Tea in China
Here’s a journey for true tea aficionados: the Tea & Horse Caravan Road Trip next offered by WildChina from September 12 through 21, 2012.
It’s a small group (8-16 people) 10-day expedition led by Jeff Fuchs, the first westerner to have ever traveled the entire 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) historic route.
The trip travels an ancient caravan road linking the fertile region of Yunnan and Sichuan with the arid landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau that gives a chance to sample teas at their origin as well as look at the road’s impact on ethnic minority villagers.
It begins in China’s far southwest, in subtropical Xishuangbanna, the original source of all tea, before heading north to a former trading post, Shaxi, and then further north to Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, finally, ending in the mountainous Tibetan region of “Shangri-La.”
Along the way, there are hikes through tea tree forests, tea ceremonies and opportunities to converse with traders and villagers.
(Photo courtesy of WildChina)