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The “Tea and Horse Caravan Road” of Southwest China is less well known than the famous Silk Road. Its route crossessome very high and dangerous terrain. It begins from Sichuan and Yunnan in Southwest China, runs along the Hengduan Mountains, which is the centre of tea production in China, then crosses the Hengduan mountain range and deep canyons of several major rivers, the Yalong, the Jinsha (the upper reaches of Yangtze), the Lancang (Mekong), and the Nu (Salween), thus spanning the two highest plateaus of China (Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou) before finally reaching India south of the Himalayas.

The Tea and Horse Caravan Road as a corridor of ancient civilizations

The archeologists have established that the cist tombs discovered in Tibet are closely related with those of Sichuan and Yunnan in terms of their form and the grave goods. Notably those cist tombs found in Changdu and Linzhi, Tibet, definitely belong to the same cultural system as those in western Sichuan and western Yunnan (Luo Kaiyu

1992)

Moreover, the Tea and Horse Caravan Road continues to be a sacred road for many people. The different religions along the road include, for example, the white, yellow and red sects of Tibetan Buddhism; the Bon religion of pre-Buddhism in Tibet; the Dongba religion of the Naxi people which combines Bon, Buddhism and its own animism and the Han Buddhism and Taoism. Along the caravan road, there are many sacred mountains belonging to the different ethnic groups. For example, Kawagebo Snow Mountain(6740 m), near Yubeng in northern Yunnan, is one of the most famous sacred mountains of the Tibetan people.

Every year many pilgrims from Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai, and Gansu come there

to worship and circumambulate the mountain with their tents, sheep and horses to ask for blessings from the mountain god. Pilgrims still travel annually to Lhasa to pay their respect to the deities of Buddhism, often still “measuring the road” by prostrating their bodies along its length. The road these pilgrims follow is the Tea and Horse Caravan Road. In the past, young monks often shared the road with the caravans when traveling to Lhasa to carry on their studies and to advance their careers.

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-Legend claims that in 2737BC, Emperor Shen Nong

discovered tea when a dried leaf from a nearby camellia bush fell into his cup of boiling water

-Emperor declared that tea gives vigour to the body, and tea was considered as a medicinal beverage.

-The tea has a pleasing aroma and is very refreshing and has a delightful flavour.

-During the mid-Tang Dynasty (780 A.D.), a scholar named Lu Yu published the first definitive book, Cha Ching or The Tea Classic, on tea after he spent over twenty years studying the subject.

-The documentation includedhis knowledge of planting, processing, tasting, and brewing tea. His research helped to elevate tea drinking to a high status throughout China. This was when the art of tea drinking was born.

-A Song Dynasty Emperor enjoyed drinking tea so much that tea was only given to his worthy people.

-Tea at that time was also the inspiration of many of books, poems, songs, and paintings. It thus popularised tea and elevated tea’s value which drew tea-growers to the capital

-By 900 A.D., tea drinking spread from China to Japan where the Japanese Tea Ceremony or Chanoyu, was created.

-In Japan, tea was elevated to an art form which requires years of dedicated studying.

-Unlike the Japanese people, the Chinese people tend to view tea drinking as a form of enjoyment: to have after a meal or to serve when guests visit.

-Tea was introduced to

Europe in the 1600s

-Tea was first known in

England in 1669.Tea was only drank by the aristocracy as tea was very expensive then and an average British labourer could not afford it.

-Today, there are more than 1500 types of teas to choose from over 25 countries worldwide.

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Cha Ma Dao, The tea horse trail

During the 7th century, Tibet's power and influence rose, and thus began military expansion, which eventually lead to the creation of one of the most important trade roads.

As this road has been traveled by horses, mules and porters, it became known as the Tea Horse Road.

Tibetan and Tea

It is probably due to their expansion did they come in contact with tea that soon became their central to their diet.

Although it did not grow on the Tibetan Plateau, they soon developed a need for it due to their living conditions.

They turned it into a food supplement, even a meal. They drink about 15 cups of tea a day!

Among all tea, they preferred Pu'er

China

Searching for war horses to protect their country.

More about The Tea Horse Trail

The collective era that followed 1949 brought final closure to this trade.

Has become an important part to promote tourism in Yunnan, Tibet and Sichuan.

Known as the Cha Ma Gu Dao, Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Tea Nowadays

Prices have risen, making some individual tea growers very wealthy

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Tea originated from China and is said to date back to 5000 years ago! The Chinese used tea as a medicinal drink and mixed it with onion, orange, ginger and other spices in ancient China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In these days, tea is considered to be an easily affordable drink and is consumed by the lower and middle class and not only by the higher class. But during the Tang Dynasty, tea was not affordable by many people and was often used as gifts and tributes for the emperor.

By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Chinese ground their tea into powder and whipped it into a fine froth. Scented teas, tea tasting competitions, and tea events were widely popular among the higher class.

The Mongols invaded China, and introduced the Yuan Dynasty that lasted from the early 1200 to 1368. The Mongols mixed their tea with milk and salt and still do this now.

Ming Dynasty processed tea by parching tea by hand in large cauldrons at different heats and time transformed green tea into other drinks: oolong, scented flower and black tea. Instead of crushing and powdering tea, steeping whole tea leaves became the rage then.

In 1610 Dutch traders sold geen tea from China as a exotic medicinal drink hat costed 100 dollars per pound. But by 1662, tea had decreased in price and was drunk commonly. It was also usually mixed with ginger and sugar. Facinatingly, tea never caught on with the French.

Czar Alexis considered tea as useless and refused them when he Chinese offered tea to him.

Russians also drunk tea with lemon and a lump of sugar stuck between their teeth.

By 1654 Chinese tea had become the British' most popular beverge.

In Europe and America, tea gardens and tea dances were the rage.

By 1720, the Americans smuggled Chinese tea.

Robert Fortune, Chinese-speaking botanist and asventurer smuggled tea seeds out of China and tea plantations soon sprouted in India.

In China, young people don't have the time to brew tea anymore and is experiencing a rise in instant commercial teas of lower quaity.

Chinese tea is still highly esteemed in the world.