Mongolia | Zaisan | Super Moon!

As most of you lunar-oriented people know there is not only a Full Moon but also a Super Moon coming on March 19. The Full Moon actually occurs here in Zaisan at 2:10 a.m. on the morning of the 20th, rising at  6:47 p.m. on the 19th and setting at  6:38 a.m the next morning. What makes this a Super Moon is that on the night of March 19–20 the moon will be at its closest point to Earth in 18 years—a mere  221,566.68 miles away from our own beloved orb. 

Some commentators believe the Super Moon will trigger vast floods, earthquakes, tidal surges, and volcanic activity. We have already had vast floods in Australia and killer quakes in Japan, but expect worse, much worse, according to these people. Of course some scientists have Pooh-Poohed the Idea. 

I will be viewing the Super Moon from my usual observatory, the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi. 

 The Summit of Zaisan Tolgoi (Noblemen’s Hill)

Bird’s Eye View of Zaisan  Tolgoi, summit visible at center, bottom. See Enlargement. 

Zaisan Tolgoi (bottom, center) in summer, with Ulaan Baatar beyond. See Enlargement.

Mongolia | Zaisan | Super Moon!

As most of you lunar-oriented people know there is not only a Full Moon but also a Super Moon coming on March 19. The Full Moon actually occurs here in Zaisan at 2:10 a.m. on the morning of the 20th, rising at  6:47 p.m. on the 19th and setting at  6:38 a.m the next morning. What makes this a Super Moon is that on the night of March 19–20 the moon will be at its closest point to Earth in 18 years—a mere  221,566.68 miles away from our own beloved orb. 

Some commentators believe the Super Moon will trigger vast floods, earthquakes, tidal surges, and volcanic activity. We have already had vast floods in Australia and killer quakes in Japan, but expect worse, much worse, according to these people. Of course some scientists have Pooh-Poohed the Idea. 

I will be viewing the Super Moon from my usual observatory, the summit of Zaisan Tolgoi. 

 The Summit of Zaisan Tolgoi (Noblemen’s Hill)



Bird’s Eye View of Zaisan  Tolgoi, summit visible at center, bottom. See Enlargement. 

Zaisan Tolgoi (bottom, center) in summer, with Ulaan Baatar beyond. See Enlargement.

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | New Puerh Tea

I just received a shipment of tea from my supplier in Yunnan Province, China. The market has apparently recovered from the Puerh Tea Crash of 2009 and 2010 turned out to be a pretty good year for Puerh. I bought four cakes of the new 2010 Puerh tea, three of the classic “7592” recipe and one Hai Lang Hao ªAs You Like It” cake, all from the famous Menghai Tea Factory. These four cakes I will lay down in My Tea Cave (see bottom of linked post) for further aging. By 2025 they should be perfect. I can only hope that by that time the earth is still spinning as usual on its axis and that I myself have not transmigrated. For immediate drinking I bought one cake of six year old (2005) Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh Tea.

“7592” cakes top; Hai Lang Hao ªAs You Like It”, bottom left; 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min” (Golden Treasure), bottom right.

A cake of six-year old Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh

Leaf detail of 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh

I rinsed the 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min tea leaves for ten seconds, discarded that water, and then infused the leaves for one minute.

First one minute infusion of Jin Se Zhen Min

First infusion. Note the lovely orangish-yellow color.

A second infusion of two minutes resulted in this gorgeous reddish-orange tea, indicative of a perfectly aged six year-old Puerh. The taste was slightly tannic and smooth as Khotan Silk.

This grade of Puerh is good for at least five or six more infusions. Indeed, when you taste Puerh Tea on Maliandao Tea Street in Beijing the tea ladies usually make ten infusions from each sample so you can experience the entire range of color and taste of the tea before you decide if you want to buy it. Puerh tea, by the way, is renowned in China as a blood and kidney cleanser and women believe it clears their complexions. It also counteracts the effects of overeating and over-indulgence in alcohol. Most important, however, it is a delicious and spiritually uplifting beverage. Louche Coffee Drinkers would do well to sample its benefits. 

