Inner Mongolia hails ‘Retrace of the Tea Road’ caravan

By Liu Yufen and Yuan Hui (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-06-09

After marching through difficulties and hardships for over one year, the "Retrace of the Tea Road" caravan, which consists with 120 camels, will arrive in Hohhot, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on June 10.

The“Retrace of the Tea Road” caravan?arrives in the suburb of?Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on June 10.[Photo by Wang Zheng/Xinhua]

The following day, the travel-stained caravan will present at a cultural tourism festival sponsored by Hohhot’s Xincheng district, which will also serve as a welcoming ceremony for the caravan.

The "Retrace of the Tea Road" is a series of activities hosted by the Inner Mongolia Tea Road Research Association and the people’s government of Erenhot.

On April 28, 2013, its caravan started from the city of Erenhot. Three months later on July 27, the caravan arrived in Hohhot, which was recognized as "the City of Camel," an important stop on the Tea Road historically.

A departing ceremony was held to set the caravan’s expedition along the ancient Tea Road. From Hohhot in North China, the caravan headed south and arrived at its destination, Anhua county in South China’s Hunan province, on Dec 2, 2013.

Packed with tea, the caravan set up the return journey from Anhua and return back to Hohhot’s Xincheng district on June 10, 2014.

During the caravan’s retracing of the Tea Road, the event’s organizing committee organized a variety of themed activities, including tea culture forums and promotions, tea sales, and charity sales and auctions.

"Retrace of the Tea Road" is unprecedented in regards to its size. Its trip covered eight provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous regions over a distance of more than 5,000 kilometers.

The“Retrace of the Tea Road” caravan arrives in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on June 10.[Photo by Wang Zheng/Xinhua]

The event promotes Chinese culture’s positive energy and has a profound and far-reaching social influence. From its very beginning, it has attracted attention from mainstream media both at home and abroad.

Chen Gang, leader of the "Retrace of the Tea Road" salutes with a wave of the hand at Hohhot, on June 10. [Photo by Wang Zheng/Xinhua]