“Tea, Trade and Tyranny: Tibet and China over Time” with Mark Jenkins

Tibet and China have had a complex relationship for 1500 years. Wars have been fought, treaties signed, then ignored in the next conquest. But there was always trade. In this presentation, National Geographic writer Mark Jenkins takes us on a journey down the forgotten Tea Horse Road. For almost 1000 years there was a stone-paved road that connected Ya’an, the tea-growing capital of Sichuan province, with Lhasa, the 12,000-foot high capital of Tibet. Tea was essential to daily life in Tibet, and China’s feudal kingdoms needed war horses. For centuries China and Tibet were on equal footing, but the ascendancy of China in the second half of the 20th century has devastated Tibet and Tibetan culture. With National Geographic images, Jenkins reveals the modern lives of the Tibetans, and the Chinese, and the geopolitics that have always connected them. Special thanks to the UW Office of Academic Affairs, Outreach School, the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation, the Wyoming Humanities Council, the Homer and Mildred Scott Foundation, Buffalo Bill Center for the West, National Wildlife Museum and our Wyoming college partners who help us bring the World to Wyoming tour around Wyoming. For more information please contact Dr. Jean Garrison, Director of the Center for Global Studies at 307-766-6119 or garrison@uwyo.edu. Jenkins Bio: A critically acclaimed author and internationally recognized journalist, Jenkins covers geopolitics, the environment and adventure for National Geographic. Jenkins’ writing has won numerous awards, including the Overseas Press Club Ross Award for “The Healing Fields” story about landmines in Cambodia and a National Magazine Award for photojournalism with colleague Brint Stirton, for “Who Murdered The Mountain Gorillas” – both of which were the focus of previous World to Wyoming tours around Wyoming. Jenkins’ is the author of four books and his work has appeared in dozens of national and international magazines. He has his BA in Philosophy and MS in Geography from the University of Wyoming.