Additional Items May Be Required In September And Throughout The: Fill & Download for Free

When I think about international travel, I think about the destination: the new experiences, the different cultures, the fascinating people...the food!Alas, the travel portion is a necessary evil. There are a number of international flight hacks and to help break it down, I capture them in 5 categories:Booking and MembershipPacking for the FlightAt the AirportDuring the FlightFight Jet LagBooking and Memberships:1. Credit Card: Sign up for a credit card where you can build points towards travel. Personally, I like getting points through business trips, then spending them on dreamy, leisurely trips with my hubs.2. Membership: Sign-up to be a member for the airline you intend to book with. Loyalty pays off, but if you have to stray, sign-up for a membership with the new airline as well. No need to be monogamous.3. Trusted Traveler Programs: TSA Pre✓®, Global Entry, Nexus and Sentri are programs support expedited processing through customs. In my experience, this SIGNIFICANTLY improves the overall travel experience. Lines are shorter, the scrutiny is less intense, it’s quicker, and sometimes… sometimes… you get to leave your shoes on. I know. Also, it’s really not that pricey, even for the infrequent flyer.4. When to buy: According to Expedia, the best time to purchase tickets for international travel at an approximate 10% savings:North America to Europe: 176 days in advanceNorth America to Asia Pacific: 160 days in advanceWithin Europe: 140 days in advance5. Day of the week to buy: Again according to Expedia, Tuesday has traditionally been the best to purchase. However there are trends towards weekends being a great time to find deals as well. It is projected that 2016 will be the year to travel for less.6. Time of year to travel: If you are travelling for leisure and have some flexibility when you travel, consider travelling during the off season for more economical flights. For my honeymoon, we traveled to England, Spain and France in September-October time frame. By our Canadian standards, the weather was gorgeous and we were still able to lay on the beach overlooking the Mediterranean. Travel + Leisure published a guide on “The Cheapest Places to Travel each Month of the Year”, to give you some ideas.7. Picking the Seat: The aisle seat is the best for international flights, as it gives you the opportunity to stand and stretch on a regular basis. Yes, the window seat gives you the opportunity the lean, but in my opinion it is overrated. Avoid seats near the lavatory and pay attention to the “less desirable” spots that many seat maps indicate nowadays. If in doubt, check out SeatGuru to help you with seat choice.Packing for the Airplane:8. Baggage: Carry-on only is the best if you can manage it. It’s more economical then checking a back and far more convenient. International travel often involves a strenuous trains, planes, and automobile scenario, so the less you travel with, the easier it will be to maneuver in high traffic areas. Make sure you review the airline size and weight requirements to be sure your luggage set will work for the duration of your trip.9. Personal Article, Carry-on Bag: There are so many posh options for a personal bag, but I am a huge fan of the back pack. (Cue boos and hisses). I have traveled with my laptop bag on my occasions, but the backpack is so much easier to navigate through airports and narrow aisle ways. Plus, it is far more comfortable. I have the North Face Hot Shot backpack in black and I personally think it still has “professional appeal”. I received sincere compliments from my ultra fabulous colleague from Paris, which I consider all the validation I need.10. Eye Mask and Ear Plugs: This can be substituted for a scarf and earphones, but you will definitely need something to block out the light and the sounds while you attempt some Zzzzz’s.11. Inflatable Neck Pillow: This will also help for sleeping situations and the inflatable parts minimizes room in your carry-on.12. Melatonin: In Canada, we can purchase melatonin in the vitamin/herb aisle at the pharmacy. Melatonin naturally exists in the body to regulate sleep cycle. By popping a supplement, it will help you sleep when time zones are against you.13. Meditation App: When attempting to fall asleep, I really enjoy listening to a mediation app like Headspace to help me relax and get into to a restful state.14. Water bottle: You can replenish your water at airports and it will help you stay hydrated during the flight.15. Technology: Make sure you have all the associated cords for your laptop, tablet, and phone. Although this is not related to the flight itself, be sure to bring an international adapter and converter for when you arrive at your destination (as required).16. Entertainment: Be sure to bring ear buds for movies and for use on your own electronic devices (tablets, phones, laptops). Load up your tech with games, movies, and reading material prior to your flight. A magazine or book is also nice to have, in the event your devices lets you down.17. Back-up Charger: Many aircraft have a USB port to charge your devices, but I have found that they are not always the most reliable. A charger will ensure that you will have your phone ready for use for when you land.18. Snacks: Pack some meal bars, nuts or dark chocolate to keep your blood sugar up. Airplane food is not awesome, so you will be guaranteed to have something yummy to nosh on.19. Facial Cleansing Wipes: When you have a long flight and need to hit the ground running, cleansing wipes are super refreshing and will help you feel cleaner and more alert.20. Hand Sanitizer: Airplanes are known to be germy, so have some santizer on hand to follow-up visits to the bathroom and before meals.21. Lip balm and Make-up: At minimum, I will bring powder, mascara and lip gloss to help myself feel more presentable for when I land.22. Gum or Mints: If brushing your teeth is awkward (or feels gross) on an airplane, have gum and mints handy to freshen the breath after an in-flight snooze.23. Ibuprofen: Pain medicate is handy to have for headaches and body pains. In a pinch, a flight attendant may be able to hook you up as well.24. Clothes: For the travel itself, wear comfortable clothing in layers, as this will help you adjust to the temperatures experienced throughout the travel experience. I love having a scarf, as it can act as a blanket, extra