Taiyuan joins forum on China-Mongolia-Russia Great Tea Route

Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, was invited to participate in and speak as a representative of Chinese cities at the International Academic Symposium for Application as World Heritage of China-Mongolia-Russia Great Tea Route and the Mayors' Forum of Cities Along the Great Tea Route on Nov 21 in Huangshan city in East China's Anhui province. 

Liu Yuwei, director of the Taiyuan bureau of cultural relics, said the Great Tea Route is an important corridor for cultural exchanges and trade ties between China, Mongolia, and Russia. 

The forum has helped to revitalize this ancient route, and Taiyuan will strengthen its cooperation with other cities along the route in terms of protecting cultural heritage, he said. 

The route, which spans 13,000 kilometers through all three countries, has prospered for 250 years. It is another transnational commercial artery for China to the world after the world-famous ancient Silk Road. 

Shanxi merchants, as pioneers of the route, have made significant contributions to the flourishing trade between China, Mongolia, and Russia. And Taiyuan, which gave birth to Shanxi merchants and boasts a history of over 2,500 years, was once a commercial hub on the route. 

In recent years, the city has focused on the systematic protection of local Great Tea Route-related relics. It has also united more than 20 cultural relics institutions and higher education institutions along the way in eight provinces and autonomous regions to establish the Cultural Alliance of the Tea Road-related National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

The alliance has held academic seminars and launched themed exhibitions, contributing efforts to revitalize this ancient trade and cultural exchange route.