In the beginning, the price of tea reached quite high levels. Therefore, the product was only available to the rich, usually represented by royalties and nobles. From this point-of-view, tea's evolution on the European market is similar to that on the Chinese market. This is because tea started to be purchased by the masses when its price lowered and became more available. The increased demand for this product on the English market determined traders to intensify their efforts in order to import larger amounts of tea from China. This is where the clippers interfered. Clippers were rapid ships that were designed in order to serve traders in their expeditions. The most circulated trade routes used for importing trade and spices from Asia were the Eastern ones. These trade routes also reached the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa.

The Europeans did not have many products that interested the Asian parties. This is the reason for which tea trade was difficult and European traders had limited negotiation possibilities. However, the European countries exported wool and woolen products to Asian countries (Culture Online, 2010).

In addition to this, European traders found it useful to import opium to China. This allowed them to solidify their position in the economic relationships between Europe and Asia. The Opium War that followed...

This is because China was forced to accept the economic conditions imposed by Britain.
This allowed British traders to import large quantities of tea to Europe. The country also managed to start cultivating tea on national level. The country was therefore able to establish itself as one of the most important tea producers.

Reference list:

1. The History of Tea (2003). Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://www.houseoftea.ie/html/allabout/history.htm.

2. Chinese History (2000). China Knowledge. Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Qing/qing-econ.html.

3. The Tea Trade (2010). Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/cupoftea/biography/the-tea-trade.

4. Trade and Trade Routes (2010). Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://www.cpamedia.com/trade-routes/.

5. Yong, L. (2007). The Dutch East India Company's Tea Trade With China. Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://books.google.ro/books?id=hcm798WFX2kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=tea+trade&source=bl&ots=v5n_FvtOMm&sig=ehuvZalVoCrTWpRLBZeQftSr7ZI&hl=ro&ei=dOisTJ4qjsOzBu_DrbAN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CDcQ6AEwCTgU#v=onepage&q&f=false.