Map showing the trade routes in Asia; the southern silk road leads from Chang-An down towards the Indian Ocean

The Ancient Tea Route (simplified Chinese: 茶马古道; traditional Chinese: 茶馬古道) was a network of mule caravan paths winding through the mountains of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It is also referred to as the Southern Silk Road. From around a thousand years ago, the Ancient Tea Route was a trade link from Yunnan, one of the first tea-producing regions: to India via Burma; to Tibet; and to central China via Sichuan Province. In addition to tea, the mule caravans carried salt.

It is believed that it was through this trading network that tea (typically tea bricks) spread across China and Asia from its origins in Pu'er county, near Simao Prefecture in Yunnan.

[edit] See also

• Shaxi, Yunnan: a well preserved historical trading town in Jianchuan County on the ancient tea route
• Pu-erh tea
• Silk Road
• Siberian Route

[edit] External links

• Silk Road Foundation - An authoritative article about the ancient tea route by Yang Fuquan, director of the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences
• Documentary: Insight on Asia - Asian Corridor in Heaven - Made by KBS tv Program