I've had a low opinion of Chinese incense since my first experience in 2013 with Jin Wan Lai Wealth Offering - an expensive, beautifully packaged, incense that I got samples of at a reasonable price from eBay. Subsequent experiences over the years didn't serve to alter my opinion. Having heard from David Hardy, owner of Ancient Wisdom, about how Temu were keeping down costs by avoiding various taxes and customs fees in the way they shipped their goods as small packets, I became curious about the Temu operation, and thought I'd try it out, and explore some Chinese incense while I was at it.
The prices are low, but no more than some very decent Indian incense I'd bought directly from India (or via excellent stores in the UK, like Popat, which serve the British Indian market). Incense can be inexpensive, yet smell good. While some ingredients can be expensive, not all pleasant smelling ingredients need be - it depends on what you want. Truffles are expensive, while button mushrooms are not. Truffles are adorable as a flavouring. Button mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic are also adorable. I don't subscribe to the view that things have to be expensive to be good or enjoyable, so "you get what you pay for". I once read some good advice regarding wine. Start off by buying cheap wine, then gradually move up the price scale until you can't taste the difference in price - after that, if you're paying more then you're wasting your money. For everyday wine we're happy to pay £8 - £10; for a treat or special occasion we're happy to go up to £40 - £50, though rarely do I find it worthwhile to go beyond that. Sometimes, though, there's a certain pleasure and excitement to be gained from having a legendary wine - the thrill of getting and experiencing something that has a big reputation will lift the moment above the ordinary. But you have to know. You miss the thrill and the fun if you have a big reputation item, and you didn't know it had a reputation. Much pleasure is essentially in the head rather than in the senses. What matters is how we personally, as an individual, experience something. What works for one, won't necessarily work for another. A high price will actually excite a lot of people - they feel reassured by the high price. A high price, a designer label, a big reputation. These things do work to lift the experience above the ordinary. Me, I like a bargain. So I tend to get more pleasure out of something that tastes or smells great, and is low cost, than if the same thing were high cost. So I guess I'm more attuned to the possibility of something low cost giving pleasure. I am open to that idea. I am often proved wrong, but I'm proved right often enough to make the search (for me) worthwhile. And, being low lost, there is less financial risk than experimenting with high cost items.
So I tried out some cheap Chinese incense bought via Temu, and while some items did confirm that cheap Chinese incense is shit, there were plenty more items where I was pleasantly surprised. And it even got me adjusting my opinion on using wood powder as a combustible in incense. I still think that burning wood is an evil thing to do because the carbons released are destroying the ozone layer, harming the planet, and killing people now and into the future. I want us to be looking more into what Alok Pandey is doing with Malaan Gaudhoop - using biofuel for the combustible. However, on an aesthetic front, I've come to accept that not all sandalwood powder used as the combustible in incense necessarily smells like scorching paper or garden waste being burned. I still prefer charcoal (preferably from coconut husks or manure) to be used as the combustible as it doesn't smell, so doesn't merge with the fragrance when burned. But I began to see how a small amount of sandalwood scent could support the fragrance, even a delicate fragrance, if I attuned my senses to it.
The prices are low, but no more than some very decent Indian incense I'd bought directly from India (or via excellent stores in the UK, like Popat, which serve the British Indian market). Incense can be inexpensive, yet smell good. While some ingredients can be expensive, not all pleasant smelling ingredients need be - it depends on what you want. Truffles are expensive, while button mushrooms are not. Truffles are adorable as a flavouring. Button mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic are also adorable. I don't subscribe to the view that things have to be expensive to be good or enjoyable, so "you get what you pay for". I once read some good advice regarding wine. Start off by buying cheap wine, then gradually move up the price scale until you can't taste the difference in price - after that, if you're paying more then you're wasting your money. For everyday wine we're happy to pay £8 - £10; for a treat or special occasion we're happy to go up to £40 - £50, though rarely do I find it worthwhile to go beyond that. Sometimes, though, there's a certain pleasure and excitement to be gained from having a legendary wine - the thrill of getting and experiencing something that has a big reputation will lift the moment above the ordinary. But you have to know. You miss the thrill and the fun if you have a big reputation item, and you didn't know it had a reputation. Much pleasure is essentially in the head rather than in the senses. What matters is how we personally, as an individual, experience something. What works for one, won't necessarily work for another. A high price will actually excite a lot of people - they feel reassured by the high price. A high price, a designer label, a big reputation. These things do work to lift the experience above the ordinary. Me, I like a bargain. So I tend to get more pleasure out of something that tastes or smells great, and is low cost, than if the same thing were high cost. So I guess I'm more attuned to the possibility of something low cost giving pleasure. I am open to that idea. I am often proved wrong, but I'm proved right often enough to make the search (for me) worthwhile. And, being low lost, there is less financial risk than experimenting with high cost items.
