The Stories of Ancient Tea Horse Road, Burma Road and Hump Airline in Yunnanyi Old Town

Yunnanyi (云南驿) is absolutely a special small town. It is located in Xiangyun County(祥云县), which is more than 200 kilometers from Kunming. “Yunnanyi”, still keeps the original name of “Yunnan” in Yunnan Province.

“Yunnanyi”Ancient Town belonged to the old haunt in Yunnan County (云南县) in the Han Dynasty and Yunnanjun Prefecture(云南郡) in the Wei and Jin Dynasties(魏晋). It had been famous since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties set Yunnanyi in Yunnan, it is the hometown of the South of Colorful Clouds(彩云之南). It may be called as the “Source of Yunnan.”

From the 2nd century BC to the early years of the past century, in the long history of more than 2,200 years, Yunnanyi successively went through the settings of county(县), Jun or prefecture(郡), jiedushi(节度使), zhou(州), dan(赕), city(城) andcourier station(驿站) and has always used “Yunnan”its name and witnessed countless tremendous changes.

As a place of strategic importance of the Southern Silk Road, that is, “the Road from Sichuan (Shuyan Dudao 蜀身毒道) to India (Sindhu, transliteration of India)” and “the Ancient Tea and Horse Road茶马古道”, for many years, Yunnanyi treated many merchants and horses from other places, just like an endless stream. The hustle and bustle of large crowds passed by Yunnanyi. All kinds of caravansaries had developed more than thirties. Yunnanyi become the true meaningful “the Home of Horses”floated in the Southwest Silk Road.

Yunnanyi Town(云南驿) was the most strategic base for allied force in Southwest China; The Hump,
Burma Road, China-India Oil pipeline,Tea-horse Route all gathered in Yunnanyi during the Second World War, and because
of its strategic position it was latter
written into western history. Yunnanyi was also known as “the living fossil of human transportation development history” (人类交通发展史的活化石), because it includes caravan, road transportation, railway transportation, and air transportation.

At the entrance of Yunnanyi, there are two couplets.
One is:
马帮铃响店小二迎来送往
邸报飞传众官员暮留朝去

Another is:
东奔西走天上地下皆为军火
南来北去鞍前马后只闻茶香

These two couplets vividly depict the geographical characteristic and cultural traits of Yunnanyi. Yunnanyi is not only a place in Yunnan –Tibet Tea-horse Ancient Road where caravans can have a meal or cook by themselves, but also an interchange of the Hump, the Burma Road , China-India pipeline and Tea-horse Ancient Road during the World WarⅡ.

The one kilometer long flagging is in a good condition.

Walking back and forth on this road, I couldn’t help recalling its long history.

The Stories of Ancient Tea Horse Road, Burma Road and Hump Airline in Yunnanyi Old Town
The ancient stone road, which lies quietly under the foot, is called the “five-foot road”(五尺道) of the southern Silk Road (南方丝绸之路).
It passes through Guiyang, Kunming to Yunnanyi (云南驿) and extends respectively to Lincang (临沧) and Tengchong (腾冲), and finally leaves the country.
Yunnanyi as a boundary, the east of the road is called Tea-horse Ancient Road(茶马古道), the west of the road is called Bogu Road (博古道).
Through this ancient road, Chinese silk, tea and porcelain are exported to Myanmar, India, Arab and the Roman Empire. At the same time, agate, ivory and jewelry are also continuously imported to China.
Walking on the flagging, I seemed to hear “the bells ring in the mountainand the caravans come.”

The timeworn and depressed pavements on both sides of the street, and the visible prints of horses on the “guiding horse stone”, seemed to confirm the disappearing history.

During the Anti-Japanese War, a large number of goods were transported to the frontline through Yunnanyi. Therefore the position, Yunnanyi as a traffic hub in southwest China, is established.

With the changes of history and the development of society, the opening of trains, planes and expressways one after another, the original transportation of the caravan has become history, and Yunnanyi is the witness of Yunnan’s transportation history.

Mankind has expanded its road wider and wider, gradually enlarging the word “Yunnan”(云南). Let the name of a small town become the name of a province.

However, the pace of mankind is getting faster and faster, and the posthouse has been thrown to a certain corner of history.

The both sides of the ancient post road is strewn with stones, and the sewer system is being renovated.

