公元1606年，荷蘭東印度公司將第一批從中國購得的茶葉運至阿姆斯特丹
In 1606, the Dutch East India Company Shipped the First Batch of Tea Purchased from China to Amsterdam

西方最早有關對茶葉記載的文獻是公元851年一位阿拉伯商人撰寫的《中國與印度的關系》一書中。
The earliest written record about tea in the West was in the book The Relationship between China and India by an Arabian businessman in 851 AD.

從17世紀20年代起，英國東印度公司從中國進口的產品一半是茶葉。19世紀以后，英國東印度公司從中國進口的茶葉都占其總貨值的90%以上，在其壟斷中國貿易的最后幾年中，茶葉成為其唯一進口的產品。
Since the 1620s, half of the products imported from China by the British East India Company are tea. After the 19th century, tea accounted for over 90% of all the products imported from China by the British East India Company in value. In the last few years of it monopolizing China's trade, tea became the company’s only imported product from China.

公元1704年，英船“根特”號在廣州購買470擔茶葉。
In 1704, the British ship "Gent" purchased 23,500 kg of tea in Guangzhou.

19世紀70年代之前，因為中國是茶葉主要的甚至是唯一的供應國，因此茶葉價格基本是受中國支配，而之后，漸漸受倫敦市場支配。導致此格局變化的原因是，中國受到印度和錫蘭茶葉的競爭，綠茶則有來自日本的競爭。
Before the 1870s, because China was the main and even the only tea supplier, the price of tea was basically dominated by China. It was then gradually dominated by the London market because of the strong competition of tea from India and Ceylon, and also green tea from Japan.

19世紀70年代后，中國茶葉在國際市場競爭中落敗，其原因有三：一是中國茶葉品質不穩定，二是以次充好、假貨充斥，三是信息閉塞，不了解國外市場。
Since the 1870s, Chinese tea failed in international competition. There are three reasons for its failure. First, unstable quality; second, shoddy and fake tea on the market; third, the short of market information.