Tea-horse Ancient Road 茶马古道

    Tea-horse Ancient Road 茶马古道

   “茶马古道”是中国西南大地上一条进行对外经济文化交流，传播中国古代文明的国际通道,是西南的“丝绸之路”。

    For thousands of years, only humans and horses treaded the mountains of Southwest China as they followed an ancient pathway through the Chinese hinterlands and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

    Along the unpaved and rugged 1 pathway that was formed, commodities like tea, salt and sugar flowed into Tibet. Meanwhile, horses, cows, furs, musk 2 and other local products made their way to the outside world. The road was called the tea-horse ancient road, and it stretched across more than 4,000 kilometers, mainly through Southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and the Tibetan Autonomous 3 Region.

    The ancient commercial passage first appeared during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It also experienced the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties - or a period of more than 1,200 years. The road promoted exchanges in culture and religion, and saw ethnic 4 migration 5 that closely resembled what was experienced on the well-known Silk Road.

    Along the ancient road lived more than 20 minorities. Concentrations of beautiful and mysterious natural landscapes and traditional cultures developed in various sites, including Dali old city, Lijiang old city, Shangrila, Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon 6, Potala Palace. The road features temples, rock paintings, post houses, ancient bridges and plank 8 roads. It is also home to many national minorities and their dances and folk customs.

    Two major routesRoughly speak- ing, there were two main routes:

    Route One: Begins in Ya’an in Sichuan Province to Qamdo via Luding, Kangd- ing, Litang and Batang before mer- ging with Route One into Lhasa.

    Route Two: Begins in Xishuangbanna and Simao, home of Pu’er tea (via Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian, Benzilan and Deqeng) in Yunnan Province to Zugong, Bamda, Rewoqe, Zayu or Qamdo, Lholung, Benba, Jiali, Gongbogyangda, Lhasa, Gyangze and Yadong in Tibet, before continuing into Myanmar, Nepal and India.

    Tens of thousands of traveling horses and yaks 9 created a definite pathway with their hooves on the once-indiscernible road. Today, although even such traces of the ancient road are fading away, its cultural and historic values remain.

    The Eternal RoadNo matter what is happening in the world, three types of things in the tea-horse ancient road will continue to exist: the beautiful and rustic 10 nature scene, inviolable religion and simple Tibetan people.

    This ancient road features the imposing 11 scenery and a soul-stirring quiet. Some- times, things seem static and the sur- rounding mountains stand silent. There is a kind of beauty in the desolation that may easily lead people to believe they are experienced a prehistoric 12 place when they visit.

    The distant mountains reveal strong and exquisite 13 ridges 7 while rain and snow melt together, rushing down from the mountains and rapidly gathering 14 before flowing into innumerable rivers.

    If the mountains could form a skeleton of Tibet, the resulting rivers and streams might form their vessels 15, which pour vigor 16 and vitality 17 into the plateau.

    Besides mountain and rivers, there are also many peculiar stones, incomparably marvelous clouds, as well as unusual light illuminating