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | New Puerh Tea

I just received a shipment of tea from my supplier in Yunnan Province, China. The market has apparently recovered from the Puerh Tea Crash of 2009 and 2010 turned out to be a pretty good year for Puerh. I bought four cakes of the new 2010 Puerh tea, three of the classic “7592” recipe and one Hai Lang Hao ªAs You Like It” cake, all from the famous Menghai Tea Factory. These four cakes I will lay down in My Tea Cave (see bottom of linked post) for further aging. By 2025 they should be perfect. I can only hope that by that time the earth is still spinning as usual on its axis and that I myself have not transmigrated. For immediate drinking I bought one cake of six year old (2005) Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh Tea.

“7592” cakes top; Hai Lang Hao ªAs You Like It”, bottom left; 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min” (Golden Treasure), bottom right.

A cake of six-year old Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh

Leaf detail of 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min (Golden Treasure) Puerh

I rinsed the 2005 Jin Se Zhen Min tea leaves for ten seconds, discarded that water, and then infused the leaves for one minute.

First one minute infusion of Jin Se Zhen Min

First infusion. Note the lovely orangish-yellow color.

A second infusion of two minutes resulted in this gorgeous reddish-orange tea, indicative of a perfectly aged six year-old Puerh. The taste was slightly tannic and smooth as Khotan Silk.

This grade of Puerh is good for at least five or six more infusions. Indeed, when you taste Puerh Tea on Maliandao Tea Street in Beijing the tea ladies usually make ten infusions from each sample so you can experience the entire range of color and taste of the tea before you decide if you want to buy it. Puerh tea, by the way, is renowned in China as a blood and kidney cleanser and women believe it clears their complexions. It also counteracts the effects of overeating and over-indulgence in alcohol. Most important, however, it is a delicious and spiritually uplifting beverage. Louche Coffee Drinkers would do well to sample its benefits. 

Mongolia | Zaisan | Ninth of the Nine Nines | Ерийн дулаан болно

The ninth and last of the Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—begins today, March 3. This last Nine is Ерийн дулаан болно: “the time when warm weather starts,” signaling the end of winter. We did have a warm spell, with temperatures reaching 32º F / 0º C last week, but the nights have remained cold; at 8:30 this morning it was 20 below 0º F / –29º C. But in the afternoons my finely tuned olfactory organs detect a whiff of spring in the air . . . Remember the Spring Equinox occurs on March 21 at 7:21 a.m. UB time. I will probably retire to the summit of Öndör Gegeenii Uul for the occasion. See you there.

The Birth of Spring: Equinox at Stonehenge

Mongolia | Zaisan | Ninth of the Nine Nines | Ерийн дулаан болно

The ninth and last of the Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—begins today, March 3. This last Nine is Ерийн дулаан болно: “the time when warm weather starts,” signaling the end of winter. We did have a warm spell, with temperatures reaching 32º F / 0º C last week, but the nights have remained cold; at 8:30 this morning it was 20 below 0º F / –29º C. But in the afternoons my finely tuned olfactory organs detect a whiff of spring in the air . . . Remember the Spring Equinox occurs on March 21 at 7:21 a.m. UB time. I will probably retire to the summit of Öndör Gegeenii Uul for the occasion. See you there.

The Birth of Spring: Equinox at Stonehenge

Mongolia | Zaisan Tolgoi | 7th and 8th of the Nine-Nines | Довийн толгой борлоно | Нал шал болно

The seventh of the so-called Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather, began on February 14 and ended on February 22. This was Doviin Tolgoi Borlono, the “time when the tops of the hills become brown,” a description which clearly indicates warming weather. Indeed, on Monday, February 21, temperatures reached 32º F / 0º C for the first time this year, and there was a distinctive smell of spring in the air. 

The eighth of the Nine-Nines, Нал шал болно—the “time when puddles appear on the ground”— began yesterday, February 23. But it has cooled off since Monday. Yesterday it got up to only 16º F / –9º C in the afternoon and this morning at 8:30 am it was back down to 26 below 0º F / –33º C. So I don’t think there will be any puddles on the ground today. But get ready for the Equinox on March 21, which marks the beginning of Spring. 

Spring Begins in 24 Days!