The Ancient Tea Horse Road
Pu’er – Steeped in History
The Ancient Tea Horse Road meanders across ‘The Rooftop of the World’.
Thanks to this perilous passage, the fame and influence of Yunnan’s Pu’er tea spread far and wide.
For thousands of years the Tea Horse Road was the most significant corridor connecting the ancient civilizations of Yunnan and Sichuan in Southwest China with Tibet and finally India.
The road is far older than its name suggests;
it became known for its tea and horse trade during the Tang and Song Dynasties, more than a 1000 years ago.
But cist tombs found along the route suggest it was of major importance to cultural and economic exchange as early as 2000BC.
Town Of Pu'er
The Road begins in the tea trading town of Pu’er. Here, horses loaded with tea would set off on the maze of pathways winding through Yunnan’s major tea-producing regions.
The caravan of men, horses and tea would then enter the Hengduan Mountain range through the eastern foothills.
This is where things became even more treacherous, the men on their heavily loaded horses, carrying what food and supplies they could manage, crossing the steep craggy canyons of the upper reaches of three rivers;
Highest Transport Passage Travelling thousands of miles, the tea would cross more than fifty rivers and scores of mountains all towering more than 3000m (9000ft.) skyward.
This is one of the highest transport passages in the world and the weather conditions are extreme.
The caravan would be battered by blizzards of snow and ice, burning mountain sun and razor-sharp winds, often all in the same day.
Naturally Fermented Pu'er
Temperatures would soar in the midday sun and plunge to freezing at night.
During this long and arduous journey the Pu’er tea naturally fermented, the weather conditions and the heat of the horses influencing the process.
