[Lijiang, Yunnan] Lashihai revisits the ancient tea-horse road and experiences the caravan life.

Lashihai, Lijiang, Yunnan, revisits the ancient tea-horse road and experiences the life of caravan/Wenxilan.

Today, the horseshoe prints on the ancient tea-horse road are still vivid, and the bridge across the stream still stands in the wind and rain, as if remembering the historical scenery in the distance. Horseshoe has walked out of an ancient road with the most spectacular natural scenery, the highest terrain, the most dangerous mountain road, the farthest distance and the most mysterious culture in the world.

On my first morning in Yunnan, I stopped in Old Town of Lijiang, lazily enjoying the long-lost sunshine and planning the next trip. In the next few days, Dali, Shangri-La and Lugu Lake are the places that must be visited in the plan. The first day, Old Town of Lijiang, Shuhe ancient town, the trip was a bit monotonous and there was too much time. I want to go for a walk on the legendary ancient tea-horse road.

Locals say Lashihai is a good place to retrace the ancient tea-horse road, and it is very close. Pick up the phone and search quickly, and decide to go to Lashihai in the afternoon in a few minutes.

The driver who picked me up was warm and polite. He called me early and told me the time, place and license plate number of the meeting, so the trip to Lashihai passed quickly. The driver who picked me up was Ahu, a dark-skinned Naxi. There is a Jin Hu in front of the car, which may be a symbol of his name.

I was the only one in the car. Along the way, he gave me a detailed introduction to the folk customs of Lijiang, explained the scenery I would encounter along the way, taught me the difficult Naxi dialect, and hummed a few local songs from time to time. Near the end of the year, it is the day to kill pigs here. He said that his dinner today was to kill pigs. It was sunny and the air was cool all the way. Yulong Snow Mountain appears in the field of vision from time to time. The carefree mood is self-evident.

I have to mention that Xiao Gan's "A Moment" is playing in the car, and the clear and quiet singing is fascinating. Before I came to Lijiang, I heard Hadron mention it. This song will be played in the streets of Old Town of Lijiang, and almost everyone here knows it. Sure enough, after so many years, the scenery is still the same and the singing is still the same.

Outside the window, small and exquisite Naxi houses are scattered at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by fields.

Lonely horses are foraging in the fields. This scene always reminds people of Ma Zhiyuan's poem "The old road is thin and the west wind is thin, and heartbroken people are in the end of the world".

You can vaguely see many caravans on the road, and scattered horses are lying outside in the sun. Ah Fu told me that Lashihai is not far ahead.

Before we reach our destination, we should add a little common sense: The ancient tea-horse road, which was formed by the exchange of tea and horses in Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet, has a rich history of more than 2,000 years and is the main link of economic and cultural exchanges in southwest China.

There are two ancient tea-horse roads: one is from Xishuangbanna and Pu 'er via Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and Deqin to Tibet and then to India; The second is from Chengdu manager Tang and Batang to Tibet. These two routes are the main roads and arteries of the ancient tea-horse road.

The so-called ancient tea-horse road is actually an authentic caravan road. Once, thousands of caravans lived a long and dangerous life day after day and year after year. They broke the tranquility of mountains and valleys for thousands of years with ringing bells and galloping hooves, and opened up a road of foreign trade, which has gone through thousands of years of vicissitudes. The ancient tea-horse road I took today is only a short part of it.

Fill your stomach before riding a bike. There is a special caravan meal along the ancient tea-horse road. Caravan rice, as its name implies, was the food of caravan people in the past. This is chicken hot pot, which is mixed with some vegetarian dishes such as cabbage, potatoes, bean skin and radish. The taste is very light, not as delicious as in ordinary restaurants. It is a great blessing to remember that the caravan people struggled on this road and slept in the wind. I know enough.

There are fifty or sixty racecourses around Lashihai, all of which are similar, and the routes are similar. The main difference is the different scenic spots along the way. If you just want to ride a horse to experience the ancient tea-horse road, it doesn't matter what racecourse you choose. Mine is the Red Army Racecourse in Lashihai Nanyao, which is a bit like the detachment of the Red Army.

The groom who showed me the way was a Naxi boy, dressed in traditional Naxi costumes, short, with bronzed skin, clear and pure eyes and no impurities. He came to me with a big brown horse and taught me how to ride on horseback and how to prevent the horse from slipping.

He led the horse and took me step by step into the ancient tea-horse road. Teach me how to walk steadily and safely on horseback when walking. The back and forth traces on the ancient road left horseshoe prints and landed on the road deeply and shallowly.

The horse here is called Yunnan horse, commonly known as short-legged horse. Although the name is so common, short-legged horses are characterized by stability and long endurance, and are suitable for dangerous roads. He is good at walking mountain roads and has extraordinary endurance. Each horse can lift 200-300 Jin of goods. In the past, ponies were the most important means of transportation on the ancient tea-horse road.

Finally, I also became an authentic caravan, and set foot on the long-awaited ancient tea-horse road. It seems to have crossed the tunnel of time in an instant and become a caravan sleeping in the wind, looking for all kinds of echoes left by the ancient tea-horse road.