pillow, or eye protection.At the Airport:25. Airport Arrival: For international travel, you typically have to arrive 2 hours prior to departure. Check with the airline information to confirm. I don’t mind giving myself the extra time to get through security and enjoy a nice glass of wine, while waiting for my flight.26. Security: It’s awesome if you have Trusted Traveler Status (see point 3 above) to help reduce time in security. In any case, attempt to have your items as contained as possible, including putting sweaters and jackets into your luggage before hand. Slip-on shoes are handy when required to remove your footwear.27. Customs: The main hack here is to have Trusted Traveler Status (see point 3 above) to get through more quickly.28. Lounges: Having lounge access is a wonderful experience when waiting for your flight and during layovers. If you don’t have the status through your airline membership, consider a day pass. Better yet, travel with someone who has it and be their guest.29. Travel Documentation: Have your travel docs handy and contained within a travel wallet, for ease of presentation. It also helps to have as much as you can electronically, including an electronic boarding pass whenever possible.30. Operational Upgrades: Airlines will upgrade passenger seating when economy is oversold. Your status with the airline is a primary contributing factor to increasing your eligibility, but Air Travel Genius gives a good list of other considerations to increase your chances:Traveling aloneDon’t order a special meal, as they can’t be upgraded.Check-in earlyBook earlyBook a premium ticketSpecial Occasion Card: honeymoon, birthday, etcDuring the Flight:31. Seat Assignment: If you are not digging your seat assignment once you’re on board, the flight attendants will help you change seats, when and where ever possible. In addition, if you are not in business class and there are more seats then people, look for the opportunity to score 1 or more free seats beside you. This will give you the opportunity to stretch out and be more comfortable during a longer flight.32. Water Service: When available, a flight attendant will refill your bottle with water. Stay hydrated.33. Pillows and Blankets: Score extra pillows and blanket to support your seat and lower back.34. Prepare for Sleep: Figure out what works best for you, but my routine is to:eat a mealenjoy a glass of wine and liqueur (or two)get my seat as comfortable as possiblewatch a movie that I don’t mind missing the endput in my earphones and cover my eyespop a melatoninlisten to a mediate app or music and hopefully lull myself to sleep.Fight Jet Lag35. Vitamin Supplements: Take a vitamin supplement to boost your immune system to help prevent illness. Airborne and Emergen-C are two supplements I have taken with great results.36. Exercise and Stretch: A brisk walk, run or bike will get your blood moving and increase your energy level. I also have a yoga app on my phone to help lengthen the muscles and recover from the stationary time during the flight.37. Eat Small Meals: Depending on the direction you travel, your appetite may be off with the time zone difference. Start by eating small meals to get your system calibrated with local time.38. Melatonin: Already mentioned as a hack during the flight, but melatonin can help you get your sleep schedule calibrated as well.39. Hydration: Travelling is very dehydrating. Make sure your travel bottle is full and ask the hotel if you can drink out of the tap. Bottled water is great, but it’s good to know if you can drink the local water when in a pinch.I have saved the best hack for last. (Sound the trumpets.)40. Take a breath and savor the moment. You are one of the privileged few on this Earth who has the means and ability to travel internationally. Embrace the experience - the good, the bad, the ugly - and be thankful for the entire journey.Bon Voyage!

In its simplest sense because parliament voted for it.But there is a background to it. A background of monetary policy, central banking and commodity money.The global silver flowIn the mid 16th century the Ming dynasty switched to the silver standard for accounting and fiscal purposes. China which lacks rich silver mines and hadn’t used it extensively for centuries did not have a large supply of silver stored somewhere. Since China had around a quarter of the world population this caused such a demand its effects were felt throughout the globe.Europe on the other hand was relatively rich in silver especially following the 16th century South German mining boom and the discovery of silver in the Americas.Huge pile of silver in one place of the globe and a small pile and huge demand on the other side; you can guess what happened with regards to the global flow of silver. Between 1500 and 1800 China imported around 30% of new world silver which it financed with silk, porcelain and gold.The fact that silver was a medium exchange in both places also had another very important ramification. The European economy ‘backed’ by a large amount of silver had very high silver wages while China had low silver wages. In modern parlance one could say that the ‘euro’ was a very strong currency while the ‘yuan’ was a very weak one. A factor further compounded by differences in real wages. As any modern economist can tell you this affects trade, a weak currency makes it easier to export goods while limiting import while a strong currency is detrimental to export but allows for cheap import.Being on opposite sides of the Eurasian landmass the lands in between represented a gradient with regards to silver price. A kilogram of silver in England might have a 115% purchasing power in the Ottoman Empire, 140% in India and 200% in China. Merchants were keenly aware of this fact and its effects on their bottom line [i.e. profit and return on investment]. The 17th century trade of the English East India Company and the Levant company, which traded with the Ottomans, shows this dramatically.English agents in India noted that it was hard to sell things like English woollen because the people could not afford it. The end result was that English export to India consisted for 70% of specie and bullion while 30% consisted of other goods.In the Ottoman empire during that same time the difference in silver price was smaller which meant that European produce could compete with silver. The Levant company exported 70% English woollen and 30% specie and bullion, in