The houses on both sides of the ancient post road are the traditional one-door one-window one-shop style of the Han nationality in Yunnan, which is rarely seen today.

During the Spring Festival, there is no any visitor except our two unexpected guests.
But at that time, Yunnanyi still maintains the serenity and peace of the Millennium ancient town.

Caravan Cultural Museum
During the period of the Republic of China in Qing dynasty(清代民国期间), Yunnanyi became the most important and prosperous distributing center along the Tea-horse Ancient Road. Every day, many caravans passed throughYunnanyi. Some caravans had more than 300 horses, and other also had at least five to six horses. The caravans transported leather and medicinal materials to the east, and tea, cloth, salt and general merchandise to the west. Based on the Historical records, Lin Zexu(林则徐) lived in Yunnanyi when he arrived in Yunnan.
Today’s Caravan Cultural Museum was built on the site of the largestcaravansary in that year.

The couplet in front of the gate is: 昔日繁华百宝街，雄商大贾挟货来The momentum is evident.

The route of the Ancient Tea Horse Road before.

The introduction on this wooden board said: “this caravansary was founded in the early Qing dynasty and declined in the Republic of China. It is the largest and most well-preserved caravansary on the Tea-horse Ancient Road. Past events have vanished like smoke, and the caravan becomes a story. What you see here is only the remnant fragments of the caravan culture, and the people who had carried these cultures disappeared …”

Caravansary is very quiet and empty, as if to create a special artistic conception for us when we get into it.Bell rang and the caravan came in the past, and now the slabstone is covered with moss.

Walking into the caravansary is like walking into a night one hundred years ago: every pillar is lit with a lantern, the horse tied under the lantern is eating forage in the trough, the pack is discharged on the groundorderly, and it is filled with Pu’er tea, pan salt and local products. From a few old suitcases and wooden cases of different styles, we can know that there are guests of different identities on the road with the caravan.

In the counting room, the account book is opened under the oil lamps, as if bookkeeper has just left to north courtyard to greet the guests. The well water in the courtyard was still clear, the forage beside sickle had not been cut, and the grain on the stone mill had just been piled up…

Supplies for the caravan: clothes, shoes, water pipes, haversacks, and even a soldering iron(烙铁熨斗).

This dress and haversack have accumulated a hundred years of dust. As if once were touched, it would become powder.

It is a place for the caravan to drink tea and rest. You can imagine that a group of caravan entered this ancient posthouse with the jingle of horse bells in the evening with the afterglow of the setting sun. Before it was dark, the guest rooms were filled with guests who came from different places. Although they had been trudging along the rugged mountain road all day, they were still gathering together happily, drinking delicious roast tea while boasting about their experiences and adventures on the road…

Facing the dawn of the next day, horses carrying all kinds of materials rushed to the other side in a shouting.

The songs sung by rider was written on the wall, like master’s picture：
“头骡打扮玻璃镜，千珠穿满马套头。一朵红缨遮吃口，脑门心上扎绣球”；“身着大地头顶天，星星月亮伴我眠。阿哥赶马走四方，阿妹空房守半年”、“砍柴莫砍苦葛藤，有囡莫给赶马人。三十晚上讨媳妇，初一初二就出门”。

The memorial tablets of the mountain gods, the road gods and the bridgegods are put in the main room on the upstairs. Whenever the master cameor left, he would come here to worship.

A few box-style beds with mottled red bedclothes seemed to leave traces of guests from north and south. Once upon a time, all the valuables of travelling merchants were put in these box-style beds and people slept soundly on them.

The copper basin on the wash stand and the water pot on the window sill seemed to be steaming.

The most exciting thing is the jingling of horse bell which reverberates in the valley, long and lonely.

However, these bells are closed forever.

The past prosperity has finally become a silent history. It is a pity.

Second World War Transportation Historical Memorial Hall

Second World War Transportation Historical Memorial Hall (二战中印缅战区交通史纪念馆) stands across the street from Yunnan Caravan Cultural Museum (云南马帮文化博物馆). The building’s main structure was made of wood, and it was nearly one hundred years old. Building area of memorial mall was 339 square meters, and floor area was 724 square meters. Historical Memorial Hall was a command center for allied forces during World War II.

