Aba Songpan Ancient Town
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Tea-Horse Trade Route(ChaMa old road)
Tea-Horse Trade Route
Historically, Songpan was the largest goods gathering and reshipment center for the Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai areas. A tea-horse trade route emerged some 1,000 years ago, with Songpan at the center. The presence of the tea-horse trade route helped develop close ties between the Tibetan-inhabited areas and the hinterland. Beginning in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people in Tubo traded their horses for tea and other articles for daily consumption from the Tang. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an administrative office was set up in Songpan to take in charge of the trade in tea, salt and horses. This promoted materials exchanges between the Han and the Tibetans, and, as the same time, helped boost unity between the two fraternal ethnic groups. A study of history tells that tea produced in Pingwu, Beichuan, Anxian, Guanxian and Shina was shipped to Guanxian, before being sent to Songpan via Wenchuan and Maoxian. |
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