Hi! Folks,

Recently I also received an email from a blogger called Jessica Hulett who is so kind to share with me the article that they had just posted on their own blog.

Her kind thoughts and proposal for posting of her article in my blog is well accepted by me to mark a good kick start our co-operation to enrich my blog readers further. Thank her so much for her concerns and action.

As such, I am without any hesitation agree to it and append below is her article. Hope you enjoy it.

10 Ways to Really Find the Price of Tea in China

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

If you grew up like I did you may have heard your parents say a few times “What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”  Well, I must confess that I have started using that same saying on my children and guess what?  They are now old enough to call me on it and throw it back in my face.  So now we have banter back and forth around variations of the “price of tea in China” saying.  Before I knew it, the whole thing got a bit out of control and I simply had to find out how I could know the price of tea in China daily. And thus, this list of 10 places to find the price of tea in China online was born:

1. Chinese Tea Store: This site offers a wide variety of authentic Chinese teas for a reasonable price. You can order as little as 25 grams or as much as 200 grams of tea.
2. Tea Trader: This tea trader site lists its Chinese teas in Canadian dollars and sell as much as 500 grams per premium tea.
3. Yixing Teapot Sale: This tea seller has a wide assortment of aged teas and special grade teas for a reasonable price.
4. Golden Teahouse: Check out Golden Teahouse’s collection of fine Chinese teas and monthly specials you don’t want to miss!
5. Chinese Tea Wholesales Center: If you’re looking to buy your tea at a good price, you need to check out this wholesale center that offers premium Chinese teas in bulk.
6. China Tea Mall: China Tea Mall gives you a thorough price guide and detailed tea description to make purchasing even easier.
7. Grand Tea Company: This Hong Kong-based company offers a wide variety of traditional and specialty teas in several different weights.
8. The Whole Leaf: The Whole Leaf sells just that – whole leaf tea, not tea bags. This purer form of tea is sold by the ounce or quarter pound.
9. Chinese Tea: This site offers a wide variety of traditional and aged teas and a dose of tea history for you to enjoy.
10. Chinese Culture: Check out what this online market has to offer and shop around for their special tea deals.

If you aren’t familiar with the origins of the saying, it’s not particularly complicated and dates back to the 19th century when the price of tea in England was particularly high.  It was actually highest when the first ship arrived back from China after their harvest. The ship owners would pay for the crop in China and then race back to England to try to get there first (since the first ship back got the highest payment and each subsequent ship got less). 

This became known as the tea clipper races.  So basically the saying evolved from those last ships that made it back complaining of the price they were getting in England and the response being what does that (the current price of tea in England) have to do with the price of tea in China?

Please share with us your view/experience. Thanks and stay tuned.