So I tried out some cheap Chinese incense bought via Temu, and while some items did confirm that cheap Chinese incense is shit, there were plenty more items where I was pleasantly surprised. And it even got me adjusting my opinion on using wood powder as a combustible in incense. I still think that burning wood is an evil thing to do because the carbons released are destroying the ozone layer, harming the planet, and killing people now and into the future. I want us to be looking more into what Alok Pandey is doing with Malaan Gaudhoop - using biofuel for the combustible. However, on an aesthetic front, I've come to accept that not all sandalwood powder used as the combustible in incense necessarily smells like scorching paper or garden waste being burned. I still prefer charcoal (preferably from coconut husks or manure) to be used as the combustible as it doesn't smell, so doesn't merge with the fragrance when burned. But I began to see how a small amount of sandalwood scent could support the fragrance, even a delicate fragrance, if I attuned my senses to it.
I've been told there are safety issues in buying from China. And there are plenty of loud, shouty people who have this opinion. And they will declare this opinion even though 35% of the world's products are made in China. And there is speculation that up to 70-80% of what we buy is made in China, even though bought in our own country. And it seems that most of our medicines are made in China. When branded and sold in our own country, we feel safe enough. When bought direct from China we get worried, and inflate the safety issues into blind, screaming, hysteria. Yes, of the billions of Chinese goods sold via Temu, a few toys have been found to use lead paint. However, we know that Perrier water has at times contained shit, and at other times cancer inducing benzene. We know that Johnson & Johnson's baby powder at one point contained asbestos. Bad stuff happens in every country. None of it is deliberate or malicious. And none of it is widespread. Essentially, breathing in incense smoke is bad for you, regardless of where it is made. Always light incense in a ventilated room, and allow the scent to come to you, don't waft the smoke to your nose.
After my first low cost excursion, in which, while not encountering any heavenly incense, I was overall pleased with the experience, I went again (Temu had offered me a good deal, so I couldn't resist). I had enjoyed quite a few of the small auspicious cloud incenses I had tried first time. They look cute, and tend to have a gentle, pleasant scent. So I was happy to try a few more, especially as I found some that seemed to have a trade name - Ciqcai. There is a manufacturer name and address on the customs sheets - though when I looked into that previously, my conclusion was that the names and addresses were just for export purposes, and did not seem to consistently relate to an actual manufacturer. Same as the EU receiving address appears to be for convenience only, as the goods were flown from China to the UK in one bag, and then the bag was passed to Evri who delivered it to me. None of the goods went via any of the EU receiving addresses - those addresses are put there for the package to come under the customs limit. It is this avoidance of customs duty and local VAT that is concerning companies like Ancient Wisdom who ship in bulk to their local warehouse, and so do pay customs duty and VAT. I wouldn't like to see the customs duty threshold lowered, as that would hit small traders, but certainly there should be a way of closing the loophole that Temu and Shein and AliExpress are exploiting. Anyway - I don't trust the manufacturing address, so I'm just sticking with the trade name Ciqcai. Google translates it as "celery". Odd, but possible; though translating Chinese accurately via a machine seems a bit hit and miss.
