Tea in China, HK Naturalist article 1931

HF: It is worth looking at the Hong Kong Naturalist – “a quarterly illustrated journal principally for Hong Kong and South China” which was published from Jan 1930 until Feb 1941. The  journal contain articles on a variety of subjects of interest to us including, oysters, Kowloon waterworks, agriculture in the New Territory [sic] and a couple of mountains where mines are mentioned.

…and tea. The article linked below appeared in The HK Naturalist  Vol 2 No 2 May 1931. It was written by Soame Jenyms. Roger Soame Jenyms was born on 24th April 1904 in Cambridgeshire, UK and died in the same county on 14th October 1976. Between 1926 and 1931 he was a cadet officer in the Hong Kong Civil Service. (1)

The article begins…

mentions…

provides details about the geographical locations of where tea is grown in south China as well as the tantalising “a few stray plants in the New Territories”…

and concludes with the translation of a Chinese saying. It seems a tad unlikely that the contemporary editor of Nature journal would allow its inclusion.

The image on the Home page of this article is of Camellia Sinensis from which tea is produced.

Tea by Soame Jenyns, The HK Naturalist, May 1931

Sources:

1.  Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, HKUP, 2012 which contains a biography of Soame Jenyns

Related Indhhk articles:

1. Traditional Tea Growing in the New Territories, RASHKB article
2. The British Hong-Kong Tea Company, London