Culture & Arts Expo at The Westin Bayshore. It was our first time exhibiting as Chen Sheng Hao in Canada. For two days we poured old-arbor pu-erh at Booth 27, and on the first afternoon we were invited to tell our story to members of Vancouver's consular community.
What TEATOPIA is
TEATOPIA is presented by the Institute for Tea Culture & Global Dialogue Foundation, a Vancouver-based nonprofit. Its stated mission is "to advance tea culture as a platform for cultural exchange, wellbeing, and global dialogue," and TEATOPIA is its flagship gathering. The organizers describe it as "more than a fair": a place where tea, arts, lifestyle, wellness and dialogue come together.
The 2026 expo was open to the public from 11 am to 5 pm on both days. The hall was arranged in five zones: Tea, Tea Ware, Tea Lifestyle, Tea Arts and Tea Wellness. Alongside the booths, the program included wellness workshops and TEATOPIA Talks on culture, health, trade, innovation and the future of tea, and a closing gala was held on the evening of November 2.
Booth 27
We are Chen Sheng Hao (陈升号), a pu-erh tea brand from Yunnan, China. Since 2007 the company has made one kind of tea, pu-erh, and it works directly with farming families on Yunnan's tea mountains, starting with Lao Ban Zhang.
At the booth we brewed all day, both days. On the table were Lao Ban Zhang, Na Ka, Rong Pu, Yi Pin Chen Sheng and Chen Sheng Yi Hao: raw and ripe, from single-mountain teas to our signature blends.
We served every tea gongfu style: a small amount of leaf in a small pot, freshly boiled water, and many short infusions. That way visitors could taste how a pu-erh changes from the first cup to the fifth.
The questions were the ones we hear at every festival. What is the difference between raw and ripe? How old are the trees? Why is it pressed into a cake? The easiest answer was usually to pour another cup and hold it up to the light: raw pu-erh brews a bright, golden cup, and ripe pu-erh a deep red one.
Old trees, skilled hands, and time
On the afternoon of October 31, we were invited to give an 11-minute talk in English to members of Vancouver's consular community and other guests at The Westin Bayshore.
The talk followed one idea: a great cup of pu-erh needs three things. Old trees, whose deep roots give the leaf its strength. Skilled hands, because how the leaf is picked, dried and pressed decides whether that flavour is kept. And time, the years that turn a young tea mellow and rich. We told the story of Lao Ban Zhang, where our founder, Mr. Shenghe Chen, signed a 30-year agreement with the village in 2008. We explained bu luo di, our standard that the leaf never touches the ground while it is made. And we ended where we always end: with an invitation to a cup of tea.
From Seattle to Vancouver
In September we were at the Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle. Vancouver was the next stop. Thank you to the TEATOPIA team, to the volunteers, and to everyone who sat down at Booth 27 for a cup.
If you tasted something you liked and can't remember its name, answer three short questions and we will suggest a first tea. If you run a tea house, a school or a community group and would like to host a tasting, take a look at our Community Tea Program. For trade enquiries, visit our wholesale page or write to admin@cspuerh.com.
