The Great Tea Road · from 1842 (treaty ports after the Opium War), peak 1850–1920
Морской чайный путь
海上茶路 · Maritime Tea Route
~16,000 km · Fujian/Zhejiang → London · 90–99 days by clipper, 30 by steamer
The maritime arc of treaty ports: Wuyi tea and Hangzhou Longjing were brought to the Shanghai Bund and the nine-concession Tianjin, loaded onto clippers and steamers — via Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, around the Cape of Good Hope or through Suez — to London, Hamburg, and New York. In the 'Great Tea Race' of 1866, Ariel and Taeping reached London 28 minutes apart after 99 days at sea.