It was quiet all the way, the mountain road was narrow and rugged, with trees on both sides, and clothes creaked from time to time. Naxi boys who drive horses hum Naxi ditty from time to time. Although I don't understand it, I can still hear his cheerful mood from the cheerful rhythm.

It is conceivable that the caravan people in the past had to spend a long and lonely life on this rugged horseback, on this narrow mountain road and in this silent empty mountain. You must use ditty to vent your loneliness, be brave for yourself, or kill time. These songs are endless on this ancient road.

There are thousands of hard-working caravans on the ancient road. Day after day, year after year, during the difficult camping trip, the quiet bells and the rapid pounding of hooves broke the tranquility of the mountain valleys for thousands of years and opened up a road of foreign trade.

Listening to the sound of bells and hooves on the horse's neck, one moment the rugged mountain road, one moment the narrow path, one moment the stream, shuttled on the horse path in the mountains. The ancient tea-horse road in the past, after years of washing and time scouring, appears vicissitudes and profound. There are deep and shallow footholds on those mountain roads, and each one is a story.

Through a series of horseshoe prints in different shades on the road, I seem to feel the vicissitudes of life engraved on the slate road by the years. I think there is sweat on every inch of land here, every rock has a body temperature, and every grass tip is condensed with the ancient fragrance of tea and horse.

It is a pity that the thorns covered up the fate of the caravan, and the passage of time made the historical sites farther and farther away from us. However, in our memory, we can still chew the bitter and salty taste of tea and salt.

The caravan of the past has long gone, and the ancient road has been silent for a long time. Nowadays, tourists from all over the world come in an endless stream, and dusty memories are intermittently excavated in the ruins of history. In the looming time background, an ancient dignity and a long-standing civilization are coming to us, which makes the distant years more emotional.

After riding for nearly an hour, people are tired and the horse needs to rest. Dismount and rest. There are some simple wooden houses in the mountains. Several local chefs are cooking with firewood. They cook so-called caravan rice and provide free tea. Tourists from all over the world rest here and chat with each other. The atmosphere is quite good. Tourists will be curious about some local situations and ask each other.

During the conversation, the cook told us that every household in Naxi ancient village generally has more than three horses, and all of them are numbered for tourists to ride, and the income is divided equally in the village. There is no gap between the rich and the poor in Naxi ancient village, and all income comes from tourism. The peak season is fine, but the off-season is unknown. It's a bit like eating a pot of rice in the revolutionary era.

On the way to rest, the groom took a picture of me and wanted to jump up, but unfortunately I didn't capture it. It was stupid.

Another one who can't jump.

The chef is Naxi, which tells us that many Naxi people have unique culture and customs. Naxi men are very happy. They take their children to wash clothes every day. Every man can play chess, calligraphy, painting, tobacco and tea. Naxi women are the main labor force in society, and it is their job to kill pigs and sheep. The cook lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. He took out a cigarette and handed it to me. My head shakes like a rattle, which means I won't smoke. "We Naxi girls must learn to smoke, and men who don't smoke and drink will be laughed at." Different winds in ten miles, different customs in a hundred miles. Those customs that seem strange to others have been deeply imprinted in the blood of every Naxi people.

Tea Horse Station goes up the road, reaches the commanding height, and overlooks it. The vast lake presented in front of us is Lashihai. Water and sky are one color, green hills are faint, white clouds are long, birds occasionally cut the boundaries of the sky, a distant cry, and few echoes.

Behind the ancient houses in Naxi, low-rise houses and white walls with gray tiles are hidden in the depths of the mountains, surrounded by them, a bit like quadrangles. It's not convenient to take pictures on horseback, and I'm afraid that the horse will suddenly lose its hoof, and I'm even more worried about the camera. If I take few photos, the effect is acceptable.

Ordinary people in Naxi ancient village. The cornices are upturned, the black tiles are gray bricks, and the red lanterns at the door are particularly dazzling.

The winter sun shines through the dry fruit trees, adding a little warmth to the quiet small village.

Walking out of Naxi ancient village, the experience on horseback is over. I got off the horse and accidentally turned behind it. The groom quickly pulled me away and told me that standing behind the horse would scare him.

After getting off the horse, I drank a cup of tea made by Fat Golden Girl, and listened to her talk about the past history of the ancient tea-horse road and the story of Naxi people now, so that I had a deeper understanding of Naxi people. Naxi men used to think that being fat was beautiful and being black was expensive. No wonder, all I saw along the way were dark-skinned and strong boys.

The snow mountain is white, as if it were the color of Yulong Snow Mountain. After drinking this cup of tea, it's time to go home contentedly.

On the way back, a group of horses came from a distance. Whip shadow all the way, a string of hoofbeats, rustling dust, wake up the morning smoke, wipe the sunset, carry the wheel of time, polish the ups and downs of the years, step on the rhythm of life, meander into a historical track, and write an unprecedented legend.