Today,
India is the second largest tea producer in the world. However, very
few people are aware of the fact that till middle of nineteenth century,
India did not produce even a Kilogram of Tea. Almost all the tea that
was consumed in India, was imported from China. In the year 1835, a
British officer, Dr. Arthur Campbell, planted few tea plant seeds in the
compound of his bungalow in Sikkim with the help from the ruler of
Sikkim, The Chogyal. The seeds grew into fine trees. Encouraged by the
results, many British businessmen invested in Tea gardens in the Indian
states of Asaam and Bengal and tea production took off in India.
Earlier
to this, Tea was brought from Tibet, but was never produced there. This
Tea was imported in form of very hard and black coloured bricks, each
weighing 2 or 3 Kilograms. Many such Tea bricks were placed in lamb
skins ,which were later stitched to make a package. Such tea packages
used to come to India from Tibet. To make the brew from these bricks, a
brick would be placed is a large steel pot filled with water and placed
directly on the fire. The brew would be allowed to boil over the fire,
till it was strong and dark. Salt, Yak butter and Barley would be added
to the brew and the Tea drinkers would get their wooden cups filled from
the pot on fire with the help of a ladle and satisfy their craze for
this brew.
Even
though the Tea bricks were known as 'Tibet Bricks', tea was never
produced in Tibet. The Chinese province of Yunnan, which is located
across the borders of three countries, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos,
produced all the tea and was then exported to India through capital of
Tibet, Lhasa. The route through which the Tea bricks would be
transported to India was a very difficult trail passing through
mountainous regions and was known as Tea caravan Trail. The Silk route
joining China with west Asia and east Europe is very well known.
Comparatively, this trail is completely unknown.
Tea
Caravan Trail became famous in western countries because of a totally
strange reason. In 1933, James Hilton, a famous British writer came out
with a new novel called 'Lost Horizon.' In this novel, the story goes
on these lines. The aeroplane of the hero meets with an accident in the
Himalayan region and he is forced to travel on his foot through a region
stunningly beautiful. After his travel he reaches a heavenly place,
called in the novel as ' Shangri-La'. After this novel was released, a
debate was started regarding whereabouts of this heavenly place and
which has gone on and on for last sixty or seventy years. Most
interesting fact about James Hilton is that he had never even travelled
in Himalayas. He had obtained the details given in his novel from some
of his friends or acquaintances. The Chinese Government entred into this
'Shangr-La' fray in 2003 and declared that the village of Zhongdian on
the border of Yunnan and Tibet is the official 'Shangri-La.' Since then,
this village and the Tea caravan Trail have become very popular with
western backpackers.
The
Tea Caravan Trail actually used to start from a village known as
Xishuangbanna located in southeast Yunnan. This place is actually in the
vicinity of Mekong river. The region here is mountainous and hilly. Tea
plants were grown and are still continued to be grown on the gentle
hill slopes around here. The famous Tea from this region is known as
“Pu'er” Tea.
This
region is extremely picturesque with snow clad peaks in the background,
forests of Deodar, Birch and Fir trees, abundance of beautiful blue
water lakes and crystal clear weather with zero pollution. The trail
passes through Lijiang and crosses Yangtze river near 'Tiger-leaping
Gorge'. It continues to Zhongdian near Tibet border and then crosses
into Tibet at Deqin village. From there it goes on to Lhasa through
extremely mountainous region. From Lhasa the trail would reach Sikkim
through Nathu-La pass.
Up
to the beginning of twentieth century , all the Tea bricks would be
carried by porters. Each and every porter would carry unbelievable loads
on their backs, through this treacherous mountain terrain. Today we
can only imagine their hard labour and efforts.
After
1962 war, between India and china, the Nathu-La pass was closed and
the traffic on the Tea caravan trail stopped completely. On July 6,
2006, India and China reached an agreement to open this pass again for
border trade. At present only local goods are being traded here. In
2012, this route is expected to be opened for international trade. It is
likely that by then, this Caravan Trail would have transformed into a
regular road suitable for motorized transportation.
I do not think however, that anyone would transport Tea by this route anymore.
25 February 2012
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