I love the look of my Chinese incense burner. The burner is sold as a small auspicious cloud incense burner. However, I find that the incense coils go out through lack of air flow; also, after using it a few times, it accumulates tar, and ends up smelling foul. It is also hard to clean off that tar. So I used it for the photo, then put the coils into a small open bowl of incense ash, where it burned better.
How does it smell, after all that? Well, there is a light delicate touch of sweet citric florals - nothing specific, but quite pleasant. Osmanthus is described as having a "peachy note", so that falls in line with what I smell. If I'm too close to the burn I note that it is heavily underscored by the smell of scorching wood like an electric saw going through MDF. But at a distance, and residual after the burn, is the light, delicate "peachy note".
Overall the light, delicate sweet citric fragrance is pleasant, though is way too light and weak and simple for my taste. I was somewhat charmed by these small auspicious clouds when I first encountered them, though I'm now starting to find burning them a little bit of a fiddle, and that the scents are a bit light for my taste. And in general I'm not happy burning wood. So not a big score from me.
After my first low cost excursion, in which, while not encountering any heavenly incense, I was overall pleased with the experience, I went again (Temu had offered me a good deal, so I couldn't resist). I had enjoyed quite a few of the small auspicious cloud incenses I had tried first time. They look cute, and tend to have a gentle, pleasant scent. So I was happy to try a few more, especially as I found some that seemed to have a trade name - Ciqcai. There is a manufacturer name and address on the customs sheets - though when I looked into that previously, my conclusion was that the names and addresses were just for export purposes, and did not seem to consistently relate to an actual manufacturer. Same as the EU receiving address appears to be for convenience only, as the goods were flown from China to the UK in one bag, and then the bag was passed to Evri who delivered it to me. None of the goods went via any of the EU receiving addresses - those addresses are put there for the package to come under the customs limit. It is this avoidance of customs duty and local VAT that is concerning companies like Ancient Wisdom who ship in bulk to their local warehouse, and so do pay customs duty and VAT. I wouldn't like to see the customs duty threshold lowered, as that would hit small traders, but certainly there should be a way of closing the loophole that Temu and Shein and AliExpress are exploiting. Anyway - I don't trust the manufacturing address, so I'm just sticking with the trade name Ciqcai. Google translates it as "celery". Odd, but possible; though translating Chinese accurately via a machine seems a bit hit and miss.
I love the look of my Chinese incense burner. The burner is sold as a small auspicious cloud incense burner. However, I find that the incense coils go out through lack of air flow; also, after using it a few times, it accumulates tar, and ends up smelling foul. It is also hard to clean off that tar. So I used it for the photo, then put the coils into a small open bowl of incense ash, where it burned better.
How does it smell, after all that? Well, there is a light delicate touch of sweet citric florals - nothing specific, but quite pleasant. Osmanthus is described as having a "peachy note", so that falls in line with what I smell. If I'm too close to the burn I note that it is heavily underscored by the smell of scorching wood like an electric saw going through MDF. But at a distance, and residual after the burn, is the light, delicate "peachy note".
Overall the light, delicate sweet citric fragrance is pleasant, though is way too light and weak and simple for my taste. I was somewhat charmed by these small auspicious clouds when I first encountered them, though I'm now starting to find burning them a little bit of a fiddle, and that the scents are a bit light for my taste. And in general I'm not happy burning wood. So not a big score from me.
£1.48 from Temu. Similar product, different brand: 69p from Shein. Prices on these websites fluctuate a lot.
A very thought-provoking post, Steve! The charcoal industry is a main culprit. I personally know some kiln owners, and they say that they receive truckloads of fallen trees from groups that make a living by cutting trees for charcoal kilns. A typical kiln owner may have 20-30 kilns, and each kiln can eat up a truckload. We make biochar from manure, and I do accept that making biochar from manure is a critical and complicated process, but coconut shells, husks, fallen twigs, and compressed biomass are far easier to work with and also produce great quality biochar. Converting these organic waste materials into biochar would prevent the emission of even more harmful gas methane that would be released with the eventual decomposition of these materials.
