From the perspective of historical geography, Tunxi as the chosen centre for tea production in the Qing could not be explained geographically alone by the river system of Huizhou, in which stead this article attempts ...From the perspective of historical geography, Tunxi as the chosen centre for tea production in the Qing could not be explained geographically alone by the river system of Huizhou, in which stead this article attempts a historicogeographical analysis by shifting our attention towards the sector-specific agglomeration of rel- evant industries and urbanisation. Due to the restrictions by the imperial government on using sea ports （e.g. Shanghai） for the transportation of tea south- wards for sale and export, Tunxi was made the centre for tea trade, not only due to its geographical convenience to tax clearance, but also because of the agglomeration of tea-related industries in the City, such as tin-can, box and bamboo-crate ware- houses. There also had emerged in this process a conglomeration of daily life services, making Tunxi a place of convenience-cure-prosperity. Thus, a combination of both historical and geographical factors can help in no small way to offer a better explanation of the urban development of Tunxi as a tea trade centre in imperial China.展开更多
文摘From the perspective of historical geography, Tunxi as the chosen centre for tea production in the Qing could not be explained geographically alone by the river system of Huizhou, in which stead this article attempts a historicogeographical analysis by shifting our attention towards the sector-specific agglomeration of rel- evant industries and urbanisation. Due to the restrictions by the imperial government on using sea ports （e.g. Shanghai） for the transportation of tea south- wards for sale and export, Tunxi was made the centre for tea trade, not only due to its geographical convenience to tax clearance, but also because of the agglomeration of tea-related industries in the City, such as tin-can, box and bamboo-crate ware- houses. There also had emerged in this process a conglomeration of daily life services, making Tunxi a place of convenience-cure-prosperity. Thus, a combination of both historical and geographical factors can help in no small way to offer a better explanation of the urban development of Tunxi as a tea trade centre in imperial China.
