I am an entrepreneur turned PhD student at UC Berkeley. My study focuses on conserving and rebuilding the ancient Tea Horse Trail in China as a destination for recreation and outdoor education.
The Tea Horse Trail (THT) is an ancient trading route that connected the tea producing tropical southern Yunnan and western Sichuan to snow-covered Tibetan Plateau. Trading started more than 1000 years ago during the Tang Dynasty when horse caravans carried tea, salt and various goods north and westwards towards Lhasa, then brought horses and animal products back on the return trip. The 2300-mile-long route with its auxiliary branches functioned beautifully like a living organism, forming a natural ebb and flow of goods and culture, in sync with nature. However, the trail has been in steady decline as highways, high speed trains and flights completely took over its traditional transportation function. Local communities located along the trail are moving away from their traditional land and lifestyle for better access to education, health care and development opportunities.
I see tremendous value in pivoting the trail as an interactive outdoor space, where hikers from around the world will finally have a long trail to follow in China, similar to El Camino trail in Spain or Appalachian trail in the US. It can also serve as an outdoor classroom for nature based education for millions of people to learn to live with nature, not just of nature.
To do this well, I intend to widen my lens as much as possible, and build my field of study from sociological, historical, economic, cultural angles and more. Whether you are a scholar, a hiker, a volunteer, or a grant giver, I would love to hear from you. This project is not for one person or one government alone, it's for us all.
