In Litang, western Sichuan, horses take center stage once a year. Our correspondent was there to capture the sights and sounds.
While the world cheered for human athletes at the Paris Olympics in early August, spectators on the other side of the Eurasian continent were cheering for horses. The Bayi Horse Racing Festival in Litang county of The Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Sichuan province may have taken place with less fanfare, but its importance to the locals was no less than the Olympics.
Horses have played a crucial role in the Tibetan region throughout history, particularly for the transportation of tea, salt, and other daily essentials through the high mountains and deep valleys of the region. Collectively known as the Tea Horse Road, these intricate routes formed a vast trade network comparable to the ancient Silk Road, connecting central and southwestern China until the arrival of modern transportation in the 1950s.
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