The tea horse ancient road in Yunnan Tibet line appeared in the Tang Dynasty. It was closely related to the expansion of the Tubo Dynasty and its trade activities with Nanzhao. In 678 ad, the Tubo forces entered the northern part of Yunnan's West Er sea.

In the 680 year, he established the capital of Shen Chuan Du Du, and Tubo set up officials in Nanzhao to levy taxes on Bai man and Hei man, and to dispatch officers.

Trade between the two sides has also made considerable progress. Tea horse trade is an important part.

The traffic route between Nanzhao and Tubo is roughly the same as that of today's Yunnan Tibet highway. That is to say, from the beginning of Yunnan's big burial, from north to Jianchuan, and then to the north of Lijiang, the iron bridge city continues along the north of the Yangtze River, passing through the Zi Zi fence to the Yu Lai city, and then goes to the salt well. Then, along the Lancang river north to Ma Dang (now Tibet Mangkam) and Zuo Gong, there are two ways to go to Tibet: one through eight home Pang Da, and ZAH to Changdu; and one from eight to Bomi, crossing Linzhi to Lhasa.

The starting point of the tea horse road in Yunnan is Dali, the capital of the Nanzhao regime during the Tang Dynasty.

Among them, Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian, and Arun Zi (Deqin) are important hubs and markets for tea horse trade.

The tea trade of Yunnan Tibet line is mainly tea from Puer tea in Yunnan. There are also tea from Sichuan and other places.

The tea horse trade in Yunnan Tibet line has its own characteristics. The Han merchants from the mainland of Yunnan pfer tea and other goods to the local traders or traders in Tibet, and buy horses or other livestock, native products and medicinal materials from local traders to sell in Lijiang, Dali and Kunming.

Most of the Tibetan merchants in Tibet and Sichuan Tibet returned to Tibet for their daily necessities.

The main means of pport are mule and yak.