AT THE Pek Sin Choon tea company in Chinatown, a golden gift box with floral motifs is brought out.

The round, burnt-looking object inside is carefully taken out so LifeStyle can get a closer look at it.

The untrained eye can't tell what it is. But show it to a tea collector and his heart will beat faster.

That is because the undistinguished looking thing is a valuable disc of pu-er tea from the 1930s. It has been in the family of Mr Peh Ching Her, 39, the shop's marketing manager, for many decades.

He has more than 10 years' experience dealing with tea and says he is not sure how his family got hold of it.

The pu-er is considered a rarity and is worth a fortune - about $150,000 he estimates - although he also adds that 'it is definitely not for sale'.

The fragile disc is carefully returned to the box. If broken, it loses its value.

If you think Chinese tea is just a beverage to sip along with dim sum, think again. Pu-er tea, in particular, is seen as an investment.

Named after the Pu-er province in Yunnan, China, the tea has a woody taste and is dark golden red in colour. It comes in various forms: disc-shaped cha bing or tea cakes, hump-shaped lumps or brick-like blocks. It is usually wrapped with paper and the name of the tea and date of manufacture stamped on it.

Because it is fermented, pu-er ages well, unlike other teas such as jasmine which lose their fragrance with time.

Ms Carrie Chen, 38, owner of Tea Bone Zen Mind, a 14-year-old tea house in Seah Street, says the taste of pu-er gets milder with age, and the colour of the tea becomes more 'shiny'.

Another tea master, Mr Chen Lian Wei, 24, from Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant in Beach Road, adds that the taste and aroma of the tea improves as it matures, contributing to its value.

On the health front, aged pu-er is said to help lower high blood pressure and cholesterol, and some believe it can help with weight loss.

It's no wonder then that pu-er is a collectible, and people can make a tidy sum from collecting discs of the tea.

In 2002, Mr Peh was selling a disc of pu-er for $6. He says that same disc is worth $60 today, as the tea has aged.

Similarly, Ms Chen says a 20-year-old pu-er can be worth three times more than 10-year-old pu-er, which is selling for about $80 for a 250g disc.

Pu-er tea can last a long time, a century or more. The oldest pu-er is supposedly 200 years old and is considered an artefact.

Mr Peh says whether or not collectors drink their aged pu-er depends on two factors.

'If they have more than a piece, and if they can afford it, they will drink it,' he says. Otherwise, most collectors tend to keep their pieces.

There are more than 10 grades of pu-er tea and the ones usually drunk now are those made during the 1980s.

As a rough guide, Si Chuan Dou Hua's Mr Chen says pu-er aged 30 years and above are stored and not drunk as they are expensive.

He says people began investing in the tea about 20 years ago in Taiwan. Then, goods could not be directly imported from China to Taiwan for political reasons.

'As such, traders could only bring in small quantities of pu-er from China to Taiwan through Hong Kong, making it more valuable,' he says.

In Singapore, pu-er collecting began in the mid-1990s. The tea experts say collectors here are mostly businessmen who prefer to keep a low profile, and collect only tea that is at least 30 years old.

But younger Singaporeans are catching onto the trend, buying younger teas, he says.

The good news is you don't have to be filthy rich to invest in pu-er. The younger teas cost between $12 and $100 a disc, depending on their quality.

Collectors should store them in a dark, dry and cool place, and be patient.

'You can buy pu-er when it is young and inexpensive, and sell it for a high price when it matures over time,' says Mr Chen.

He wants to sell tea drinking to Singaporeans

WHILE his friends are more at home downing soft drinks, Mr Yeo Hart Pong chooses to drink Chinese tea instead.

The boyish-looking 27-year-old owns Song Fa Bak Kut Teh in New Bridge Road, having taken over the 30-year-old pork rib soup business from his father, Mr Yeo Eng Song, 59, last year.

He got interested in Chinese tea when he began helping out at his father's stall as a boy.

Chinese tea is normally drunk together with bak kut teh, as the tea supposedly helps to cleanse the palate of the fat from the pork ribs.

He says he drinks pu-er tea every morning, the way some people might start their day with a cup of coffee.

The tea's dark colour and woody taste don't turn him off either.

He says: "I like the taste of pu-er. It also helps to lower cholesterol."

He counts himself a new tea collector, with pu-er, longjing and oolong tea in his collection. They were given to the family by his father's friends.

He hopes to interest his friends and other young Singaporeans in Chinese tea.

"Tea is part of our Chinese culture," he says.

Since he started running the New Bridge Road outlet last year, he has introduced tea drinking to his staff, who are mostly in their 20s.

He teaches them how to brew the tea and they, in turn, pass on their knowledge to customers.

He says that his staff were initially resistant to the idea of drinking tea. "But now, most of them like it," he says.

He serves various types of tea at the outlet, such as pu-er, jasmine and bu zhi xiang, a type of oolong tea.

For novice tea drinkers, he recommends starting with jasmine tea because it has a lighter taste.

He is going a step further to get more Singaporeans interested in tea.

For Chinese New Year, he has put together a $68 hamper that includes bak kut teh spices, soya sauce and a disc of pu-er tea. He says the tea, which costs about $30, will increase in value.

"Hopefully, the price will increase by 20 per cent in the next few years," he says.

To date, more than 10 such hampers have been sold. He says this is a way for tea novices to start their collection.

"One customer immediately bought a hamper because of the pu-er," he says.

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