fact Ottoman demand sustained the entire wool industry of several English counties.The high silver value in China also made Chinese gold very cheap. The Portuguese arrived in Macau right around the time of a Japanese silver boom which gave it an exchange rate close to that of Europe. In a time when trade between the two countries was limited the Portuguese were able to export Chinese gold to Japan with a 60% profit margin. For the record; the 15th century Venetians who had a monopoly on European pepper import pocketed a relatively modest 40% profit. While it is not often mentioned along silk and tea the Chinese gold export was also a considerable source of revenue.Another quirk of silver was that, because it was currency across much of the world, it was extremely liquid. The Dutch who managed to corner a very large segment of the spice trade and exported spices to China found that the English were still getting the better of them because their specie was more liquid. Selling all the spices in China took time, sometimes months, whereas the extremely liquid silver could be traded as soon as a stock of tea was available. In a time when getting the first fresh tea to Europe resulted in higher profits this was important. Furthermore interest rates were commonly above 10% annually which meant that having goods for sale for any period of time (having ‘dead stock’) was tantamount to burning money.Already in the 17th century one Dutch employee mentioning trade with India recommended selling goods at a loss if it did not sell quick enough simply because keeping ‘dead’ or slow selling stock was even worse.A final note would be that especially Spanish coins were valuable. The face of a Spanish king and some latin inscription on itself were not particularly interesting in Asia (though they did lead to them getting funny local names such as ‘fat Buddha’). Because these Spanish coins were well known for being of reputable quality with regards to weight and silver content they became the de facto currency of global trade. In the 17th century an English employee in India already noted that they were more liquid than other European silver coins and it traded several percent above remelt value.In short, it was incredibly profitable to export silver to Asia and this fact was not lost on European merchants. While there were some reservations early on the East India trading companies of Europe were granted exemptions on general bans on bullion export in the 17th century. Not doing so would have hurt their bottom line or profit which was not acceptable. The fact that the owners of these companies were often the same people running the government probably helped this.A note on government salariesWe briefly have to look at the Ming Dynasty.The founding Hongwu Emperor was a fan of tax cuts.He reduced government tax to roughly a fourth of what it had been during the Song dynasty. This despite the fact that Ming China would grow to have a larger population and larger government apparatus. To cut cost some checks and balances on government employees were removed which lead to officials having combined functions such as administrator, tax collector and judge. Government wages were also massively reduced below previous levels and became fixed. In some cases wages simply weren’t paid at all.By the 15th century, about half of salaries were paid in grain, and half in commodities such as silk fabrics, cotton cloth, pepper and sapanwood. By 1434, however, it was estimated that the value of the commodity payments was only 4% of the scheduled amount. In 1432, some officials were paid with confiscated garments and salvaged materials, and in 1472, peas were used as payment. In the following year in Nanking, it was found that the peas were suitable only for feeding horses (Huang, 1974, p. 48). From this account, it is apparent that salaries steadily fell over the course of the Ming and by the mid-1400s, half of the salaries was effectively unpaid!…In 1012, nominal annual salaries for Sung civil servants ranged from 96 kuan for low-level to 4800 kuan for top-level officials (Wong, 1975). This is considerably higher than Ming salaries in 1392 of 60 piculs of grain for low-rank to 1044 piculs for the top-rank officials (Huang, 1974). Comparing the Sung to the Qing, Deng (1999, pp. 302–3) reported that the First Rank Sung official was paid about 10 times his Qing counterpart. Although this latter number may be too high to be taken literally, it is clear that Sung officials were paid much higher than Ming and Qing officials.Now you might imagine that making government officials much more powerful while simultaneously reducing their official pay would lead to massive corruption but for this the first few Ming Emperors had a solution. Corruption was sought out and punished, officials were flayed alive, had their skins stuffed with straw and displayed as a warning. Other favourites were Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) which saw a thirty fold increase in its application and Nine familial exterminations which, while not always applied entirely, did entail executing much of the immediate family of the corrupt official.However subsequent emperors were a little more relaxed in their application of such measures which caused corruption to grow. The Qing Dynasty who displaced the Ming in the 17th century largely kept the Ming tax and salary institutions. Though an attempt was made to limit corruption by increasing salaries threefold this did not reverse the course;Official salaries were raised significantly during the Qing in the hope of curbing corruption. In the early Yung-cheng period (1727), allowances called yang-lien (honesty nourishment) were instituted to supplement regular salaries. Key provincial and local officials, as well as military officers, also received an additional allowance known as kung-fei (administrative expenses). Chang (1962, p. 38) reported from Qing records that the total legal annual income to all officials amounted to about 6.3 million taels of silver including 1.4 million in salaries, 4.3 million yang-lien, and 0.6 million kung-fei. On average, the extra allowance intended to curb corruption was over three times regular salary. It is not surprising that the salary reform had little impact on curbing corruption because even though the salary increases were generous, compensation was still negligible compared to incomes from corruption. The Ming and Qing economies were