Tracing Tea Team Plans 15,000 Kilometer Trip From Calcutta to London

By William I. Lengeman III

Nowadays the tea we drink makes its way from far-flung regions in a relatively short amount of time. But that wasn’t always the case. One upon a time tea had to make its way from China, and later India, primarily by one of two routes – either by a long sea voyage around the tip of southern Africa or on an arduous overland trek from Asia to Europe.

Though the former route was probably more common, it’s the overland route that forms the basis of the Tracing Tea project, which the participants describe as “the international collaboration of four students and a film crew who have a love of tea strong enough to survive 15,000 km in three-wheeled auto-rickshaws.”

The Tracing Tea expedition is being timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of tea’s introduction to Britain. The trip, which will take the team through 18 countries, will be documented at the Tracing Tea Web site and is expected to eventually be the basis for a documentary film and a book. Excerpts from an exploratory journey along the route are posted at the Tracing Tea site.

Among the highlights, a photo gallery chronicling various segments of the route, including China, central Asia, Iran, Turkey and more. There’s also a generous selection of film clips, including one that chronicles a mishap in Austria, another that recounts bureaucratic headaches in Kyrgyzstan and yet another of Darjeeling, India. Other highlights include a blog that covers the preliminary journey and a book excerpt from team member Michael Pye.

The actual trip is projected to take six months and is set to get underway in July 2008. It should prove to be interesting, if the group’s experiences with their first trip are any indication. As Pye noted, when reflecting on the research expedition, “I learnt that anything is possible, even thirteen thousand mile car journeys, with a heady mixture of uncompromising determination and near sectionable lunacy.”