Study Journey
Tea Roads — Yunnan 2025
Leaf, kettle and market along the old tea routes of Yunnan
Yunnan · Southwest China · 2025 · Small group · Completed
About this journey
In 2025 we traced Yunnan's old tea roads through leaf, kettle and market: compressed Pu'er, local infusions, rice-noodle kitchens and the trading towns that connected southwest China to Tibet and Southeast Asia.
The journey treated tea not as a souvenir but as an agricultural product, a form of labour and a record of exchange carried by horses, porters and merchants.
What we actually do
- ·Tea cakes, processing methods and the changing language of quality
- ·Markets and kitchens along Yunnan's historic trading routes
- ·The labour of growers, porters and merchants behind the finished cup
- ·Food traditions shaped by movement between plateau and lowland
From the field
Swipe or drag
Practical
- Where
- Yunnan · Southwest China
- When
- 2025
- Group
- Small group
- Languages
- English · Hebrew
Read first
Essay
Out of the Mist: The Old Tea Horse Road
Chinese soil lacks selenium, and Tibet had horses. A conversation with a former caravan leader about what that trade actually was.
Essay
The Tea Porters of Sichuan
The grueling lives of the chábēifū in Western China.
Essay
Dali’s Market Basket
A seasonal dispatch on wild mushrooms, orchid tubers, and the art of the market find.
Completed
Ask about the next Tea Roads journey
The 2025 journey has concluded. Write if you would like to join a future departure or arrange a focused Yunnan programme for a small group.