Tea fields in China, what travellers think ?

The famous road of tea and horses, was borrowed for the first time there are 1300 years. It started from Pu'er in Yunnan Province in southern China, to reach Lhasa in Tibet. For centuries, the caravan tea, salt and horses have traveled this road, as well as great adventurers such as the Prince of Orleans, Joseph Rock or Alexandra David-Neel.

Discover fields China 

The Tea Route played an important role in the development of China and is often compared to the Silk Road. The origin of this road dates back to the Tang (618-917) and Song (960-1279), when the Tibetan discovered tea of ​​Yunnan and its virtues. The tea will quickly become indispensable to the entire population. Tibetan mostly go to the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan to exchange tea against cattle, yaks, but also horses, which for the Chinese, are necessary to protect their empire against the repeated attacks of nomadic peoples. Thus was born the Tea Route and Horses. Over the centuries many food commodities and animal, mainly tea and horses have circulated on this road. She then slowly given way to more modern road construction.

tea route ! 

 But the Tea Route and Horses is more than just a trade route. With the passage of the caravan, it was the scene of meetings between ethnic groups, linguistic and cultural exchanges. This road is a testimony of China's cultural past. Many of ethnic villages are scattered along the Tea and Horse Road. Including Wenhai, a village of Naxi minority, which is a haven of peace, near the town Lijiang. We may also mention the village of Shaxi which experienced a prosperous era of the 15th to the 20th century with the caravans. There is also charming towns such as Jianchuan has kept the old and authentic houses. The Tea Route and horse lovers reserves of China, many surprises by its cultural treasures!

Comment from trips advisor 


In winter there is not much activity. The tea bushes are still green. I felt a little let down by the experience. I suppose I was expecting too much! The road to the area was fascinating though, lots of ducks being dried on poles in the most unlikely places. At the plantation, there is a small area where they would...

Our favorite part of Hangzhou - we taxied just past the village to the fields, asked the driver to wait, and we walked around the tea flies. Very scenic, serene, fresh air... nice. Friends had told us to have lunch in the village, but in the end that didn't fit into our plans. So we just explored the fields a...

A beautiful setting out on the tea plantations. We visited the Dragon Well Tea Plantation with our tour group and had a tea presentation and tasting. Delicious, high quality tea but possibly overpriced. The shop on your way out is most certainly priced far too high and you need to haggle and bargain with the sales people.