After arriving in the city as refugees, Iroh managed to get himself and Zuko jobs as waiters in a local tea shop. Iroh soon discovered, however, that the tea was less than to his liking, as he described it as "nothing more than hot leaf juice." He decided to take matters into his own hands and enforced some major changes. Business picked up, and soon, the city was buzzing about Iroh's fame as the "finest tea maker in the city". Upon learning about Iroh's brewing abilities, Quon, a merchant whose goal was to be the greatest tea baron in Ba Sing Se, visited Pao's tea shop to see if the rumors were true. More than satisfied, Quon tried to poach Iroh away by offering to fulfill his lifelong dream of having his own tea shop. Quon said he would finance a tea shop in the Upper Ring of the city, g