Tōngguān

Tongguan stands on the mountain road between the tea country of Pu'er and the Yunnan interior. Its name recalls a guarded passage, and the Qing maintained a post here to watch the route. Caravans carrying tea crossed the Babian River, climbed through the hills and rested at stations before continuing toward Talang and Yuanjiang. Stones worn by generations of hooves mark the old road, a reminder of the journeys that connected the southern tea mountains with markets far to the north.