much larger than the Sung economy. Increases in population (fivefold) and expansion of cultivated land (threefold) during the Ming and Qing increased the potential gain from corruption, especially among the top rank of the government. Chang (1962) estimated that around 1880, aggregate extra-legal income was about 115 million taels of silver, shared among 23,000 Chinese officials, with more than half of the income shared among 1700 top officials. In other words, corrupt income was 18.3 times legal income! This extraordinary amount came from office-holding alone and did not include the officials’ income through land-holding and other activities in commerce, where they also enjoyed advantages over common citizens.This widespread supplementation of official salaries is rather important with regards to the Canton trade. Prohibitions issued in Beijing often turned into regular items of trade thanks to the payment of ‘extra legal taxes’. Both Chinese and European merchants knew full well that sometimes a ‘gift’ was needed to make trade happen.The Canton tradeDuring the Qing dynasty trade was concentrated in the city of Canton where a number of Chinese (Hong) merchants gained a government licensed monopoly on trade with European merchants. Their number varied from 5 to 26 but was often around the 10–12 mark. While many items were traded between these groups of merchants the most important one was the tea trade which saw Spanish coins being traded for tea.The Thirteen Factories in CantonNow as mentioned earlier this silver import was rather important as it was the bulk of the Chinese silver supply. Furthermore the case of coins is worth mentioning. The Ming Dynasty, while on the silver standard so to speak, didn’t actually mint silver coins and the later Qing dynasty did make some attempt but those coins never really found much popularity in the coastal provinces, de facto the coastal provinces of China were ‘on the dollar’.This effectively meant that a handful of European companies were the money supplier of southern China, or in other words; the central banking function of the Qing had been outsourced to European merchants supplying Spanish dollars.This was not without problemsIn 1783 the British went to war in Europe and this caused the their silver export to China to be reduced to exactly zero kilograms for four years and then the next year it was only around 4000 kilograms. This sudden contraction in trade seems to have caused deflationary forces in southern China and caused the British East India Company a loss of revenueFurthermore war between Europeans could not only cause trade to halt but also resulted in more silver being used to pay for wars. Both the European merchantsWhen ships did not show up, Chinese were left with bulging inventories and no funds to meet obligations. And because war consumed silver reserves, ships that arrived in China during war years were often lacking sufficient capital to purchase return cargos. Some of these private commission merchants such as the Armenians, Muslims, Parsees and Americans operated outside the nationalistic companies and colonies so they were not usually embroiled in these conflicts. Because of their 'neutrality', they were often sought by everyone in China who needed a loan.The Seven Years' War (1756-63) provides a good example of how war affected the China trade. In these years, Suiqua's (Cai Ruiguan) house [Hong merchant] accumulated large debts when the French ships did not arrive. Poankeequa's (Pan Qiguan) Manila trade was interrupted when the English attacked the Spanish there and occupied the place from 1762 to 1764. Hunqua, Monqua and Chetqua were forced to pay higher interest on their loans because of a lack of silver coin arriving in China. The war drained the EIC of silver making it difficult for supercargoes in the early 1760s to get enough money for the advances needed for tea orders. The depleted silver supplies from English and French ships in China gave the Dutch, Swedish and Danish companies a strategic advantage in negotiating loans and trade with their merchants. By January 1764, the EIC had become so drained of funds from financing the war that supercargoes had to run to private financiers in Macao for an emergency loan of 72,000 Spanish dollars. As we saw in the last chapter, this was the same time that the opium trade became more competitive and widespread. Other war years were no different. In the early 1780s, Tsjonqua's (Cai Xiangguan) house, which was already in a poor state, was forced into bankruptcy when the VOC ships were lost to enemy attack and did not arrive in China. As Plates 3 and 6 reveal, private commission merchants were often the only source of funding for Hong merchants and foreign companies during years when capital was short. An emergency loan could help them through difficult times, but resulted in some Chinese becoming deeply indebted to these financiers.The fickle nature of the flow of silver and thus a highly liquid currency hurt the bottom line of European and Chinese merchants on multiple occasions.This is where Opium comes in.You see the Emperor had banned it already in 1729 when it was barely used but since his court was roughly 2000 kilometers from the port of Canton and since most officials supplemented their salary with gifts such a ban amounted to nothing. Prohibitions on the trade of some European luxury goods and export of gold and certain silk had been widely skirted since the beginning of the Canton trade.However initially the large chartered European companies avoided Opium like the plague because they feared it might hurt their trade;The Swedes, English, French, Dutch and Danes clearly acknowledge in their records that opium was a forbidden article in China. The companies' ban on the drug seems somewhat contradictory, given the fact that many of them traded regularly in other forms of contraband such as gold and illegal silk. Opium was a regular and legitimate item of trade for the English, Dutch and Danish companies in other Asian ports, but not China. For large companies, the tea trade was far too important to risk for the sake of a few chests of opium. In 1750 security merchants for the EIC were perturbed to learn that a private English trader had tried to market the drug in Canton. Chinese merchants were also worried that they would incur the Hoppo's wrath if the attempted trade was reported. The supercargoes immediately inquired into the matter and issued