茶马古道

Why this place

For over a thousand years, compressed bricks of tea were carried from Yunnan and Sichuan into Tibet by porters and mules, and horses came back the other way — Tibetan horses were prized by Chinese armies and Chinese tea was a necessity on the plateau. The route crossed some of the highest terrain on earth and its staging towns are still there.

What to see

• Ya'an in Sichuan, where the brick tea was produced and the route began
• Shaxi in Yunnan — a well-preserved staging town with its theatre and guesthouses
• Lijiang and the Tibetan trading towns along the route north
• The Puer tea mountains, where the tea came from
• The caravans and horse fairs that still happen in Tibetan areas

What to eat

• Brick tea, which is still brewed with butter in Tibet
• The noodle and cured-meat cooking of the staging towns, and Yunnan's mushrooms

How to plan

Two or three days around Shaxi and Lijiang, or along the Sichuan–Tibet road.

Best time

April–October; the passes are snowbound in winter

Practical tips

• Some sections of the route are now roads, some are trails — decide whether you want to drive the towns or walk a stage