The result of the reductions in the duty on imported tea in the 1860's was the birth of a new generation of clipper ships. All exceptionally beautiful, it was their capacity for speed however which provoked most admiration and no event caught the public's imagination more than the great Tea Race of 1866. Each year the clippers went out to China in the spring and waited at one of several ports for the tea to be brought down from the interior. The principal loading port was Foochow, up river from the coast, and in May 1866, the most famous clippers afloat lay there awaiting their cargoes. The first vessel to complete loading was Ariel and, casting off at 5pm on 28 May, she dropped clear of the other shipping and then anchored in the river for the night. By the next morning, three more ships - Fiery Cross, Taeping and Serica - were moving downriver and Taitsing was not far behind them. Problems with tugs and tides in the estuary delayed them all slightly, but by noon on 30 May, the first four were in open sea, with Fiery Cross having gained an early lead of 14 hours.

Thus began the most memorable tea race of them all with the four ships passing, repassing and sometimes even sailing abreast of each other throughout the long journey home. By the time they reached the Scillies for the final dash, Ariel and Taeping were neck and neck as they raced up the English Channel logging 14 knots for most of 5 September. At 8am the next day, Ariel signalled her number off Deal with Taeping only ten minutes behind her. Off the Ness, Taeping picked up the better of the two available tugs and arrived off Gravesend ahead of Ariel to wait for the tide. Still a race even to the last, Taeping, drawing less water than her rival, docked in London at 9.47pm, Ariel at 10.15pm and Serica got in at 11.30pm just as the dock gates were closing. It was remarkable finish to an astonishing race across the world, the like of which was never repeated in quite such breathtaking style.