instructions to all EIC officers to 'use the most effectual means to prevent its [opium] being landed hereThe Hoppo is perhaps also worth mentioning as he was effectively the person in charge of handling customs duties. Unlike many other officials he was somewhat less corrupt in that he actually send the revenues directly to Beijing rather than having it go through channels where some of it was skimmed off.His job, in short, was to get as much revenue directly to the Qing court as possible. This meant that promoting trade was in his interest and it put him in something of an awkward position when the silver supplies were interrupted and when opium started to become an increasingly more useful item.Essentially a perfect storm occurred.As the downsides of the limited silver supply became more obvious while the ability of opium to replace it more acknowledged there wasn’t much to stop it. The Hoppo keen on seeing an expansion of trade, the mandarins who lined their pockets, the Europeans who saw their profit margins rise and the Chinese merchants who saw its advantages.Dealing opium was a way for Chinese merchants to produce quick capital and much needed silver. They needed silver to purchase opium, but they sold it for silver as well so like tea, it could increase their capital reserves. With tea, they had to give silver payments in advance so it might be six months or more before they saw returns on their investments. But opium, in good years, could be sold within days of its purchase [i.e. it was very liquid] so silver supplies could be replenished very quickly. A few quick sales of opium at the beginning of a season gave Chinese merchants more silver to buy tea and less need to take out high-interest loans from foreigners. Except for a few bribes to the Mandarins, no duties had to be paid to the government. Thus, opium had the unique characteristics of producing profits in its own sale, expanding tea sales and reducing usury costs both of which increased tea profits, and it did all of this without creating new debts (duties owed). The minimal risks involved in trading opium in China in the 1760s meant that there was much more to be gained in selling it than lost in avoiding it so the trade continued to expandIt was also around this time that the British realised they possessed the land in India which produced the highest grade opium;The EIC continued to ban opium on company ships going to China, but encouraged private traders to purchase the drug from the company in India and then smuggle it to the delta. The EIC benefited from this commerce in two ways: from the profits on the sales in Bengal and from the silver that it received for the opium that was sold in China. Large quantities of silver were needed to purchase tea, and opium was about the only commodity that could be readily exchanged for that specie. The EIC sold its opium and such articles as Indian textiles to the country traders in exchange for silver, which it then used to buy tea.Rather than having to bring their own silver or taking out loans the company could now rely on silver provided by private traders who could sell their opium within days rather than having to wait months for other goods to sell. In fact once the opium trade really got going the flow of silver started to reverse.…bribes were fixed amounts that did not change from one year to the next, which reduced risks and made it easier to project profits and attract investors. Connivance procedures for products such as gold and illegal silks were already well established by the early decades of the eighteenth century. The normalisation of smuggling enabled contraband traders to anticipate their expenses and calculate their profits with as much clarity and reliability as legitimate tradersIn fact, in some aspects, the contraband trade was less risky than the legitimate trade in tea. Unlike tea, which could lose 50 percent of its value if held over for a season, opium was less prone to deterioration if properly stored. Moreover, the sales of Chinese exports were often tied to the purchase of foreign imports, such as cotton and textiles (a practice known as 'truck'). Plate 19, for example, shows the SOIC supercargo Charles Irvine exchanging cochineal and cloth in 1744 with the Hong merchant Tan Suqua (Chen Shouguan) for chinaware. After the Chinese merchants made the agreements, they took the import goods into their factories in September or October and sold the items before mid November or December when the new tea arrived.Revenues from the sale of imports were used to purchase tea and porcelain, which meant that goods had to be sold at a time when the market was saturated and prices were at their lowest level. Merchants could not always afford to warehouse their import goods until prices had recovered, so this was a precarious situation for them.Chinese merchants could not contract tea unless they agreed to buy a certain amount of textiles and other imports, and they could not pay for the tea until those products were sold. By the early nineteenth century import duties also had to be paid by late October or early November, so imports had to be sold immediately. There was no way of knowing how many ships would arrive each year or how much of one commodity would be dumped onto the market. Larger merchant houses in Canton tried to bring a little more security into these arrangements by buying up all the supply of a certain product to control its price. But this also required an enormous outlay of capital, which most merchants could not produce. Thus, for many of the Chinese merchants in Canton, the tea trade was risky business.If prices plummeted, all that merchants could do was to sell their import goods at a loss and hope to recoup their outlay with tea sales. The tea market, however, was also highly competitive, which meant that profit margins were extremely slim even in good years. Moreover, tea sales required huge advances, often with high interest rates. Thus, it was not likely that profits from tea would make up for losses from imports. Opium, on the other hand, was a cash-and-carry commodity. If the markets were saturated, opium could be stored until prices recovered because it was not tied to the sale of exports.