A millennium-old courier route, one shared heart: stories of ethnic unity along the Beijing-Xizang ancient road

Stretching between Beijing and Xizang is a little-known ancient route spanning a thousand years- the Beijing-Xizang Ancient Road.Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), this ancient courier route, stretching over 4,000 kilometers and comprising 82 relay stations, long served as a bridge and bond for the central government's effective governance of Xizang and for promoting ethnic integration along the way. It traverses what are now one municipality, seven provinces, and three autonomous regions of China, passing through areas inhabited by more than a dozen ethnic groups, including Tibetan, Mongolian, Manchu, Hui, Dongxiang, Tu, Yugur, Bonan, and Kazakh. Interwoven with the Silk Road, the Tea Horse Road, and the Tang-Tubo Ancient Road, it is the oldest and most complete courier system among all routes from the Central Plains to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, tightly binding together all ethnic groups along its path.

The construction of the Beijing-Xizang Ancient Road stemmed from the Yuan Dynasty's need to strengthen administrative governance of Xizang, and also facilitated the travels of the religious leader Phags-pa between Shangdu (present-day Beijing) and Xizang. The road was preceded by the Liangzhou Alliance, which laid its foundation: in 1244, the 63-year-old Sakya Pandita, accompanied by his nephews Phags-pa and Chakna Dorje, set out westward at invitation, traveling over 2,000 kilometers before reaching a peaceful consensus with Godan in Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei, Gansu) in 1247. The subsequent Letter from Sakya Pandita to the Tibetans, written in epistolary form to persuade local political and religious leaders across Xizang to accept the jurisdiction of the central government, is a legal-historical testament to Xizang's incorporation into effective central governance. This document, still preserved at Sakya Monastery, also brought an end to four centuries of internal strife in the region.

Along the ancient road, monuments and relics preserve memories of shared purpose. Today, the White Dagoba Temple in Liangzhou has been developed into the Liangzhou Alliance Memorial Hall, a landmark of Wuwei. Over the years, it has received visitors from across the country representing all 56 ethnic groups, and has carried out youth ethnic unity education courses through a "museum-school two-way linkage"model, enabling generations of students to understand the profound history of national unification and ethnic unity. Hongjue Temple in Xining, Qinghai, was built on the site of an earthen altar along Princess Wencheng's marriage journey and bears witness to a millennium of Han-Tibetan cultural exchange and integration. A research team spent three years and traveled over 25,000 kilometers to verify each relay station along the route, safeguarding this shared national memory.

The spirit of the ancient road continues to take root and flourish today. Ma Wenjun, a Hui entrepreneur, has settledon Shannan, Xizang, and, grateful for the assistance he received from Tibetan residents, has led people of all ethnic groups in jointly building a 500-mu "ethnic unity heart-to-heart forest," planting over 40,000 saplings and involving Han, Tibetan, Hui, Salar, Dongxiang, and other ethnic groups, creating numerous job opportunities for local farmers and herders. Each sapling stands as a living testament to ethnic unity.

In recent years, the Beijing-Xizang Ancient Road has also drawn widespread attention beyond academic circles. During the 2026 Two Sessions, E Chongrong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed advancing at a high level the road's nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage List. The proposal has been officially filed by the CPPCC National Committee and referred to the National Cultural Heritage Administration for handling. This ancient road is not merely an ancient postal and courier passage, but a shared spiritual home of the Chinese nation. From historical peaceful alliances and commercial interchange in the past to educational research, talent cultivation, and tree planting for unity today, the Beijing-Xizang Ancient Road spans a millennium, telling the story of all ethnic groups sharing weal and woe, and continuously forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

Translator: Zheng Yujie

First Review: Pan Lu, Liu Fang

Second Review: Drakpa Wangchen

Third Review: Hu Rongguo