For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire, and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink
- ISBN-10
- 009949342X
- ISBN-13
- 9780099493426
- Series
- For All the Tea in China
- Category
- Business & Economics
- Pages
- 280
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2010-04-01
- Publisher
- Arrow
- Author
- Sarah Rose
Description
Robert Fortune was a Scottish gardener, botanist, plant hunter - and industrial spy. In 1848, the East India Company engaged him to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China - territory forbidden to foreigners - to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea. For centuries, China had been the world's sole tea manufacturer. Britain purchased this fuel for its Empire by trading opium to the Chinese - a poisonous relationship Britain fought two destructive wars to sustain. The East India Company had profited lavishly as the middleman, but now it was sinking, having lost its monopoly to trade tea. Its salvation, it thought, was to establish its own plantations in the Himalayas of British India. There were just two problems: India had no tea plants worth growing, and the company wouldn't have known what to do with them if it had. Hence Robert Fortune's daring trip. The Chinese interior was off-limits and virtually unknown to the West, but that's where the finest tea was grown - the richest oolongs, soochongs and pekoes. And the Emperor aimed to keep it that way.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2014-05-09
- - pages
- Paperback
- Tantor Media Incorporated
Similar books
-
All the Tea in China
By Kit Boey Chow, Ione KramerTraces the history of tea, looks at Chinese and Japanese tea customs, explains how tea is grown and processed, and describes fifty Chinese varieties
-
All the Tea in China
By Jane OrcuttJane Orcutt is the author or coauthor of fifteen books, including the bestselling Porch Swings and Picket Fences. A two-time RITA award finalist, Jane was also a finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award.
-
All the Tea in China: How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland
By Jeremy HaftThe book is also filled with funny stories of Haft’s hard-won lessons as a China business pioneer. It’s the most engaging, useful book yet on this important subject.
-
All the Tea In China
By Kyril BonfiglioliIn this hilarious novel, Bonfiglioli takes us back in time to an ironical maritime romp?Master and Commander by way of Monty Python.
-
Not for all the tea in China
By Debbie PozzobonIt seemed as if by some magic though, that we laboured initally against a tide of administration, before we found ourselves in this land of ancient wonder. Our life here is the theme of this story, It was not always beautiful.
-
For All the Tea in China
By Stephen SheppardFor All the Tea in China
-
Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History
By James A. BennIn English, see the early report by Han Wei 1993 and the later study by Karetzky 2000. For some issues related to the relic finds at Famen si, see the unpublished paper by Robert H. Sharf, “The Buddha's Finger Bones at Famen-si and the ...
-
Tea War: A History of Capitalism in China and India
By Andrew B. LiuLees, Tea Cultivation, 211; Lees, Land and Labour, iv, 84–85; Lees, Memorandum Written, 1–2; Lees, ed., Resolutions, Regulations, Despatches, 1–2; Edgar “Tea Cultivation,”17, 13; Money, Cultivation & Manufacture, 2–3. 36.
-
Not for All the Tea in China
By Chris BurrowsEvery word and every event documented is the absolute truth. If you enjoy reading this book half as much as I enjoyed writing it, then I will have achieved more than I could ever have hoped for.
-
The Rise of Tea Culture in China: The Invention of the Individual
By Bret HinschThis distinctive and enlightening book explores the development of tea drinking in China, using tea culture to explore the profound question of how Chinese have traditionally expressed individuality.