Pagoda Anchorage
Books
- Ninety-Nine Days The Great Tea Race of 1866 and the End of the Clipper Era · Liszt Think
In May 1866, five clippers departed Foochow within three days, chasing a lucrative premium for the first new-season tea to reach London.
- The Premium and the Min River…he first tea became available for loading. The new crop appeared at Foochow earlier than at any other port. The Min River estuary, with its pagoda anchorage and its access to the interior tea-growing regions, became the staging ground for the annual contest. Ships that loaded at Shanghai or Cant…
- The Logbook’s First PageJohn Keay stood on Ariel’s quarterdeck and watched the Foochow pilot’s boat pull away toward the Pagoda Anchorage. The morning of May 30, 1866, offered a light northeast breeze, barely enough to fill the royals. Behind him, the anchorage still held the…
- Tea, Salt, and Men…into the hatch. It settled with a thud that echoed through the timbers. The loading had taken five days. Sixteen clippers had waited in the Pagoda Anchorage at Foochow that May, their captains watching each other’s spars for signs of readiness. The new crop of tea became available here earlier t…