"not for all the tea in China"

--not even if you rewarded me with all the tea in China; not for anything at all.
"No I won't do it—not for all the tea in China."


The Oxford English Dictionary declares the phrase to be of Australian origin and reprints Eric Partridge's 1890s date for the phrase but unfortunately doesn't provide any supporting evidence for either assertion. The nearest one man can come to verifying the date, and to an Australian origin, is J. J. Mann's travelogue Round the world in a motor car, 1914.