ReplyDeleteAs a world community we really need to be making the effort into creating stuff that doesn't harm the planet. It really pains me that we have a world leader that half of Americans look up to, and an unhealthy number of people from the UK also respect, who is genuinely unable to see the bigger picture.
DeleteAnd so many politicians seem to think that by making bigger threats to migrants that the migrants will stop trying to move from countries which are already suffering from climate change, and will prefer to stay where they are and die.
Meanwhile, I think all of need to step up to our individual responsibility, and look to how we can all cause less harm. Reduce energy consumption. Reduce consumption of red meat and dairy. Reduce burning of carbon. Buy local. Do some research and start thinking about the issues instead of evading them.
And plant trees!
DeleteYes. Rip up the concrete and tarmac and decking in your garden, and put in plants and bushes and trees. I have a small garden which had nothing but concrete slabs and gravel when we moved in. It now has five small trees. Our favourite is the cherry tree. What an awesome tree is the cherry tree. Beautiful blossom in the early summer, and juicy fruit in the late summer. For the first few years we had to compete with the birds as to who was going to get most cherries. Now the tree is so big, we let the birds have the cherries at the top, which we can't reach, and they are happy to let us have the cherries at the bottom which we can pluck off while still standing on the ground.
DeleteWonderful, Steve! Every creature has the right to their fair and proportionate share of the planet's resources!
DeleteI don't fight the snails and slugs any more. They serve a purpose. I just ensure that I don't put in plants which are going to be destroyed by them within a few days. Some plants are happy to coexist with snails once they are established.
DeleteThat is very thoughtful, Steve! Some of these principles should be taught to gardeners and farmers that bugs would be naturally balanced by the ecosystem. The amount of pesticide that is pumped on modern farms is very dangerous. The principle of balance and counterbalance in ecology and the survival of the fittest would eventually prevail. In India, you can find lizards in most households, and that is considered auspicious because they eat insects, mosquitoes, and bugs.
DeleteI don't use pesticides, and - other than some bone meal when planting to ensure early growth - I don't use fertilisers. I used to use these things, but over time realised that plants in a garden, once established, will look after themselves. And if they don't, then that is because they don't belong in my garden (or at least in the position I've put them in), and forcing them to live here is the wrong thing to do.
DeleteI tend to buy plants that will live here in harmony. One of the first things I did on moving here, was to walk around and see what plants other gardeners had. Those plants that I saw most often are the ones I bought and planted. They have thrived.
Many of my neighbours regard me as a gardener, and will ask me for advice. But I tell them that I am not a gardener. I know little about gardening. I just plant stuff, and let it grow. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, I'll try something else. I'm essentially a lazy person. I don't want to have to fuss over plants and look after them!
DeleteWell, I will do what I can when necessary. Sadly last year one of our favourite, well established plants died. It was in a large container in the front garden. The container drained into the ground. Last spring we had a lot of rain here in the UK. It rained almost everyday for weeks. About two months I think. Very unusual. I noticed that the leaves were falling off the plant. The container wasn't able to drain fast enough, and water was on the surface of the earth in the container. A bad sign. And clearly it had been water logged for a long time for it now to be on the surface, and the leaves falling off the plant. The container is too large and heavy to be tipped over. So I drilled some holes near the bottom to let the water out. I then cut back the plant. I should have dug the plant out and cut away the rotting roots, but that was a task too much for me. And the plant died. I put it down to global warming.
Here's
ReplyDeletethe plant
when alive from a few years back. It's the one growing up the house and around the window. I can't remember its name.
Having experienced the British weather firsthand, I can understand what excess rain could mean! The plant in the picture looks like a cultivar of jasmine. It's quite unfortunate that it died. I can understand the frustration because I love to plant saplings, and when they don't make it, that becomes quite a pain. Once there was a three-year drought in our area, and only 8 out of 25 mango trees survived. Also, around 40-50 orange trees couldn't make it. Summer in my area is very dry, and that period is the biggest challenge for plantation sites. I wish we could get some of the UK's rains in that period! haha I have a plantation list for coming monsoon.
Delete