For many, many people in the world, a road
exclusively devoted to the tea-horse trade would be considered
something of a tall tale. However, such a road did exist,
from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the opening of the Yunnan-Tibet
and Sichuan-Tibet Highways in the 1960s. In some areas, sections
of the road are still used for transport purposes.
During World War II, especially when Myanmar
fell into the claws of the Japanese, the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway,
then China's only international thoroughfare, was cut off.
The Tea-Horse Trade Road, extending from Lijiang in Yunnan,
to Kangding in Xikang, and then on to Tibet and even further
to India, became a major trade route.
Horses involved in the tea-horse trade crossing the "bridge".
The trip was more than an adventure. Herds
of horses trudged slowly along the road cutting through the
never-ending grasslands, leaving behind the crisp sound of
a ringing bell echoing from the nearby snow-capped mountains.
The air was saturated with the aroma of boiling buttered tea...
Roads devoted to the tea-horse trade link ethnic groups living
in areas flanking the roads, turning them into members of
the great Chinese nation. Varied land forms in that part of
the world created different cultures unique to these ethnic
groups, and these cultures exerted great impact on the functions
of the trade routes.
The roads pass through subtropical forests
and picturesque lakes and turbulent rivers such as the Langcanjiang,
Nujiang, Mingjiang, Yarlungjiang and Yarlung Zangbo. Going
west from Hengduan Mountains one has to cross many peaks each
4,000-5,000 meters above sea level. Beyond these is a sweep
of wilderness that was once the seabed before the Tibet Plateau
rose upˇ
Introduction