…By the 1810s and 1820s the smuggling procedures were so established, indeed, commonplace, it was no longer necessary to sell the goods aboard the ships at Whampoa. Foreigners could arrange for all contraband to be shipped direct to Canton, where they began warehousing such contraband items as opium and selling them directly out of their factories. Chinese buyers could go there and sample the goods instead of having to travel to Whampoa, as in the example of the Disco [a ship]. The contraband trade was, by degrees, becoming almost as secure and stable as the legal trade. The legal trade was protected by Chinese imperial decrees and policies, and the contraband trade was protected by long-established local practice and procedures.Brokering houses were set up in Macao and Canton to arrange the sales and pay all the connivance fees. These commission merchants dealt in legitimate items as well which is why they were allowed to stay in China. It is probably safe to assume that without the funds generated from the contraband trade, the legitimate trade would not have grown as fast, as extensively or as consistently as it did for 140 years. Thus, it was in the interests of the Hoppos to tolerate these illegal activities so that the tea trade would not be affected. Toleration was perhaps the easiest and most effective way to ensure that the flow of revenues sent to Beijing was uninterrupted. If no unnecessary ripples were made in the system, such as launching a campaign to wipe out corruption and opium, then the revenues from the legitimate trade might even increase during each of the three years that a Hoppo was in office. This was the optimum outcome.Something even more profitable, more elastic in supply and locally available supplanted silver. It caused a massive increase in the tea trade which the Hoppo and Chinese merchants were all to happy with. The British for their part could use a little additional revenue too, wars had left them deeply indebted. The surge in the tea trade was exactly what was needed.In the minds of company officials, the tea and porcelain trades were too important to be allowed to diminish or go to ruin for the sake of a lack of silver. There was not enough of a deterrent in Canton or the delta to discourage private traders or government officials from benefiting from the trafficking, so pressures of supply and demand for silver encouraged the continual expansion of the opium trade. In this way, the growth of opium trade went hand-in-hand with the growth of legitimate trade in tea.…This blending of legal and illegal trade, the willingness of Chinese on all levels to accommodate smugglers, the uniformity in connivance fees and practices, and the need for large quantities of silver to exchange for tea, all contributed to a flourishing opium trade. Because the illicit trade supported the legitimate trade, it was easy to justify or, at least, to tolerate. As a result, the efforts that the government made to stamp out smuggling before 1835 were always too little and too late, and often ill-matched to the situation.However the fact that silver started being used increasingly less and the fact that opium was increasingly bought and consumed resulted in silver actually moving out of China.By the early 1830s, the outflow of silver was putting severe strain on administrative budgets to the point that Chinese officials in both Canton and Beijing began considering legalizing the opium trade as a means of curbing it, on the one hand, and taxing it on the other. The government could generate new revenues from its sale, and it was suggested that the trade could be controlled if the distribution and use of opium were tightly regulated. At the heart of these discussions, of course, was the silver problem. Many suggestions were put forth to limit the amount of opium purchases to one-third silver, or to only allow bartering where opium was exchange for other goods.In this new environment where officials in both Beijing and Canton were now more open in considering alternative measures of controlling the contraband, a very accurate and comprehensive report was handed to the emperor of the extent of smuggling and effects it was having on the empire. After better understanding the situation, and after realizing the large number of officials who were involved in the smuggling, it was decided that controlling it was impossible. Legalization would only lead to more problems and would not solve the silver crisis. The emperor then began sending a series of edicts to Canton to put an end to the opium trade.Some today mention an abstraction like a ‘trade deficit’ but I hope the above shows such a thing is rather complicated when talking about commodity money. The import of tea was covered by the export of silver, both of which are obviously commodities rather than money in abstraction. Ready cash, rather than money, formed an obstacle which opium was to overcome.An unholy trinity of tea, silver and opium blew up too such proportions that when the crackdown came the British backed most of their tea with the opium trade. A trade that was now almost four times the size it had been when silver was predominantly used.Thus the destruction of (what amounts to several billion in today’s money) worth of opium combined with the prospect of not being able to use opium to buy tea but having to revert back to silver made those involved in the Tea trade rather afraid. The private fortunes of individuals came to depend on the newly expanded trade and a contraction could entail reduced income or even bankruptcy.To get back to the vote in Parliament.A lot had become pinned to the opium trade, not just profits on its sale in India but the fact that it allowed the tea trade to grow exponentially. This must have weighed heavily on those who had little qualms about opium in the first place.Yet for all of this the vote was only carried with 50.84% in favour and 49.15% against, a narrow margin.Thomas Macauley, the Secretary of State for War, argued in parliament, “I beg to declare my earnest desire that this most rightful quarrel may be prosecuted to a rightful close. . . . that the name not only of English valour but of English mercy may be established”. William Gladstone, a member of Parliament who had tried and failed to cure his sister of opium addiction, responded to Macauley’s flag waving speech by focusing on the high moral ground:“Does [Macauley] know that the opium smuggled in to China comes exclusively from British ports, that is, from Bengal and through Bombay? . . . That we require no preventive service to put down this illegal traffic? We have only to stop the sailing of the smuggling vessels . . . it is a matter of