Chinese tea-house, Hong Kong. Photograph by John Thomson, 1868/1871.

Four men on the verandah of the same building as Thomson's negative number 41

Tea drinking has been a feature of life in southern China for a long time. In the second half of the 19th century, as an influx of Chinese merchants and labourers moved to Hong Kong, commercial teahouses flourished in response to the rising demand. There were various types of teahouses that catering for different classes. Many of them not only served tea and snacks but also offered opium for smoking, as well as female attendants. This one is a typical middle-range teahouse with an open veranda

1868/1871.

1 photograph : glass photonegative, wet collodion

Bears Thomson's negative number: "41"

China through the lens of John Thomson, 1868-1872, Beijing: Beijing World Art Museum, 2009, p. 159 (reproduced)

This is one of a collection of original glass negatives made by John Thomson. The negatives, made between 1868 and 1872, were purchased from Thomson by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1921

Wellcome Collection 18708i