Songs Wafted From the Tea-Horse Trade Route (I)

A small passage cutting through Henduan Mountains and the Himalayas in southwest China has been bustling with shuttling traders driving caravans of fully loaded beasts of burden for a millennium. Unlike the Silk Route that is known to all in the world, this route hidden away in high mountains and skirted by flowing streams is almost unknown to the outside would. Such a situation lasted until the 1990s when a number of young scholars surveyed its darkened byways and named it the Tea-Horse Trade Route.
According to one of them, Li Xu, research fellow with the Yunnan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, there are actually two routes: the main one extending from Ya'an in Sichuan to Qamdo in Tibet via Kangding, Garze and Dege; and the feeder line extending from Xishuangbanna in Yunnan to Qamdo via Dail, Lijiang, Zhongdian (now known as Shangri La) and Deqen.

After meeting in Qamdo, they then branch out again into the Southern and Northern Routes. The northern route goes to Lhasa via Rewoeq, Deqen, Sog and Lhunzhub; and the southern route travels via Lholung, Benba, Jiali, Gongbo'gyangda and Meizhoggungka.

Lhasa, however, was not the terminal for all travelers. Some merchants continued their trip toward Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, India or Kashmir.

The Tea-Horse Trade Route zigzags through the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and crosses five major rivrs-the Jinshajiang, Lancangjiang, Nujiang, Yarlungjiang and Yarlung Zangbo.

This commercial route penetrating deep into the hinterland of Asia saw the cultures of varied nationalities collide and fuse to eventually form unique cultural sites exposed to exploration, tourism, archaeological diggings and folklore surveys.

In June 2002, Qamdo (in Tibet), Diqen (in Yunnan) and Garze (in Sichuan) jointly held a symposium to discuss ways and means for the joint development of the ancient tea-horse trade route. Scholars representing a dozen research subjects and reporters from all over China attended, I was one of them. It was decided that efforts should be made to survey the route.

Beautiful Shangri La

Shangri La was our first leg.

In May 2002, when Zhongdian was renamed Shangri La, this formerly calm place gained overnight fame. There was an influx of people hailing from all corners of the world.

With snow-capped mountains screening an area covered by dense forests and cut through by crystal clear rivers, Shangri La is indeed beautiful.

As a major post on the ancient T9a-Horse Trade Route, this gateway to Tibet witnessed an endless flow of caravans of fully loaded beasts.

Outside the city is the Yila Grasslands, a natural pasture for horses. Buddhist and Taoist temples and mosques provided the shuttling business folk with venues for their religious rituals.

People in that part of the world were used to the bustling scene. Whenever there were caravans due, those living along the main street would rise to ply the visitors with tea and food. They respected people who came from afar and who had dwarfed the high mountains. They believed the philosophy. reading books for 10 years is not as good as traveling 500 miles. Those who had never had a chance to go out of the area would follow the caravans to Lhasa.

The tea-horse trade was filled with hardships. The caravans had to cross a snowy mountain every 10 days, often confronted by sudden avalanches.

In the 1930s, Cering Sangzhub cut a brilliant figure in business by working for others while still a child and later working on his own in Yunnan. He created Tibet's first business called Bamda-cang, which maintained good ties with the nobility in Lhasa and even with the royal family in Sikkim. Later on, he set up businesses also in Lijiang, Kunming, Lhasa and India.

Benzilan: Green Terrace

Our first leg when we left Zhongdian took us to Benzilan (meaning "green terrace" in Tibetan) of Deqen County. Situated by the Jinshajiang River, it held an important position on the tea-horse trade route.
We reached the river soon when we came out of the mountain valley of Zhongdian. In ancient times, there was no bridge spanning the river and the caravans had to continue their trip eastward for some 10 km before reaching the ferry from which they could reach Benzilan on the other side of the river. When we were there, however, a cement bridge had been built.

Benzilan, sitting at the foot of mountains and facing the river, is cut through by a single main street; in ancient times, the caravans left the town for the snow-covered Baimang and Meili mountains, and many had to stay in the town for a time to await better weather for the trip. In the town, we found peoples of various ethnic groups.

In the Deqen county seat, we visited a Tibetan family of four generations living under the same roof. It was a Tibetan house complete with a spacious Han-style court-yard and in the center of the first room we found a Han-style stove used to heat the room. The shrine on the northern wall has three layers. In the middle is enshrined a statue of Sakyamuni. To the right are tablets worshipping family ancestors, while the left side honors the State leaders and Tibetan Buddhist leaders.
By the end of the visit we, With the consent of our host, stayed in the courtyard where we watched slides shown by an American scientist. These slides, taken of the same spot twice in 1923 and 2000 respectively, showed the changes that had taken place to the spot. This was followed. by performance staged by the host family.

Meili Mountain

We left Deqen the following day marching for 20 km in the Lancangjiang River valley until we reached the Mingy-ong Glacier at the foot of Taizi Peak of Meili Mountain.
We first reached Mingy-ong Village, with an elevation of 2,300 meters. Local people live on selling tickets for visiting the glacier and on leasing horses to visitors. Each family makes some 1 0,000 Yuan a year through this business.

We also leased horses and went along a shaded path skirted by a stream. After two hours, we finally reached the 4,300-meter Mingyong Glacier. Specialists who went with us explained its features.
The Tibetans believe Meili is a holy mountain and no one should venture to spoil it by climbing it.
At noon, we reached Fos-han Town, the northwestern point of Yunnan Province. We continued our trip westward and found a village of 60-plus households at Lhagu of Mangkang County. Only three households belong to the Naxi ethnic group, with the remainder being Tibetan.
We tried digging out at a stone coffin in the mountain and found a complete pottery jar dating back 2,000 years.

Inspecting stone coffins in ancient Naxi ethnic area of Foshan Township, Deqen County, Zhongdian.

The Jinshajiang River is visible after crossing the snowy mountain.

Fields in the valley of the Lancangjiang River.

Tibetan peonies blossoming in ruins of an ancient monastery in Deqen. Such plants are subject to special protection.