SONGTSAM ON HORSEBACK

The great China tectonic plate runs into the Tibetan Plateau in northern Yunnan, forging high ranges with soaring snow-packed peaks. Three major rivers — the Yangtze (Jinsha), Mekong (Lancang) and Salween (Nujiang) — run through deep gorges of wild, untamed scenery. With its vast range in altitude one can experience all four seasons in a day, moving quickly from cold snowy mountains to warm flower-filled valleys.

Northwest Yunnan is the richest area in China for biodiversity — possibly the most biologically diverse temperate region on earth. Its hills are blanketed in spring and summer with rhododendrons and camellias, the original stock of the world's gardens; the forests hold over 3,000 species of orchids, and high between the Mekong and Yangtze lives the rare Yunnan black snub-nosed monkey, fewer than 2,000 of which remain in the wild.

The Tea Horse Road, the ancient trade route linking tea-producing areas with Tibet, connects these mountains, gorges and peoples. For hundreds of years horse caravans carried tea to Tibet and India and brought other commodities home, forming a corridor rich in culture. Today, this journey travels one of the most dramatic stretches of that ancient trail — on foot and by caravan.