I love tea and basically all comercial tea is same the differences are in the way or preparation dry fermentation and the leaves zone.
Red tea is green tea fermented
Black is the green tea dry and warmed
White are the tiny points or the new grown
Leaves.
China is the origing all of the tea but now almost grow in everywhere.
How long do they let century eggs sit for the fermenting process? I personally find most tea bitter and not very satisfying , maybe it’s just because of my soda diet . I like white tea but my personal favorite for my sore throat is peach tea , but noodles will be good . Great now I’m craving ramen noodles! =P~
The English originally traded opium for tea, then grew tea in India, which was an English colony then
Indeed, English tea trade was centred on the lands of the Honourable British East India Company.
@drazen Hardly honourable from the perspectives of the Chinese… As far as Chinese History is concerned, the British traders told the Chinese opium extends their lifespan and got them addicted to trade our silk, tea, china, and silver for an addictive drug.
@Marajade We have medicinal tea that westerners don’t have. Chinese medicine can involve tea-like medicines. They really make you less susceptible to disease, but they’re as bitter as hell… I had to drink that once.
Anyway, it could toughen up your stamina for a certain price, and maybe give your health a boost?
On the subject of Chinese medicine, though, we stick needles into pressure points in order to control the body’s inner workings, and it really does work in healing you. But would that be too much to implement into the story?
@Wyrmspawn The Chinese were consuming opium long before the arrival of the British; The Honourable East India Company simply saw an opportunity to make a profit. 'Tis just good business, - if they didn’t want the ghastly stuff, they shouldn’t have been buying so much of it.
Oh, and it was actually the Chinese themselves who said opium had life-extending properties and suchlike, with the drug being supported by people as high up as The Chenghua Emperor.
Aaaaaah tangents.
That is British history. Not Chinese history. There were no drug addicts to opium UNTIL the British turned opium into smokes and still promoted them as medicine. According to China, at any rate.
As for the Chenghua emperor, I’m not sure who you are referring to, as I study Chinese History in Chinese, but I’ll look into it. However, I’m pretty sure the Qing government ordered a ban on opium. The British kept smuggling it in. Then the Qing government ordered Lin Zechui to destroy the opium. Hardly what a government who supports opium trade might do…
Also, a thing for the story. Maybe we could have an opium house for the Chinese? Either run by them or someone seeking to make money, like Preston?
The Chinese had been using opium since the 600’s. It was the European arrival which merged the previously-only-consumed opium with tobacco, which heightened the addictive properties, - Unfortunate, but not some almighty anti-China conspiracy.
The Qing government did indeed try to crack down on opium trade, but that proved ineffective since it was so damn popular. They then attacked British merchants and trading stations, which riled up the British Empire, who retaliated, resulting in the First Opium War.
An opium house for the Chinese would be a relevant vice, which could add an interesting new element.
@drazzen
You seem very very pro English… Opium was originally used for medicinal purposes. When Lin zexu was sent to stop the opium trade, he arrested the Chinese opium dealers and demanded that foreigners hand their opium over, when they refused, he took them by force, the British then attacked, starting the opium wars
@Xt1000305 I seem pro-British because I am.
In the 7th century, opium was established as a form of medicine and revitalising agent, and its popularity was thereafter assured by the Ming dynasty’s support. Eventually the European tobacco habits led to opium being smoked rather than consumed, which promptly became immensely popular in China. The Qing dynasty dithered for a while, arguing over whether to legalise the drug, - since even the Emperor partook, - but eventually decreed it to be illegal. This decree was about as effective as a sieve dipped in acid is at holding water. So, Lin Zexu was sent to remedy the situation. British merchant ships in neutral waters were seized, and the opium cargo destroyed, costing the British government an inordinate amount. Demanding reparations for this property seizure, - and for the general mistreatment of European merchants by China, - the British Empire attacked, and won. The payment they demanded was a small territory to set up a trading station, i.e. Hong Kong, the opening of ports to British trade, and more commerce.
The irony being that the present day British government is one of the US staunchest allies when it comes to the so called “war on drugs” and is essentially preventing many young entrepreneurial spirits, from bettering themselves through legitimate commerce and from fulfilling, an apparently greater than ever, social and economic demand in present day Western society.
Yeah, funny old world innit.
Let’s see, century eggs, rice, jellied chicken feet, salted fish and Chinese sausages. That certainly sounds like something that could be carried cross country without too much risk of spoiling. And if it is not cheap, so what? The region runs on a gold economy. They’d shoe their ponies with gold if they couldn’t get iron at a reasonable price.
Chinese tea and medicines, including opium, will likewise be with the provendor. No opium dens though, the region just won’t be that cultivated until the railroad arrives.
Now I need a good name for a Chinese provendor. I’ll be looking things up on my own, but if anyone has a name, preferably one with lush overtones, I’d be happy to hear it.
As for the opium wars, about all I remember reading of them was a portion of the underlying cause. The Chinese had many things that the Westerners were eager to buy, but the Chinese did not want the vast majority of what Westerners were offering in return; except watches and a trickle of opium.
This imbalance naturally limited trade, particularly trade on the scale that the West wanted.
The market for watches and other mechanical devices was relatively fixed. The market for opium was small but more flexible, and so some decided to try and make that market larger…
For a provendor would you mean a company name or a single man’s name? Because I’ve got some knowledge of Chinese. Being Chinese and living in China can have that effect, B-)
@AllenGies names for the Chinese provendor, as follows:
Wu Xing’s Chinese Things (Wu Xing would be the proprietor)
Mr Xing’s Chinese Things (see note above)
Hu Feng’s Asian Den (Hu Feng proprietor)
Chinese Feasts from the East
Qui Tang’s Gifts from the East Land (Qui Tang proprietor)
Hung Quort’s Exotic Food Court (Hung Quort proprietor)
Those are all the ones I can think of for now!
Wyrmspawn- Well, I need the owner/operator’s name. Redgrave offered a few, but none of them have clicked yet phonetically.
RedGrave- I like ‘Gifts from the East Land’. That has a nice ring to it.
Qui Tang… what does the name mean, if anything? What part of China would he be from?
Hu Feng also has potential, and a few possible comedic moments with 'Who sold you that?, ‘Hu.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Yes.’ (Many thanks to Abbott and Costello for their well known ‘Who’s on first’ gag.)
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Also, I have entered the spell-check phase for Chapter 6. But given the size of the file, over 800k, it has taken three hours to get halfway done. Debugging will be far worse. But my target date for beta release is next week Friday.
@AllenGies I don’t know what it means, or where it would be from! I’m no expert on Asian names- or names at all!
Fat Choi means getting rich in Cantonese, the most common language in southern China. Wong Fat Choi could mean King of getting rich.
Another likely name doe a merchant would be Man Bat Chin. That means: Ten thousand, hundred, thousand. That would mean he’s making a LOT of money.
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