Yangloudong

Yangloudong is located in Yangloudong Town, 26 kilometers southwest of Chibi City. It is a strategic point at the junction of Hunan and Hubei. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was one of the six ancient towns in Puqi (now Chibi City). It is the origin of "Songfeng Tea" and is known as the "Hometown of Brick Tea". There is an ancient street in the town that is mainly composed of Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings. The main street is 4 meters wide and 2,200 meters long, accompanied by several T-shaped alleys. The ancient street has a construction area of ​​0.7 square kilometers. The streets are all paved with bluestone. The "chicken buses" used to transport tea in past dynasties ground the stone slabs into grooves more than an inch deep. There are mostly wooden buildings on stilts on the East and West Songfeng Harbors, and three long stone bridges run through the east side of the harbor. The streets meander along Songfeng Harbor, which is unique. At the foot of Songfeng Mountain in the southeast of the street, there is the famous Guanyin Spring. The water is clear and sweet, and it is the source of refined famous teas throughout the ages. Since the Emperor issued an edict during the Taihe period of the Tang Dynasty to plant camellia, tea has been cultivated and processed locally. During the Song Dynasty, brick tea was once used as currency in the tea-horse trade with Mongolia. The Yangloudong Ancient Tea-Horse Road began in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. By the beginning of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the tea-making industry had become quite developed, and market towns flourished accordingly. Three hundred years ago, countries along the Tea Road regarded Yangloudong as their understanding of Chinese tea. This land, which covers an area of ​​less than 0.7 square kilometers, brought together elite businessmen from various countries including Russia, Germany, Britain, and Japan. At its peak, there were more than 200 tea houses and a population of nearly 40,000.