Fuzhou

The Tientsin Treaties, having recently opened more ports to trade, and the Chinese government having repeatedly approved of the golden stream of revenue pouring into their treasury, customs administration was extended up and down the coasts as fast as the ports could be declared open.

To Ningbo, Fuzhou, Amui, Suotao, Qingjiang, even so far north as tientsin and british french or german commissioners put in charge of each in order that the original international character of the service might be preserved most of these ports welcomed the new order of things promptly started to clear them up.

At the time of his going both Wuhu and Nanking two cities on the Yangtze were still in the hands of the rebels and the river steamer captain warned his passengers that the ship would stop at Wuhu to get her papers from them.

Take my advice said he and remain quietly in your cabin from the time we stop until we leave for the rebels have the habit of coming on board and were they to find a man like yourself a government agent on government business they would certainly take you ashore.

In 1844 “the Houqua” and “Montauk,” were built expressly for tea trade, being the first of the class of vessels known as clippers, in which speed was sought at the expense of carrying capacity, and by which the average passage was reduced from twenty to thirty days for the round trip.

The trade in tea was entirely transacted at Canton until 1842 ,when the ports of Shanghai, Amoy and Foochow were opened by the treaty of Nanking [the China tea-trade being mainly conducted at the latter ports].

As late as 1850 all vessels trading in tea carried considerable armament, a necessary precaution against the pirates who swarmed in the China seas during the first half of the last century.

The progress of this famous plant has been something like the progress of truth,—suspected at first though very palatable to those who had the courage to taste it, resisted as it encroached, and abused as its use spread but establishing its triumph at last in cheering the world, from palace to cottage, by the resistless effect of time and its own virtues only becoming a beverage appreciated by all as well as an agent of progress and civilization.

Hysan, known to the Chinese as Hee Tzen flourishing spring, from being gathered in the full springtime, is a large loosely curled leaf prepared from the older leaves of the respective pickings, which cannot from their size and lack of succulence be either rolled or curled.

They bear the same relation to young hysons that imperials do to gunpowder and preserving the same characteristics in a relatively minor degree.

Hyson Pekoe, called by the Chinese Laung Tsin literally tea of the wells of the dragon A term used to describe an exceedingly rare peculiar and expensive variety of green tea Which owing to its extreme tenderness and delicacy and very light firing is never exported It has a small evenly curled leaf rich natural green in color with whitish downy or silvery ends The infusion is of a pale or light golden yellow tinge clear and sparkling as champagne In the cups and possessing what the connoisseur would term a simply exquisite aroma or bouquet Hyson Skin termed by the Chinese tuan ke or refuse tea Is composed of the largest and oldest leaves screenings or fannings of the foregoing varieties That cannot owing to their coarse or broken condition be rolled or curled It is large loose and flat in appearance varying in color liquor and flavor According to the grade from which it is separated in screening many of them however draw And drink exceedingly well making very useful teas for blending purposes China black teas comprise oolongs congas suchongs and scented teas And are principally produced in the southeastern provinces of fo kien and kiang nan Oolong Teas The term oolong is derived from the Chinese word u laong signifying Green Dragon and is applied to a variety of tea having a small greenish-yellow Leaf permeating through it they are divided into six different kinds Amoy's Fu Chow's Formosa's Ankhoi's Sarune Padre and Pikoi Oolong Teas Possessing as many distinct flavors and characters caused By the variations in soil climate and mode of preparation Amoy Oolongs Are divided into Kokoo's Mojia and Ning Yong From the localities where grown and differ much in size style and character Kokoo Is a large dark coarse leaf tea rough and unsightly in the hand but pungent and grippy in the cup The poorer grades possess a wild or herby flavor a quality strange To say appreciated by some few tea drinkers But strongly objected to by the majority of consumers Mojia Is a large light and somewhat chaffy leaf tea Light colored and light bodied in the cup but Withal smooth and pleasant in flavor But although lacking in strength it is a serviceable Tea for blending purposes particularly in combination with a heavy Congu Or Assam in the proportion of one of the latter to four parts Mohiya Being too thin when used alone Ning Yongs Are light in weight greenish yellow in color and stylish looking in the Hand though not well made or twisted They are also Very pleasing in the cup possessing a sort of hickory nut Flavor for which they are much admired But are thin in body and Lacking in snap It is contended by some experts that if this Variety were converted into a green tea it would rank with a Light drawing Moyun in drinking qualities Amoy One time was the greatest tea mart in the world exporting As much as 500,000 half chests per annum But which has now fallen to less than 50,000 Due in part to careless cultivation and indifferent curing The lower Grades are stemmy dusty and frequently adulterated with spurious Or exhausted leaves Many of the finer grades However still turn out splendidly in the cup rivaling the Lower grades of Foochow and Formosa being Frequently faced and sold for the latter When these grades are scarce or high It does not require An expert however to detect the substitution as they are Totally devoid of the fragrant and nosy flavor that so Distinguished the latter Foochow Oolongs Are produced in the province of Fo Kien and are Without exception the truest and finest variety Of the genus tea grown in any country china Not accepted They are usually put up in chops Quantities bearing the brand or chop mark of the Grower or packer which are again Divided Lines termed in trade first Seconds thirds fourths and sometimes Fifths denoting the various pickings and gratings In the order named The dried leaf of the Firsts or finer grades is black and almost silky in Texture Exceedingly well twisted and crispy but not brittle Yielding rather than breaking when pressed in the hand While the Infusion is dark golden in colour Rich round and full Bodied very mellow and fragrant in flavour The infused Leaf medium in size very regular in form and of a Rich brown colour The seconds are Somewhat larger in leaf looser in make not being Quite as finely or evenly Twisted but possessing excellent Cup qualities being the favourite with Consumers who prefer Full body to delicate Flavour The thirds are Still looser in make bolder in Style and darker in Liquor heavier in Body and though not near as High or fragrant in Flavour are nevertheless Useful and serviceable Particularly when they are Composed of what is known as High district teas The fourths and fifths When there are Any are correspondingly Inferior in Quality the Dried leaf of the Latter being especially Large coarse and Rough in Appearance Brittle and Chaffy in the Hand and frequently Dusty or Stemmy Dark in Draw but Thin in Body Lacking in Flavour Deteriorating rapidly After infusion and devoid of the high character that so distinguishes the former grades of this variety.

The principal chops now known to trade comprise the Tong Mao, Tong Li, Tong Xing, Chun Fa, Chun Fat, Sun Ki, Cheong Ki, Kom Wee and Kom Wo Cut Chops Formosa Oolongs also known to trade as Tom Swees from being shipped from that port are unique in leaf and flavor differing widely in character possessing a rich natural bouquet entirely unknown to any other variety.

Zheng Zilong was among the most powerful of them.

When the Prince of Tang was elevated as the Longwu Emperor in Fuzhou in 1645, one of the more credible of the southern Ming claimants, Zilong became his most important military supporter, his fleet, his networks, his finances, his men.

All of it was placed, at least formally, in service of the Longwu Restoration.

The Emperor, who was a man of genuine intelligence and moral seriousness, recognized immediately how completely his survival depended on Zhilong's cooperation.