The Tea Horse Road was not one road!
You heard of it, but really, what was it?
The Ancient Tea Horse Road was not a single road, and it was hardly a road at all!
It was a vast, ever-changing network of mountain trails, caravan routes, market towns, and passes connecting Yunnan and Sichuan in China, passing through Tibet, Nepal, India, and other parts of South Asia.
Even the name Tea Horse Road is a modern construct, because the different sections and routes had different names. Tea and horses, and many other goods, did not travel along a single road; they traveled through a living network of people and places.
The trade exchange between tea-producing regions in China and Tibet can be traced to the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). Tea got established in Tibet during this period, and the trade between the Tibetan plateau and the tea-producing regions of Sichuan and Yunnan gradually intensified.
By the Song dynasty, the relationship had become much more systematic and intense. In 1074 CE, the Song government established a "Tea and Horse Office" to regulate the trade, because horses from the Tibetan and neighbouring highland regions were strategically important to the Chinese state, and the state of course, did not want to miss out on earning tax income.
During this time the government also established an official rate of roughly 130 pounds (about 59 kg) of brick tea for one horse in the Sichuan tea-and-horse trade. That makes it easier to understand just how valuable horses were, and that the tea bricks were used as an early currency.
No roads!
The horses used were small, tough ones and extremely well adapted to mountain environments. Many other types of animals were also used to carry goods, such as mules, yaks, donkeys, oxen, along human carriers.
The animals were not simply transport; the entire caravan depended upon the animals’ feet, strength, sure-footedness, and endurance to travel through these rough mountain paths in every kind of weather! There were no roads! The people and their faithful animals were walking thousands of kilometres through mountains, gorges and high plateaus, some over 5000 meters high.
A brutal journey
The journey was brutal, and the trails repeatedly crossed deep gorges and high passes.
The caravans faced all kinds of weather, from rain to snow, and extreme cold, landslides and avalanches. They had to balance on narrow cliff paths and cross rivers. They encountered both illness, death and bandits. There were long stretches without settlements. But after some time staging posts, inns, markets and caravan towns were established.
Picturesque places such as Shaxi and Lijiang in the Yunnan Province weren't merely settlements that happened to lie beside an old road. They developed partly because they functioned as a resting place for caravans after many days in the mountains. The animals were unloaded. People were eating, drinking tea, repairing harnesses, drying clothes, trading information. Then, after a few days’ rest, the bells rang, and the caravan moved on.
The Tea Horse Road connected people
The route became a place where languages, religions, foods, clothing, stories, and beliefs traveled alongside commodities. Like the Han Chinese, Tibetans, Naxi, Bai, Yi, Yiwu/Pu'er tea communities, Khampas, and many other local peoples, as well as merchants, muleteers, innkeepers, farmers, monks, and pastoralists.
Some families became hereditary caravan operators. Some specialized in breeding or handling animals. Some ran inns. Some grew and produced tea. Others specialized in making salt, wool, medicinal plants, or food. And the Buddhist monasteries were deeply involved in the economic and cultural life of the Tibetan side of the network.
Tea from Yunnan and Sichuan arrives in the north of Tibet
So, what is Tibetan tea like? This tea is prepared in a way to warm and nourish, and to make it possible for people to carry on and to survive in this harsh environment.
Below is an easy-to-make version of Tibetan tea.
Winter Butter Tea
500 ml water
6–8 g ripe pu-erh (buy it from Shana Zhang at Wild Tea Qi or purchase Amam tea by Bibek Rai from me)
50 ml whole milk
15 g unsalted butter
a small pinch of sea salt
Remember, no sugar goes into this tea (it's not supposed to be a sweet milk tea). The salt will enhance the aromas and flavors.
Preparation
Bring the water to a boil, add the tea, and let it simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Traditional Tibetan tea is considerably stronger than the tea we normally brew in the West.Remove the tea leaves and return the strong tea to the saucepan.
Add the milk, butter, and salt. Heat gently (do not boil) until everything is hot and the butter has melted. Whisk vigorously for about 20–30 seconds until the tea becomes creamy and slightly frothy. The finished tea should be warm, savory, creamy, and deeply tea-like. Do not sweeten! Adjust the salt according to taste.
Good luck with your Winter Tea! The post-fermented teas are an excellent choice for the transitional season we are in now, moving from late summer to colder autumn! Hope you had a fine Autumn Equinox on September 23rd. Equinox literally means "equal night" in Latin.
Welcome to contact me to purchase some great pu-erh tea balls from Bibek Rai, Nepal, or buy this tea at Långbrogård in Mölnbo. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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