certainty that if we stopped the exportation of opium from Bengal and broke up the depot at Lintin and checked the cultivation of it in Malwa and put a moral stigma on it we should greatly cripple if not extinguish the trade in it. They [the Chinese] gave you notice to abandon your contraband trade. When they found you would not do so they had the right to drive you from their coasts on account of your obstinacy in persisting with this infamous and atrocious traffic . . . justice, in my opinion, is with them; and whilst they, the Pagans, the semicivilized barbarians, have it on their side, we, the enlightened and civilized Christians, are pursuing objects at variance both with justice and with religion . . . a war more unjust in its origin, a war calculated in its progress to cover this country with a permanent disgrace, I do not know and I have not read of. Now, under the auspices of the noble Lord, that [British] flag is become a pirate flag, to protect an infamous traffic”The Canton Trade, 1700–1842 - Paul A. Van DykeHigh corruption income in Ming and Qing China - Shawn Ni, Pham Hoang VanThe East India Company and the Export of Treasure in the Early Seventeenth: K. N. Chaudhuri

I visited Paris twice this fall, for two days in September and four days in October. Here are my tips for a first-time visitor (keep in mind that I’m American, so my frame of reference is the U.S.):Don’t overbook your daysParis is meant to be experienced, not “seen”. It’s great to climb the Eiffel Tower and visit the Mona Lisa, but don’t pack your days in Paris too full of activities. I would recommend choosing just one or two sites to visit each day (and only one of these should be a museum). Leave time for a long walk or bike ride through the city, an hour by the fountain in a beautiful public garden, or a leisurely lunch at an outdoor café.Make lunch your biggest mealWhen in Paris, eat as the Parisians do! That means a small, light breakfast, a big lunch, and a light and late dinner. Most cafés have a daily lunch special, or plat du jour, that includes a salad, entrée and dessert. These are usually less expensive than ordering off the menu. Cafés post the daily specials on chalkboards outside, so you can just walk around and choose a café with a special you like.Breakfast in Paris is usually just a hot drink and bread with jam. If your hostel or hotel doesn’t provide breakfast, some cafés serve inexpensive breakfasts. Or just stop by a bakery for something sweet on your morning walk.For supper, if you’re on a tight budget I would recommend a baguette sandwich. You can get one ready-made at a bakery. Or, stop by a few local shops and put together a picnic of baguette, cheese and fruit. If you have a bigger budget, brasseries (bars) and cafés also serve dinner. There are great Chinese, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern restaurants in Paris if you get tired of café fare.Pee early, pee oftenIf you’re from the U.S., you’ll probably notice quickly the lack of free public restrooms in Paris. There are free restrooms at the airports, at certain train stations, at museums and cafés (if you are a customer). Otherwise, toilets either cost money to use or do not exist at all. If you’re a health-conscious person who drinks tons of water (like me), this can be a problem.My advice is to take advantage of any free restroom you see, even if you don’t have to go that badly yet. This may save you from desperately needing to pee an hour later during your romantic walk along the Seine. Go right before you leave the café after lunch. Go right before you leave the museum. Paris has a small number of free public restrooms on the sidewalks. There is one by Notre Dame, one near the Place de la Bastille, etc. They look a bit like silver spaceships and admit one person at a time. Make sure to wait for the wash cycle to finish and the light to turn green before going inside.In public parks and around tourist sites, you will find pay toilets. These cost between 0.5 and 0.75 Euro to use. The advantage is that they are generally kept clean. If you need to use the bathroom and can only find a pay toilet, just pay for it. Don’t make yourself suffer because you believe bathrooms should be free!In a pinch, you could slip into McDonalds or Starbucks and use their bathrooms, which are usually unlocked. Some museums have restrooms located inside the security checkpoint but outside of the exhibit entrance. This is the case for the Louvre and the Musée de Luxembourg. So if you’re willing to go through security, you could use those bathrooms without needing to buy a ticket.I suspect that Parisians handle the bathroom situation by not drinking much water outside of mealtimes. You rarely see French people carrying around reusable water bottles. There are also few drinking fountains in Paris. Those that do exist are more like spigots to fill a water bottle than the American kind you drink from directly. If you see one of these, by all means fill your water bottle, but make sure to check for signs. “Eau non potable” means that the water is not safe for drinking.Take local transportationThe subway is one of the best ways to get around Paris. You can get between most parts of the city in well under an hour. The subway also runs to Versailles and the airports. As of fall 2016, a single trip on the subway costs 1.9 Euros (Versailles is extra). If you plan to take the subway a lot during your visit to Paris, buying a pack of 10 subway tickets will save time and money.My favorite way to get around Paris is the Velib (Paris city bike). There are racks of these chrome colored bikes all around the city, each with a checkout kiosk. You can select English as a language option for the kiosk. It only costs 1.7 Euros to have Velib access for 24 hours, as long as you return every bike in under 30 minutes (additional fees apply if you keep a bike for longer). City riding can be challenging, but I have found that Parisian drivers are more respectful of cyclists than drivers in many American cities. Just follow the marked bike lanes on the roads!Beware of scammers and pickpocketsParis is one of the most visited tourist sites in the world, so it naturally attracts a fair share of people who prey on unwary travelers. I encountered two scams during my time in Paris:“Deaf-mute” girls raising money for “charity”I encountered these young ladies around Notre Dame and near the entrance to the Louvre. They pretend to be deaf and mute and