与“”隔街相望的是“”。纪念馆设在一幢近百年的老宅院里，占地339平方米，土木结构两层一进四合院，建筑面积724平方米。抗战时期这里曾用作盟军的一个指挥部。
门上对联：史笔如铁评二战成败；年华似水说一代英雄——

庭院里，东西厢房分设四个小展室，讲述着二战时期云南驿的故事。
天井里漏泄的阳光，仿佛时光，让人退回到那个永不泯灭的历史段落。倏地，敬畏之心油然而起，甚而让人没有勇气、无力再揭开那一段壮怀激烈历史的帷幕。

Entrance of the Memory Hall displayed an introductions on the wall with a slogan “War can be determined by transportation”(交通决定战争). During Second World War, The Hump Airline (驼峰航线), The Burma Road (滇缅公路), China-India Oil Pipe Line(中印输油管), all came together at Yunnanyi (云南驿). This small town became the most strategic place in Southeast Asia, and was latter written into western history.

During WWII, Yunnanyi（云南驿） became the most strategic military base in Southeast Asia, because of the Burma Road(滇缅公路) (now known as National Road 320) passes through this town. Yunnanyi air port was an air transfer station for The Hump, it was also the 38th Kuomintang(国民党) Air Force Station (国民党空军第38站) and the site of Kuomintang Central Air Force Military Academy(国民党中央航空军官学校).

In 1941, the US Air Force (美国空军基地司令部) commanded over 200 air crafts to support China against Japanese invasion, it includes combat unit and transportation unit , and they retreated after the invasion was over in 1945. In May 1942, Japanese army invaded China from Burma(缅甸), US Air Force (美国援华飞行大队) sent The Flying Tigers (飞虎队) to station in Yunnanyi Airport (云南驿机场). The station latter established special facilities such as “New York Village”(纽约村) and “American Red-cross Hospital”(美国红医院) which was used to treat wounded soldiers from front line. “New York restaurants” and “Huamei restaurant” was opened to serve European food. Yunnanyi later became known as “The Small Hongkong” (小香港) or “The Small New York” (小纽约). Some said that many American soldiers who came to China do not know Yunnan, but they all know Yunnanyi.
The Hump Airline (驼峰航线) was an air route created in 1942 by China and United States to fight against Japanese invasion. A total of about 800 thousand tons of strategic goods was transported to China through this air route, but there were 609 airplanes crashed and disappeared during this time, which sacrificed nearly 2000 pilots. The Hump plays an extremely important role in the victory of China against Japanese invasion.

The famous Still-well Highway (Burma Road)

On the wall of Memorial Hall there are some old pictures of the Burma Road. The Burma Road has been reconstructed lately, left only a small section of the original stone road. In the latter years of the resistance war against Japan, Japanese troops occupied west of Nujiang River (怒江) in Burma, which blocked transportation of goods on the Burma Road. Transportation using aircraft through the Hump was very costly and limited. During the time of crisis ancient Tea-horse Road (茶马古道) played an important role in transportation. Tibetan merchants use the yaks to carry goods from India(印度), Nepal(泥泊尔) to Lhasa(拉萨), and then caravan carry them to Shangri-La(香格里拉), to the border of Yunnan(云南) and Tibet(西藏). Tibetans, Yi, Bai, Naxi and many other ethnic groups’ caravan transport goods to Dali(大理) and later to Kunming(昆明). Yaks, horses, mules and donkeys were all used during transportation of goods, which covered a very long distance. People of all ethnic groups in Southwest China helped intensively during the transport of supplies, which sustained the Resistance War against Japanese invasion. Historically, all the caravans of Yunnanyi helped to complete this impossible task.

In the center of the memorial hall, a 10 square meter model displayed the structures layout of Yunnanyi. This model includes Burma Road, The Hump Route Airport, China-Indian oil pipeline; and the thousands of mules, horses, yaks carrying goods on the Tea-horse Road. This gives a visual display on why Yunnanyi was a strategic transportation station.

The second floor’s main lobby was an exhibition of Flying Tigers. The hall beside it displayed World War II historical relics, which include daily necessities for US soldiers, wartime communication equipment, hand-operated generators, telephones, and some of them can still be used.

Second World War Transportation Historical Memorial Hall was built to honor those who died in during the war. Today, look back at those historical battles in Yunnanyi, and what people sacrificed in order to bring peace to their children.