Tibetan Tea Caravan
By Almerindo Portfolio April 29th, 2006An old friend of mine from Kunming is involved in a project that is recreating the old Southern Silk Route in Yunnan province. The project involves a caravan of yaks, horsemen, and many ethnic minorities following the old trail from Xishuangbanna up through Zhongdian and into Tibet, promoting their various brands of teas. But it is more than a mere marketing ploy. The caravan has raised over US$100,000 to build schools in the very poor regions through which they have traveled, mostly through auctions of the tea, some of which is rare and treasured. And they throw huge parties along the way. For more information about the caravan and some great pictures, visit my friend’s blog here.
![[Digg]](/images/digg.ico){kind=small}
![[del.icio.us]](/images/delicious.gif){kind=small}
![[StumbleUpon]](/images/stumbleupon.ico){kind=small}
August 25th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
[...] A while back I posted about the Tibetan Tea Caravan, a recreation of tea trading along the old silk road, organized by a friend of mine from my days in Kunming. The Menghai Tea Factory in Yunnan province is involved in a lot of charity work benefiting schoolkids in poor southern regions. My friend, Jeff Crosby, sends this latest note: On August 18th they held a charity fundraiser in the city of Zunyi, famous as the location of the Zunyi Conference, where Mao Zedong was selected as the leader of the Communist Party and the Red Army. At the event, seventy sets of Long March Heroes commemorative tea were auctioned off by Cui Yongyuan, raising a grand total of RMB3.23 million. The company has already selected two locations in poorer regions of Guizhou province to build schools with Project Hope. [...]