From the mid-Qing dynasty, as large numbers of Chinese workers migrated to Nanyang, Liubao tea carried their homesickness across the seas. The ancient tea ship route also connected with the Maritime Silk Road, extending its reach to the frontiers of Hong Kong and Macao.
At the Hong Kong-Macao Passenger Terminal in Sai Wan, the flow of people is constant. Every day, countless passenger and cargo ships travel across the wide waters of Victoria Harbour, leaving trails of white foam behind them.
“Before the construction of the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in the early 1990s, a line of docks stretched from here up to Sheung Wan. Ships traveling between Wuzhou and Hong Kong would dock in this area, where teas from Wuzhou would be unloaded or transshipped,” said Wu Shenlong, former deputy general manager of Kweichow Shipping Co., Ltd., gazing out over the harbor from his office window at the terminal. His voice was filled with nostalgia for days gone by.
As the tea ships sailed into the distance, the ancient route remained… In the long river of history, tea ships departing from Wuzhou would navigate the waves of the Xijiang River, carrying basket after basket of tea and the hopes of countless tea makers along the ancient tea ship route, all the way to Guangzhou, a key port on China's mainland.
However, the story of the tea ship route did not end there. From the mid-Qing dynasty, large numbers of Chinese workers migrated to Nanyang, facing an uncertain future with little hope of return. Liubao tea became a source of comfort for them, carrying their longing for home. Amid countless moments of joy and sorrow, the tea ship route linked up with the Maritime Silk Road, continuously extending beyond China's borders.
The route extended overseas
Although there are no systematic records of Liubao tea's export to foreign countries, it is not difficult to glean some insights from various historical documents. The 1951 edition of China Tea News recorded: “In the past, Guangdong merchants set up offices in Heikou Street, Liubao Township, Guangxi, to collect tea… They then transported it to Guangzhou by electric-powered boats for export to Hong Kong and Macao. Apart from sales in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, most of the Liubao tea was distributed to Yipoh (Ipoh) and Kuala Lumpur in Nanyang.”
The account in China Tea News is brief, but the export of Liubao tea to foreign countries could fill an epic tale. Along the extension of the ancient route overseas, there were gatherings of tea lovers enjoying their brews, as well as the bitterness of overseas workers finding solace in tea. There were the harsh realities of competition among distributors and the hardships endured by transporters…
The consumption habits of tea drinkers in Hong Kong and Macao were a crucial factor in the extension of the tea ship route overseas.
After Hong Kong was opened as a port in 1840, its population grew rapidly. Most of those who migrated to Hong Kong and Macao came from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and they had a habit of drinking Liubao tea. As a result, Hong Kong and Macao became major markets for Liubao tea outside of China. Huang Pengxu, a former advisor to the British Crown Hotel Management Company and director-general of China Overseas Catering Management Co., Ltd., has conducted extensive research on the changing consumption habits in Hong Kong teahouses. He said, “Before the outbreak of full-scale war during the Anti-Japanese War, Liubao tea was consumed in large quantities in Hong Kong's catering market, accounting for about 70% of Black Tea consumption. Many patrons in teahouses drank Liubao tea.”
The area around the Hong Kong and Macao terminals was once where ships traveling between Wuzhou and Hong Kong would dock.
However, more of the overseas consumption of Liubao tea came from Southeast Asia. It was the countless Chinese in Southeast Asia who solidified and sustained the overseas extension of the tea ship route.
According to A Collection of Historical Records on Chinese Workers Abroad, after the mid-19th century, the South Seas region under British and Dutch colonial rule entered a period of comprehensive development, leading to a great demand for labor. This resulted in a surge in the number of Chinese workers migrating to Nanyang. Statistics from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau of the State Council in 1920 show that the number of Chinese workers in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand exceeded two million. Most of these workers came from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, which explains why Liubao tea became popular in Nanyang.
After the Qing government was forced to open “Five Ports for Foreign Trade” in 1842, the monopoly position of the “Thirteen Factories” in foreign trade was broken, and Guangzhou's status as the sole tea export port declined rapidly. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's position as a hub for tea transshipment continued to rise. During this period, Macao, being the main departure port for Chinese coolies, saw large numbers of workers from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces bring Liubao tea with them, making Macao another important port for the export of Liubao tea.
Thus, in addition to converging at the port of Guangzhou, the tea ship route extended to Hong Kong and Macao, developing into a major maritime transportation channel that fanned out to Nanyang and Japan via transshipment through Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Ships connecting Hong Kong and Macao
The furthest extension of the tea ship route into the sea was Hong Kong and Macao.
Flipping through A History of Macao's Shipping Development, compiled by the Macao Civic Affairs Bureau, provides a clearer understanding of the pulse of Macao's shipping industry: With the rapid development of Portuguese maritime trade in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, Macao's re-export trade reached its peak between the mid-16th and mid-17th centuries. Macao became a hub linking the maritime silk road trade cycle between Europe, Asia, and Latin America. During this period, not only Portugal but also Spanish, Dutch, and British trading companies operating in East Asia engaged in substantial tea trade through Macao.
Times change. After the mid-19th century, Hong Kong Rose rapidly as an international trade port. In his book Hong Kong Port, scholar Zhao Zineng mentioned that from the late 19th century, Hong Kong's entrepôt trade, especially with Mainland China, entered a period of rapid growth. By 1900, 41% of China's foreign trade passed through Hong Kong. Scholar Chen Ciyu pointed out in The Development of Modern Chinese Tea: “After the laying of the submarine cable in 1871, Shanghai and Hong Kong could immediately communicate with Britain, enabling Chinese tea merchants and warehouses to more accurately predict the situation of tea transactions.”
Since the Qing dynasty, Wuzhou has been the most prosperous inland port in Guangxi, with close shipping ties to Hong Kong and Macao, allowing Wuzhou's tea to be smoothly exported to these regions.
According to Guangxi Provincial Gazetteer: Transportation Volume, the Water route between Wuzhou and Hong Kong was already open by 1875, with wooden sailboats plying the route. After Wuzhou was opened as a port in 1897, a large number of motorized vessels entered the Wuzhou-Hong Kong route, introducing regular passenger and cargo services.
In 1902, Hong Kong. A cargo ship is seen ready to depart in the distance.
In 1902, many cargo-laden wooden boats were docked in Macao's inner