Research

The Research pages of CPA Media differ from the commercial section of the site in that they are non-commercial and solely dedicated to aspects of study and investigation.

The Research pages are intended to be interactive. We invite comment, criticism, revision, and especially additional information from interested individuals or institutions. Please contact research@cpamedia.com.

Trade and Trade Routes

At CPA we have a long-standing interest in traditional trade routes by land and by sea, especially in Asia. Over the past two-and-a-half decades this has resulted in the publication of a number of articles and books by us relating to the traditional trade network between China’s southwest province of Yunnan and various states of mainland Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

Tea porters on a mountain trail in Sichuan, early 20th century

A corollary to this is the ‘Tea-Horse Road’ [now more often styled the ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’] which ran from Yunnan and Sichuan to Tibet, Sikkim and West Bengal. We are currently working on a project relating specifically to the traditional Tea-Horse trade between Pu’er in Yunnan Ya’an in Sichuan, and Gangtok in Sikkim for publication as a book entitled Exploring China’s Ancient Tea-Horse Road.

Recently we have also completed work on Insight Guide The Silk Road (London: APA Publications, 2008), with particular emphasis on the Eastern Silk Road (the Chinese section between Xi’an and Kashgar), as well as on the History and various Cultural features of the antique Silk Road along its entire length, from Xi’an in China to Antakya in Turkey.

Future additions to these Trade Route Research Pages should examine The Old Tenasserim Portage Route across the Malay Peninsula between Mergui in Burma (Myanmar) and Ayutthaya in Siam (Thailand); The Role of Muslim traders in Tibet; more recent, military-inspired re-supply routes in World War II’s China-Burma-India Theatre (CBI) including The Ledo Road, The Burma Road and The Hump Air Supply Route between Assam and Yunnan; as well as at The Role of the Indian Ocean Dhow Trade in the History of the Maldive and Laccadive Islands (Lakshadweep).

As with other articles and items posted under the RESEARCH section at CPA Media, these texts remain fully copyright and should not be copied and reproduced in their entirety. They can, however, freely be quoted from or used within reasonable limits for non-commercial purposes citing CPA Media (with the appropriate web link) as the source.

Thank you in advance for complying with this condition, which is designed to encourage mutually beneficial exchange of information, sources and scholarship.

Camel caravan carrying wool, Tangar City, Qinghai, about 100 years ago

• Trade and Transport on the Antique Silk Road
• Cha Ma Gu Dao: Ode to the ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’
• China’s ‘Ancient Tea-Horse Road’ in Historical Perspective
• The Structure and Nature of the Traditional Yunnan Caravan Trade
• Islam and Commerce in Old Yunnan
• The Traditional Caravan Trade between Yunnan and North Thailand