Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.58

v2.c13.58

Similarly, the old tea-horse trade route connecting Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Nepal and India continued to function well into the 20^th century CE. In fact, under the impact of World War II and the closure of China's access to other international routes because of the Japanese occupation along with the shifting of the headquarters of the Chinese Nationalist Government to western China, the old overland southwestern silk routes became of strategic importance. Until the Japanese occupied Burma (now Myanmar) in mid-1942, the route from Yunnan through Burma to India once again became very important for reaching much-needed supplies to China during wartime. Even after this route was closed, the old tea-horse road continued to be of importance in transporting civil supplies from Kalimpong in northeastern India through Tibet into southwestern China.