all the tea in China
Something very valuable or priceless.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I wouldn't sell my grandmother's ring for all the tea in China.”
“I do not want to move away for all the tea in China.”
“She loves that painting so much that she wouldn't part with it for all the tea in China.”
“He refuses to work for that dishonest company again, even if they offered him all the tea in China.”
“The scientist would not share her secret research results with the rival laboratory for all the tea in China.”
“My brother says he would not go skydiving for all the tea in China because he is terrified of heights.”
“The captain promised his crew that he would not abandon the sinking ship for all the tea in China, staying until everyone reached the lifeboats safely.”
“The old farmer had refused developers for decades; his land meant more to him than all the tea in China.”
A late nineteenth-century British formation, the phrase relies upon the historical association between China and a vast, nearly unquantifiable export of tea. The idiom uses the sheer volume and substantial trade value of the Chinese tea crop as a metric for an amount of wealth so great as to be considered a redundant bribe.
- 01
bull in a china shop
A person who is clumsy, aggressive, without care, concern or self-control.
- 02
China syndrome
A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and (if on land) penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China.
- 03
clock the tea
To discover the truth about something.
- 04
cup of tea
An activity or domain in which someone is interested or skilled in; one's personal preference.
- 05
made in China
Cheaply manufactured; of poor or low quality, (especially) if made in East Asia.
- 06
Nixon in China
Suggesting the ability of a politician with an unassailable reputation among his or her supporters for representing and defending their values to take actions that would draw their criticism and even opposition if taken by someone without those credentials.
- 07
price of tea in China
Something that is relevant or important, usually used to emphasize that another, compared thing is irrelevant, unimportant, or non sequitur, or that someone unaware of it is ignorant, etc.
- 08
Rosie
[Cockney slang]tea e.g. "Have a cup of Rosie"
Last updated August 10, 2026