present tourists with a petition to help deaf children. It’s all in English, has the names of some charities at the top, and asks for some personal information and a donation amount. The first time one of these girls approached me, I didn’t know it was a scam and gave her a coin. She made it clear that she wanted paper money, but eventually walked away when I shook my head.The reality is that these girls are not deaf or mute and the money does not go to a legitimate charity. They are mostly Roma, and the money goes back to their husbands or fathers.Deaf Mute and Fake Petition Scams in EuropeFriendship bracelet scamOutside of several major tourist sites (Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Coeur, Louvre) you’ll see groups of African men selling cheap souvenirs. They generally don’t have the proper permits to do this, and their souvenirs are low quality, but it’s up to you if you want to buy from them.However, if a souvenir seller approaches you with “friendship bracelets” or threads, say “non merci”, keep your hands away from him and walk away quickly.If you stop to listen to him, he will tie a bracelet/string tightly around your wrist and then aggressively demand payment. I’ve heard it’s very difficult to get the string off or make the seller go away at that point, so it’s better to avoid getting into this situation altogether.This happened to me in the Tuileries Garden just outside the entrance to the Louvre. A man approached me with a red thread. Luckily I had already read about a similar scam in Italy (thank you Quora!), so I put my hands in my pockets, said a firm “non merci” and kept walking. He actually chased me for a minute, waving his thread and yelling “Miss! This fell off!” When I was a safe distance away, I double checked to make sure I hadn’t lost a thread from my clothing. Of course, I had not :)Tourists- Watch Out for the Paris String or Bracelet ScamThere are other scams you may encounter in Paris. Just google “Paris tourist scams” for more information. As for pickpockets, I would just avoid carrying a backpack or fanny pack/bum bag (or if you really must, don’t put anything valuable in it). And do not carry your wallet in your back pocket. I carried a regular purse and just made sure to hold it in front of me and keep it zipped closed, and I had no problems. Paris is a safe city but you need to take responsibility for your safety and belongings, just like anywhere else in the world.Wear good walking shoesYou are going to be doing a LOT of walking in Paris, so wear supportive, well broken-in footwear. I would suggest dark-colored sneakers, or black waterproof boots in the winter. Some old and outdated guidebooks will tell you that French people don’t wear sneakers except for sports. That’s totally not the case anymore! Young men and women wear sneakers everywhere, and even older Parisians can be seen in them. The cobblestone streets and tons of stairs require good walking shoes, so save your cute heels and booties for a nice evening out. The rest of the time, wear shoes that you can walk several miles in without getting blisters. Just stick to dark colors, no neon green Nikes, and you’ll be fine!Be respectfulYou are a guest in France, so be on your best manners. If you are American, be aware that Americans have a reputation for being obnoxiously loud. You can be loud outdoors in Paris, within reason, but keep your voice down in closed spaces (subway, museums, cafés) to avoid disturbing others.In my experience, most French people speak English pretty well but prefer not to do so if they can avoid it. Most employees at tourist sites speak fluent English. In other places, try to start the conversation in French. A polite “Bonjour madame. Parlez-vous anglais?” (Hello ma’am. Do you speak English?) will get you much better results than abruptly demanding something in English. Duolingo is an excellent free app for learning French (and lots of other languages as well). Here are the phrases you really need for a brief visit in Paris:Bonjour (Hello)Bonsoir (Good evening)Excusez-moi (Excuse me)Pardon (Sorry, excuse me)Oui/non (Yes/no)Monsieur/madame (Sir/ma’am)Parlez-vous anglais? (Do you speak English?)Où sont les toilettes? (Where is the bathroom?)Je prends celui-ci, s’il vous plaît. (I want to buy this one, please {said while indicating the item you want to purchase})Un billet, s’il vous plaît (One ticket, please)Ça coûte combien? (How much does it cost?)Merci (Thank you)Au revoir (Goodbye)When you enter a shop or café, always acknowledge the staff by saying “bonjour”. I never experienced any rudeness in Paris, and I think it helped that I spoke decent French and did my best to treat people with courtesy.Be smart about museumsThere are many amazing museums in Paris. If you would like to visit some of them, be strategic to get the most out of it.If rain is in the forecast during your trip, plan museum visits for the rainy days.Unless you’re a huge art or history buff, one museum visit of 2-5 hours per day is enough. Don’t burn yourself out.Spend some time in advance of your visit thinking about what kinds of art most interest you. Greek and Roman sculpture? Medieval religious paintings? Impressionist watercolors? Focus on the museums and exhibits that display art you are interested in. The Louvre is massive, you cannot cover it all in a day or even a week. It’s much more enjoyable to spend time contemplating art that you really like, than to rush around trying to see everything.Most museums rent audioguides for a small fee (between 2 and 5 Euros). It’s worth it to check these out, as they give you background information on many pieces throughout the museum. I found that this made the visit much more interesting. The Louvre audioguide also has a walking tour that takes you through all the highlights of the museum.I personally enjoyed the Louvre but found it quite crowded and overwhelming. My favorite museum was the Musée d’Orsay, housed in a beautiful former railway station. I loved the impressionist collection!Don’t skip dessert!Even if you’re very health-conscious at home, make sure to sample some of the amazing sweets Paris has to offer. Berthillon ice cream on the Île Saint-Louis, Ladurée macarons, the decadent hot chocolate from Angelina, even a simple pain au chocolat from the bakery on the corner. You’re in Paris after all, and you are doing tons of walking anyway.Have a wonderful visit to Paris! Enjoy every moment and take lots of pictures!