Sideng Street is the only bazaar along the tea and horse road that survived all the wars and chaos along the road. Along today’s Sideng Street, the well-preserved theatre, hotels and temple still make the bazaar an active and busy market.

The Sideng Street Bazaar is located in Shaxi town of Yunnan Province, and neighbors the Lancang river, Erhai Lake and steep valleys in the area. The tough geography and environment around the town made it an important communications center on the road. People had to pass the town before heading north to Tibet and south to the Central Plains. As time went by, Shaxi became a distribution center where businessmen from southeast Asia, south Asia and west Asia exchanged goods. In ancient times, fur and feathers and Tibetan herbs were transported on horseback from Tibet to the town and exchanged for much-needed goods like salt and tea.

Sideng Street was one of the busy bazaars in Shaxi Town. For generations, ethnic groups such as Bai, Yi, Lisu and Naxi have lived in the town, making it a thriving mix of cultures. When the tea and horse road increasingly boomed, businessmen from Tibet, and the Hans and Naxis, stopped at Sideng Street to rest, or directly exchanged their goods on horseback with other visitors to the town.

Some old men can still recall the bazaar as being full of bargains and the neighing of the horses, painting a vivid image of how busy and prosperous the street once was.

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