A Pu-erh Beginner Syllabus

I've been trying to formalize what it is I'm trying to learn and understand about pu-erh. I'm in pursuit of intangible knowledge such as understanding what is great tea. However like in any discipline, there's a rather straight forward list of introductory topics and exercises to get a beginner grounded.   Feel free to chime in and I'll amend this list.  (I can see some Europeans shaking their heads muttering American's are so goal oriented...)

I've left out other important aspects to pu-erh - gong fu brewing, pottery, and history more for simplicity than anything-else.  

Clueless Beginner 

• Can tell young shu from young sheng by sight and taste.
• Tasted tea from the Six Famous Mountain regions(Yiwu, Bulang, Nannuo, Jingmai...) 
• Tasted big factory blends, Menghai, XG, Haiwan
• Tasted small press wild tree, wild arbor cakes
• Experienced huigan
• Some understanding of terms such as huigan, kuwei, shicang, wodui

Intermediate Beginner

• Experienced and understand which teas have good huigan, huitian, hongyun
• Tasted most famous regions and subregions and and understand their regional characteristics 
• Have tried sufficient aged samples 
• Can detect shicang from scent and taste.
• Can identify the degree of wet storage from taste 
• Can tell between aged sheng vs aged shu by taste
• Producers
• Know most major factories and their characteristics
• Know characteristics of different factory recipes
• Know most significant boutique producers and their characteristics 
• Recognizes most Chinese characters off wrappers
• Have read and reread every entry in chadao, marshaln.com, half dipper.
• Purchasing Prowess
• Knows how to buy good stuff and not get ripped off.
• Know how to buy good stuff off of Taobao 
• Can hone in on the best deal in Yunnan Sourcing's 1000 pu-erh listing in under an hour.

Advanced Beginner

• Can taste difference between wild tree vs. plantation
• Can differentiate single mountain characteristics in a blend 
• Can gauge age of tea by taste
• Know what mold is safe to drink  
• Understand what types of cakes will age well from experience

Sigh.  Like a seasoned yixing pot, will I ever get to a stage where I can invoke huigan just by visualizing the leaves?

This stuffed pomelo purported to be from 1993 was one of my first pu-erh purchases made back in 2004.  I didn't even know such a thing as shu or sheng existed back then and I was more than happy to fork over money for the most fragrant and strange tea I had ever laid eyes on. Despite the fact that I overpaid and this isn't the best example of it's kind, this tea really brightened up a dreary winter.