Road to recognition mapped for ancient route

For three years Garwa Nyakwang Zangbo — an abbot at a Buddhist monastery in Xining, Qinghai province — traveled more than 25,000 kilometers for a passion project he hopes will end in wider recognition of a lesser-known but historically important ancient route of China.

The Beijing-Xizang Ancient Road served as a political, cultural and religious bridge during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

Significantly, in the 13th century its embrace included prominent Buddhist leader Sakya Pandita, who traveled the road from the present-day Xizang autonomous region.

"I'll spend the rest of my life achieving this goal, until I die. It's my mission," said Garwa.

"Thanks to modern transportation, my journey was much easier than that of Sakya Pandita more than 800 years ago," added the 59-year-old.

The ancient route consisted of 82 relay stations, with its main artery stretching for more than 4,000 km across what are now seven provinces and three autonomous regions of China. Serving as transportation hubs, some of the relay stations were monasteries, while others had important monasteries built around them.

Garwa's Hongjue Monastery is one of the major stations that is still active today.

In 2019, the abbot and his team embarked on a journey along the route to trace and document every relay station as part of field research for the National Social Science Fund of China.

"The road serves as a comprehensive record of Xizang's official incorporation into the central administrative system in the Yuan Dynasty, and it should be well preserved," said Garwa. "The integrity of the route is very important. Every relay station is part of our national memory."

The journey has not been easy. Some relay stations have been eroded by the elements and are difficult to locate, while others are hard to reach because of poor transportation conditions.

Yet, it was along this ancient road that Tibetan Buddhism spread and became integrated into Chinese civilization. The route also played a key role in interaction between various ethnic groups, including Tibetans, Hui, Salar and Uygurs.

Its importance is extensively detailed in the book The Beijing — Xizang Ancient Road: A Study of the Ancient Courier Road from Beijing to Xizang in the Yuan Dynasty.

The book is the interim output of the Research on the Belt and Road Initiative and the Development of Tibetan Buddhism, a major project of the National Social Science Fund, which concluded on Sept 5.

The push to have the ancient road recognized for its historical and cultural importance is gathering momentum.

During the 2026 Two Sessions, E Chongrong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, proposed that the road be nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status. From the Tu ethnic group in Qinghai, he cited its profound impact on national unification and ethnic integration.

A proposal concerning the protection of the Beijing-Xizang Courier Road and its application for World Heritage status has been officially submitted to the CPPCC National Committee and referred to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, sources told China Daily.

"The road represents an important interchange of human values over a span of centuries. It awaits the right opportunity to be recognized by UNESCO," said Li Decheng, former deputy director of the China Tibetology Research Center, and also one of the leading figures in the research project.