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News: Recently, China’s Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, shared a post on X about the historic Tea Horse Road, a trade route spanning over 2,000 km that connected China to India through Tibet.
About Tea Horse Road
- It is an ancient trade route connecting China to India via Tibet. It spanned over 2,000 km, passing through challenging mountainous terrain.
- The Tea Horse Road was not a single route but rather a network of interconnected paths that originated in southwest China and extended to the Indian subcontinent.
- The two primary routes traversed cities such as Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan province before reaching Lhasa in Tibet. From there, they branched out into present-day India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
- These routes have elevations as high as 10,000 feet.
- It dates back to the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). Buddhist monk Yijing (7th century) documented early trade on this route.
- It initially facilitated trade in sugar, textiles, rice noodles, Tibetan gold, and herbs. By the Song dynasty (960-1279 CE), it became focused on tea and horses.
Economic & Cultural Importance
- Tea Trade: Tibetans highly valued tea, using it as food and currency.
- Horse Trade: China needed Tibetan horses for military and transport.
- Cultural Exchange: Facilitated trade in medicine, textiles, and religious ideas.
- Contributed to the development of Lijiang as a major trade hub.
