I recently received a can of tea while on a trip to china from my hosts (a business colleague). The tea itself looks like small black pellets (not a leafy consistency, but rather, if I squeeze them they disintegrate into powder, but won't disolve simply by pouring hot water on them). I'm unsure how to brew this tea - can you help me?

Sounds like an oolong tea. Taiwan oolong tea is often processed like this into little balls. You can put about a tablespoon of the dry leaves in a mug and pour hot water over them, they will expand into full leaves. Cover the mug while the tea is brewing.

With oolong tea, you can usually re-brew the same leaves. Let them steep about a minute or so then pour off all the tea into another cup. Then add more hot water to the leaves. Each brew takes a bit longer, and you can keep rebrewing until the leaves have lost their taste. With good oolongs you can sometimes get 5 - 7 rebrews.