Sixteen clippers left Fuzhou in China in the space of 24 hours, and after a voyage of 12,000 nautical miles and 99 days at sea, several arrived in the English Channel within sight of each other. Finally the Taeping and the Ariel unloaded their first cases of tea within just twenty minutes of each other!
十六艘飛翦在廿四小時內陸續離開中國福州，經過一萬兩千海浬、九十九天的航行，進入英倫海峽時仍互相可見，最後，太平號與愛酈兒號竟只相差二十分鐘卸下第一箱茶。