The Ancient Tea Horse Road
滇藏茶马古道
Caravans, monasteries & lost Shangri-La — follow the trail where tea was traded for horses, a thousand years ago and still today.
Caravans, monasteries & lost Shangri-La — follow the trail where tea was traded for horses, a thousand years ago and still today.
Shaxi is the only surviving market town of the Tea Horse trade — you'll sleep in a restored century-old courtyard inn on the old square.
Walk the safe upper trail of Tiger Leaping Gorge as the Jinsha River thunders below — with 4K drone footage of you in the middle of it.
Knead tsampa, churn butter tea, and talk about modern life in a real Tibetan wooden home — not a staged "cultural village".
High-torque mountain suspension, individual climate controls, emergency portable oxygen cylinders, and filtered spring water throughout.
Route planned from Kunming (1,900m) to Dali (2,000m), Shaxi (2,100m) and Shangri-La (3,160m). Slow elevation steps prevent altitude sickness naturally.
Hand-picked boutique courtyard stays in Shaxi Old Town, Erhai lakefront retreats in Dali, and Tibetan-style sanctuary mountain lodges in Shangri-La.
Eight themed days with gradual altitude gain and unhurried pacing — designed so the journey never exhausts you. Every detail is adjustable.
Land in Kunming, check into a boutique hotel in the city center, and shake off the flight over Crossing-the-Bridge Noodles and Yunnan cuisine. Rest up — the highlands await.
High-speed train to Dali. Wander the old town and the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, then drift on Erhai Lake by private wooden boat as sunset colors the nineteen peaks of Cangshan.
Drive to Shaxi, the last surviving market town of the caravan routes. Sleep in a lovingly restored century-old rammed-earth courtyard inn; sit by the ancient theater stage and Yujin Bridge; visit the old caravan inns along the Heihui River.
✦Optional keepsake — ancient-tree Pu'er pressed in these very mountains, the same tea the caravans once carried to Tibet.Skip the tourist crush of the big waterwheels — we go to Baisha village for its Ming-dynasty murals. Meet a Dongba culture keeper and make your own rubbing of Naxi pictographic script on handmade paper.
✦Included keepsake — your own Dongba pictograph rubbing on handmade paper, made with a culture keeper.Walk a safe section of the upper trail at Tiger Leaping Gorge — the Jinsha River raging between two 5,000-meter snow peaks. By evening, cross the high plateau into Tibetan Shangri-La.
Early morning at Songzanlin Monastery, Yunnan's largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Then the meadows of Napa Lake — black-necked cranes and grazing yak against the mountains.
Visit a real Tibetan home: knead highland barley into tsampa, churn fresh butter tea, and hear how a mountain family lives today. Night in Dukezong old town — help spin one of the world's largest prayer wheels.
Private transfer to Shangri-La Airport, or connect via Chengdu/Chongqing for your journey home.
Add days, skip stops, slow the pace, bring the family — itinerary, duration and group size are all tailor-made. Tell us your dates and we'll reply within hours with a proposal and transparent pricing.
