万里茶道
茶叶与丝绸、瓷器，都是古代中国与外国贸易最重要的产品。清代，茶叶成为最大宗出口的商品。兴盛于17世纪至20世纪初的万里茶道是继丝绸之路之后的又一条横跨亚欧大陆的国际商路，是中欧文明交流互鉴的又一重要史迹。
1689年中俄签订《尼布楚条约》后，中俄贸易渠道开始通畅。以山西商人为主力，将福建、江西、湖北、湖南等茶叶主产区的优质茶叶通过水陆交替运输北上，经汉口、张家口集散转运，经过乌兰巴托，运送到清代中俄边境的通商口岸恰克图。再经西伯利亚到达俄罗斯圣彼得堡，进而分销到欧洲各地。繁荣两个多世纪的万里茶道，纵贯今中蒙俄三国，干线绵延13000余千米，沿线经过200多座城镇，留存大量珍贵的文化遗产。茶道上重要的水运节点城市汉口，曾有“东方茶港”的美誉。
万里茶道在今天延续并光大着文明交流互鉴的故事。中蒙俄三国正在推进联合将万里茶道申报世界文化遗产。2023年10月，习近平在第三届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛期间与普京会谈时提出，要“开展好‘万里茶道’跨境旅游合作，把中蒙俄经济走廊打造成一条高质量联通发展之路”。
Tea Road
Tea, silk, and porcelain were the most important goods in ancient China's trade with the outside world. Tea became the biggest export in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The Tea Road, which thrived from the 17th century to the early 20th century, was another major trade route across the Eurasian continent, following the Silk Road. It was an important historical witness to the cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and Europe.
The Tea Road was opened after the signing of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689. The Chinese merchants from Shanxi Province played a major role in this, transporting quality tea from Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan provinces in south China northward to Hankou and Zhangjiakou by both water and land, which was then transferred via Ulaanbaatar to Kyakhta, a trading port on the border between China and Russia. The tea continued to be moved to Russia's Saint Petersburg via Siberia, before being sold and distributed more extensively around Europe.
The Tea Road thrived for more than two centuries, with its main route traversing more than 13,000 kilometers across China, Mongolia, and Russia of today and reaching more than 200 cities and towns. A large number of cultural relics have survived, and Hankou, a main center of water transportation, was known as the "Tea Port of the East".
Contemporary stories of cultural exchanges are also happening along this ancient Tea Road. China, Mongolia, and Russia are currently promoting the inclusion of the Tea Road as an item of world cultural heritage. When meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in October 2023, Xi Jinping proposed increasing cross-border tourism cooperation along the Tea Road and making the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor a road of high-quality development based on good connectivity.
