Aside from vintage year, pu-erh tea can be classified in a variety of ways: by shape, processing method, region, cultivation, grade, and season.

Shape
Pu-erh is compressed into a variety of shapes. Other lesser seen forms include, stacked "melon pagodas", pillars, calabashes, yuanbao, and small bricks (2-5cm in width). Pu-erh is also compressed into the hollow centers of bamboo stems or packed and bound into a ball inside the peel of various citrus.

1.Bing, Beeng, Cake, or Disc Bǐngchá A round, flat, disc or hockey puck-shaped tea. Size ranges from as small as 100g to as large as 5kg or more, with 357g, 400g, and 500g being the most common. Depending on the pressing method, the edge of the disk can be rounded or perpendicular. Also commonly known as Qīzí bǐngchá due to the fact that seven of the bing are packaged together at a time for sale or transport.
2. Tuocha, Bowl, or Nest Tuóchá A convex knob-shaped tea with size ranging from 3g to 3kg or more, with 100g, 250g, 500g being the most common. The name for "tuocha" is believed to have originated from the round, top-like shape of the pressed tea or from the old tea shipping and trading route of the Tuojiang River. In ancient times, tuocha cakes may have had holes punched through the center so that they could be tied together on a rope for easy transport.
3.Brick Zhuānchá A thick rectangular block of tea, usually in 100g, 250g, 500g, and 1000g sizes. Zhuancha bricks are the traditional shape that was used for ease of transport along the Ancient tea route by horse caravans.
4.Square Fāngchá A flat square of tea, usually in 100g or 200g sizes. They often contain words that are pressed into the square.
5.Mushroom Jǐnchá Literally meaning "tight tea," the tea is shaped much like túocha, but with a stem rather than a convex hollow. This makes them quite similar in form to a mushroom