Tea Horse Road Book

In the seventh century, during the Chinese Tang Dynasty, the elite of Tibet discovered tea. Beginning as an aristocratic delicacy, it quickly became a staple, but it had to be imported, first from southern Yunnan, with a secondary route from Ya'an in Sichuan. In exchange, the Chinese needed war horses and the sturdy Tibetan horses were ideal. This resulted in a two-way trade route around 4,000kms long which became known as the Cha Ma Dao, the Tea Horse Road.

This book follows the ancient Tea Horse Road trade routes from Yunnan to the breathtaking Tibetan highlands of Shangri-la. For 13 centuries, the Tea and Horse Caravan Road was a network of rugged paths linking China with Tibet, Southeast Asia and India through Yunnan. These caravans facilitated the exchange of customs and culture between dozens of different ethnic groups scattered across some of Asia’s wildest terrain.

This 340-page book is an amazing introduction to one of the world’s most beautiful and diverse regions. It is the result of years of travel and research from renowned photographer Michael Freeman and writer and ethnobotanist Dr. Selena Ahmed. Michael Freeman spent two years on the route getting to know the places and people of the old route through his lens. The book is the story of the people and the ancient cultures of the Tea Horse Road.