This modern ‘brick’ of Chinese tea was purchased in Ladakh, on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau. Both Tibetans and Ladakhis continue to prefer Chinese brick tea over loose Indian varieties. In former times, tea from Sichuan province was made into bricks by wetting and compressing it. It was then carried on the backs of tea porters to the Tibetan border, where it was sewn into bundles using yak skin and transported into Tibet on mules or yaks. Today bricks of tea are transported by long-distance lorry into Tibet.