Chamadao

They had the launch at the Palace of the Golden Horses. The theme of course was horses, ancient ones that looks like they're dressed for war. And the decoration was Moorish.

Chamadao literally means the horse and tea route. A party has come up with an idea to reenact this route to commemorate it. It was a very important route in the old days, in the trades between the countries.

Horse caravans carried tea, sugar and salt from Sichuan and Yunnan to Tibet and brought back colorful mountain goods.

The Chinese over the ages often brought warhorses from Tibetan and other ethnic groups in Southwest China, and these too came over this road. The road also served as a significant corridor for migration as well as a cahnnel for cultural communication among the ethnic groups in western China; beyond this, it was a bridge for international cultural and economic exchange between China and India.

Although silk was not included in the trade goods carried over it, at times it has been termed the "Southern Silk Road of China," due to its importance in both economic and cultural aspects of Chinese hisotry.

~ adapted from Chamaxindao, Tea and Horse Caravan Road 2007.