Abstract: After all, what were the dimensions of the profits spurring the arduous Shanxi merchants to engage in the long distance tea trade between Kiakhta and Fujian. The question of the profits and managerial achievements of the Shanxi merchants has drawn the wide spread interest of economic historians including Liu Jiansheng and Wu Limin’s Analysis of the Accomplishments of the Shanxi Merchant Tea Trade for example analyzed this problem1 But, regrettably, due to the lack of historical resources these discussions place greater emphasis on analysis and pay less attention the profits the Ming and Qing Shanxi tea merchants earned. At present on one has yet published a quantitative analysis. Taking the Jiaqing reign as its focus, this article undertakes an analysis of literary sources on long -distance tea trade routes, the daily average amount of tea transported, average daily per capita expenditures, average transportation costs to obtain the transportation cost1 Comparing the average price of various types of Wuyishan teas and the selling prices of tea in Kiakhta the author calculates the profits-ability of the Ming -Qing tea trade.