Another New Guy

[joey]

hey, all - smoked my 1st pipe sometime in January of last year. not an awesome experience, but not a bad one, either. over the next ten months i smoked every now and then, but it was mainly just hanging out with the guys and more about the beer.
i live in China, but am back in the US for a couple months. my buddy who first let me try his pipe said that when I get back I need to try anything a local tobacconist could offer. since I'm in Houston, i went down to the Briar Shoppe and got a few ounces of a couple of tobaccos that smelled good to me. there was one called Accountant - WOW! the rest is history (albeit a short one of 6 weeks, ha!).
i leave the US again in less than 2 months, so I'm enjoying what I can smoke. Somewhere on this forum I heard about Boswell's and got a few tobaccos to sample. I'm still learning, but I'm totally digging this. looking forward to learning from you all and discovering more of what i like. -joey

 

[captainprophesy]

Welcome aboard Joey... any questions you might have, just ask away. There are tons of knowledgable people on here.
Are there tobacco shops in China?

 

[gray4lines]

How's smoking go over in China? Do they have bans everywhere like the U.S.? More or less strict?
I just picked up pipe-smoking too, and it keeps getting better and better! It's great finding a tobacco that clicks and you just love.

 

[joey]

there are tobacco "shops" where i live, but they're more like stalls. if you've ever been to a night market in Asia, that's pretty much what they look like. all that to say, technically you can buy tobacco. but realistically it's a gamble because they're not kept well. and 99% of the tobacco sold is local, mainly with cigarettes in mind. my buddy has bought stuff online there, but the selection is really limited. then again, since I'm only now getting into it, i may have yet to uncover more.
Gray, cigarette smoking in China is EVERYWHERE. as for pipes, hardly at all. as far as I know it's an upper-class thing, but there are plenty of pipe supplies (minus tobacco, ironically) available online. it's possible that there's lots of good tobacco that I've yet to find online, mainly because the gov't strictly controls tobacco sales. But again, that's all I really know and I'll probably uncover more info as I know what questions to ask...
In the meantime, the only question I have is "What took me so long?"

 

[puffy]

Hello Joey..Welcome aboard.

 

[sal57]

Welcome to the forum Joey.

 

[judcole]

Welcome aboard Joey

 

[crk69]

Howdy Joey, and welcome!!

 

[tbradsim1]

Welcome Joey. The old cajun

 

[cortezattic]

According to Rick Newcombe, the pipe is a symbol of masculinity in China, with pix to prove it.
Are you going to stock-up on tobacco to take back to China?

If so, flakes make for very dense luggage packing, and there are some good ones in bulk form.

 

[joey]

awesome picture. i would think that if anywhere has some good pipe culture, it'd be shanghai. alas, i'm in the southwest, where a ton of tobacco is grown but it's all for cigarettes. maybe i'll discover otherwise, but i'm not getting my hopes to high. i once saw a sign outside a convenience store that had an image of a pipe, next to the word "tobacco". but upon asking the guy at the counter what kind of pipe tobacco they carried, he said "none. just cigarettes." *sigh*
yes, i'll be stocking up a bit, but i don't want to get stopped in customs. thanks for the tip about flake!

 

[bubblehead33]

welcome Joey!

 

[mluyckx]

Welcome aboard ! Sit down, buckle up. Relax and enjoy the ride ::

 

[mthanded]

Welcome Joey! It's good to hear about other people's experience in other country's and I'd like to hear what about China and the smoking culture. Hell, you might even start a trend over there.

 

[madmurdoc]

Welcome home Joey!

 

[oldpops41]

Welcome Joey Boswells has some great blends