Site of the Tea-Horse Office

Site of the Tea-Horse Office

Site of the Tea-Horse Office

Located in Changchun Village, Xindian Town, Mingshan District, Ya'an City. It was first built in the seventh year of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (1072 AD), with “officials appointed to oversee it,” specifically tasked with managing the tea-horse trade. It served as the administrative hub for tea-related policies since the Song Dynasty. The existing buildings were reconstructed in the 27th year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1849 AD) and are generally well-preserved. At its peak, the Mingshan Tea-Horse Office handled “20,000 loads of Mingshan tea per year” (with each load weighing 50 kilograms), accounting for over half of the total officially regulated amount. At that time, the Mingshan Tea-Horse Office received trade delegations involved in tea-horse commerce from various ethnic groups, with as many as 2,000 people visiting in a single day at its busiest — a testament to its former grandeur.

Xindian Town: Situated in the heart of Mingshan, Xindian Town borders more than ten surrounding towns and villages. It lies 120 kilometers east of Chengdu and 30 kilometers west of Ya'an. National Highways 108 (Chengya Expressway) and 318 (the former Sichuan-Tibet Highway) run parallel through the town. The town covers an area of 46 square kilometers, characterized by low hilly terrain. It receives 1,300 mm of rainfall annually, with an average annual temperature of 15°C, a frost-free period of 298 days, a humid climate, no severe winters, and no extreme summers.

Administratively, Xindian Town governs 16 villages, 107 cooperatives, and one residential committee, with a total of 5,395 households and a population of 1,993... More detailed information about Xindian Town++