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Encyclopedia > Price of tea in China

"The price of tea in China" is an expression which is used to denote something which is unrelated to the current topic of discussion.


This expression has stemmed from economists, who describe everything economic as affecting everything else, trying to find an expression which denotes the furthest logical connection from their current economic focus. In this way, the price of tea in China was used to denote the furthest possibility. It can also be used to denote an irrelevant topic. A hot cup of tea A tea bush. ...


It has the most common form "what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"


There may be a second explanation.


In the 19th century the price for tea in England was the highest when the first ship with the newly harvested tea came in. So for the ship owners it was important to be as fast as possible back to England with the load, otherwise the cost of the passage was not to be recovered from the sale of the tea. Thus there were real races (the tea clipper races) where the sail ships managed to travel the whole distance from China to England in about 80 to 90 days. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... This article is about gathering crops. ... Model of clipper ship type, named Belle Étoile A clipper was a very fast multiple-masted sailing ship of the 19th century. ...


The difference in prices from the first load to the later ones was so high that it was quite unimportant which price for the tea was originally paid in China. So the "price of tea in China" was something that really didn't matter for the ship owners. They had to have the tea in England as fast as possible.


External links

  • Common English phrases
  • Article: Lost in Translation

  Results from FactBites:
 
China - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (4937 words)
Imperial monarchy in China ended with the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1912; however, the next 4 decades of ROC rule were marred by warlordism, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War.
China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization.
China is also traditionally thought of as comprising North China (北方) and South China (南方), the geographic boundary between which north and south is largely generalized as Huai River (淮河) and Qinling Mountains (秦岭).
Price of tea in China - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (307 words)
In this way, the price of tea in China was used to denote the furthest possibility.
In the 19th century the price for tea in England was the highest when the first ship with the newly harvested tea came in.
The difference in prices from the first load to the later ones was so high that it was quite unimportant which price for the tea was originally paid in China.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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