The over 60-kilometer waterway between Liubao and Libu is the starting route of the ancient Tea Ship Route. Though not long, this section requires careful navigation by boatmen who sometimes have to physically carry their boats over treacherous shoals when they encounter them.
Following the Liubao River downstream from the town of Liubao for over 60 kilometers leads to the town of Libu. This waterway begins at the Heikou wharf and passes through Dahong, Dazhuikou, Yabotan, Shipowo Bay, and other locations, with a shoal or river bend every four to five kilometers, all set against a backdrop of dense bamboo and trees on either side of the river.
Today, driving along the road beside the waterway, one can still see the swift currents. Near Shuangxue Shoal, the remains of a concrete sluice gate are still faintly discernible. Local tea expert Chen Bochang explains that due to the strong current at Shuangxue, a small hydropower station was built here in the late 1960s. The remains are those of the dam's sluice gate. After the power station was abandoned, the gate was dismantled, leaving only these ruins for future generations to ponder…
The town of Liubao organizes cultural activities to recreate the transportation scenes of the ancient Tea Ship Route
Boats carried over shoals one by one
The waterway from Liubao to Libu has always been the starting route of the ancient Tea Ship Route. Many older boatmen in Liubao recall that after tea merchants finished purchasing tea in the Liubao tea area, they would load the Liubao tea onto sharp-nosed boats at Heikou Wharf for Export. These small boats were generally about nine meters long and two meters wide, with raised ends that tapered to a point, hence the local name “needle-nosed boat.” Since there was abundant bamboo and timber in the mountains around Liubao, the merchants often also dealt in Firewood, bamboo, and timber. Large quantities of bamboo and timber were cut down, tied into rafts up to a hundred meters long, and some of these rafts would also carry Liubao tea. Whether it was the needle-nosed boats or the bamboo and timber rafts, once the tea was loaded, they would all travel downstream along the Liubao River.
The China Tea News published an article in 1951 that described this route as follows: “In the past, Guangdong merchants set up shops in Heikou Street, Liubao, Guangxi, to purchase tea… Later, the Liubao tea was steamed and packed into baskets, which were then transported by small boats (a type of small boat) from Heikou Street to Libu. In spring and summer, when the water levels were high, each boat could carry forty baskets. In autumn and winter, when the water levels were low, each boat could only carry twenty baskets. From Libu, the tea was transferred to larger wooden boats and shipped to Fengkai, then by electric boats to Guangzhou, and finally exported to Hong Kong and Macau.”
This route may be briefly described in written records, but countless boatmen and raftsmen made their living on it throughout history. Their sweat, tears, and even blood became part of this waterway. Li Yuheng started working the waterway between Liubao and Libu at age 16 and continued for over 20 years. “Each needle-nosed boat could carry one to two tons of tea and required three crew members. To help each other, several boats would always set out together in a group.”
In the past, the waterway from Liubao to Libu was fraught with dangerous shoals. From Heikou Wharf down, Dahong, Shaqian, Shipowo… every four to five kilometers, there was a shoal. Although the water level and flow of this waterway have changed since the formation of the Tea Ship Route hundreds of years ago, traveling along this river today, one can still hear the roaring water and see the white waves.
Shipowo Shoal
Almost all the old boatmen who used to work on this route in the Liubao tea area can provide similar descriptions: three to four needle-nosed boats loaded with tea and other mountain goods would travel together downstream. One person on each boat had to steer while two others held long poles to clear large rocks in front of the boat, allowing it to move forward. Whenever they encountered shallow and dangerous shoals, all the needle-nosed boats would stop at a slightly calmer bend in the river, and the crew members would get off the boats. Some would pull the boats from the shore while others pushed them from the water, and more than ten people would work together to carry the boats over the shoals one by one. Those pulling from the front crawled along the rocky shore like dogs, and those pushing from behind bent over so far that their long poles almost broke. By the time all the needle-nosed boats had passed the shoal, the crew members were exhausted. Despite this, accidents such as boats sinking or capsizing still occurred in areas with strong currents and dangerous shoals. Qiu Hanjiang, who used to be a boatman in Liubao, still vividly remembers his boating experiences, saying, “In 1963, I witnessed a boat sink.”
When encountering dangerous shoals, boatmen use long poles to push against the riverbank, allowing the boat to pass safely
On this river, if a shoal is encountered, both upstream and downstream boat teams would shout out signals. When they receive a response, it means that two teams, one going upstream and one going downstream, have met. At this point, the team that arrived later must retreat to a bend in the river to wait and let the first team pass. If the first team lacks enough hands, the waiting team will help them. This rule fostered a close relationship among the boatmen who made their living on this waterway, to the extent that they knew each other's nicknames.
Bamboo and timber rafts reassembled
Although the needle-nosed boats departed Heikou Wharf directly for Libu without stopping, the bamboo and timber rafts that left Heikou Wharf would regroup once they reached Jiucheng Village (a place name in Liubao Town). This is because the Wutong River and Liubao River converge at Jiucheng Village, and bamboo, timber, and tea from the upper reaches of the Wutong River in Can Village and Puwang also travel downstream along the Wutong River to reach Jiucheng Village.
Thus, a bend in the river at Jiucheng Village became a gathering point. The bamboo and timber rafts that left Heikou Wharf would reassemble into larger rafts when they reached Jiucheng Village. Some of the timber was split into logs and tied together with bamboo strips to form firewood rafts. Chen Bozhen, who lived in Jiucheng Village and used to Raft on the waterway from Jiucheng Village to Jiangkou, Fengkai County, Guangdong Province, recalls that “the elder raftsmen mentioned that these firewood rafts were transported to Guangzhou and even Hong Kong and Macau for sale at the time.”
Bamboo and timber grow very luxuriantly in Jiucheng Village
The bamboo rafts on the village roads of Jiucheng Village bear witness to the history of tea exports
In Jiucheng Village, rafting was a method of transporting bamboo, timber, and tea downstream from Liubao Town. Some of the older villagers in Jiucheng Village still remember that there weren't many