Ancient Tea Horse Road

The Ancient Tea Horse Road refers to trade passages in southwestern and northwestern China in ancient times, which mainly traded tea and horses, using caravans primarily. The large transportation network offered three major routes, Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet, and Qinghai-Tibet route, as well as many branch routes. Tea from across China was transported to Tibet, then shipped to Kolkata, India, via the Himalayan passes, and sold in Europe and Asia on a massive scale, gradually making the Ancient Tea Horse Road an important channel for international trade and cultural exchange. As recently as WWII, it offered important access to China for the transportation of all kinds of supplies from the outside world when other transportation lines were cut off. The Road runs through plateau territory having the world's highest elevation and being the most difficult to traverse. It not only facilitated cultural integration between Han Chinese and Tibetans, but also contributed to the unity and harmony of China as multi-ethnic society.

茶馬古道

茶馬古道是古代中國(guó)西南和西北地區(qū)的商貿(mào)通道，以茶葉和馬匹為主要交易內(nèi)容，以馬幫為主要運(yùn)輸工具。茶馬古道以川藏道、滇藏道與青藏道為主，延伸出各條支線，構(gòu)成了龐大的交通網(wǎng)絡(luò)。茶葉從中國(guó)各地經(jīng)藏區(qū)，通過(guò)喜馬拉雅山口運(yùn)往印度加爾各答，大量行銷歐亞各國(guó)，茶馬古道逐漸成為國(guó)際經(jīng)貿(mào)和文化交流的大通道。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間， 世界各地通往中國(guó)戰(zhàn)區(qū)的通道被切斷，茶馬古道成為運(yùn)送各種物資的重要通道。茶馬古道是人類歷史上海拔最高、通行難度最大的高原文明古道，不僅是漢藏民族文化融合之路， 也是中國(guó)各民族團(tuán)結(jié)和睦之路。茶馬古道是中國(guó)統(tǒng)一的多民族國(guó)家的歷史見(jiàn)證，也是民族團(tuán)結(jié)的重要象征。