Ancient tea route

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The Ancient Tea Route (Chinese: 茶马古道) was a network of mule caravan paths winding through the mountains of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It is also referred to as the Southern Silk Road. From around a thousand years ago, the Ancient Tea Route was a trade link from Yunnan, one of the first tea-producing regions: to India via Burma; to Tibet; and to central China via Sichuan Province.

In addition to tea, the mule caravans carried salt.

It is believed that it was through this trading network that tea (typically tea bricks) spread across China and Asia from its origins in Pu'er county, near Simao Prefecture in Yunnan.

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Part of a series on Trade routes
Amber Road | Hærvejen | Incense Route | Kamboja-Dvaravati Route | King's Highway | Roman-India routes | Royal Road | Salt Road | Siberian Route | Silk Road | Spice Route | Tea route | Varangians to the Greeks | Via Maris | Triangular trade | Volga trade route | Trans-Saharan trade | Old Salt Route | Hanseatic League | Grand Trunk Road