Where is the specific location of Anhua Tea Horse Ancient Road?

In Anhua County, Hunan Province (mainly in Cave City, south of the Yangtze River), there is a mysterious ancient tea-horse road that stretches between mountains and streams. For thousands of years, countless caravans have walked silently on this road, and the bells ringing in the distance echoed over the valleys, rapids and villages, which also achieved the blending of different nationalities and cultures. 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.

Caravan culture belongs to intangible cultural heritage, and Anhua Caravan is an important part of Meishan culture.

Zishui was called Yishui in ancient times, also known as Chiyou River. According to the research of Meishan Culture Research Association in Xinhua County, the neighboring area of Anhua is the birthplace of Chiyou and the base camp for fighting against northern tribes such as the Yellow Emperor. The research results of Chen Shoutao, an expert on Meishan culture in Anhua county, show that there are some historical materials, remains and customs related to Chiyou in Anhua tourist area, and the place name is Chiyou. Later, because of taboo, it was changed to homophonic "homesickness", which has been used ever since. In order to meet the needs of the war, the Chiyou Tribe Alliance introduced excellent horse breeds, and multiplied them in large quantities for transportation and cavalry operations. This is the primary stage of raising horses in Anhua and Gumeishan areas. Before the establishment of Anhua County (1072), the area was inaccessible, with a savage population, and refused to accept the control of the imperial court at that time, so it was called "Meishan Neanderthals".

Meishan mainly includes Anhua, Xinhua, Lengshuijiang, Shaoyang and Longhui, of which Anhua is the center of Meishan. Most indigenous people are Miao, Yao and Dong. In order to survive and live, they have to trade with the outside world, especially the rich Central Plains, and exchange daily necessities such as salt and cloth with the Central Plains and coastal areas with local specialties such as tea, tung oil and tea oil. At that time, the most convenient means of cargo transportation was horse. During the Song Shenzong period, the imperial court sent troops to suppress the barbarians in Meishan, and there were hundreds of wars. Meishan people used infantry and cavalry again and again to crush the repression of the empire, and horses mostly served the war in wartime. The imperial court killed more than 5,000 people in Meishan for the last time, and the blood flowed like a river. Almost all the indigenous people in Meishan moved to Xiangxi and Guizhou, and the horses moved with them. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu was "bloodbath", and the residents in the prosperous areas of the province moved to Meishan area in the deep mountains and forests, but the settlers rarely used horse tools, which led to the continuous decrease of the number of horses in Meishan and the caravan entered a trough. Later, with the formation of the ancient tea-horse road, the caravan ushered in a new development period.