Route map showing the route from the northern border of Tonk - Lot 65

Route map showing the route from the northern border of Tonkin, at Man Hao, to Mong Tzé, a town in Yunnan, along the Red River. "The ascent from Man-Hao to Mong-Tze is sometimes referred to as the route of the ten thousand steps. It's a mule track improved by steps, following the classic Chinese system for all steep passages. The maintenance of the current route is the result of a treaty by which China promised France to level the road from Mong-Tze to Man-Hao. This climb of almost 2,000 meters has already been described many times. (Source Annales des Mines (1901, series 9, volume 20), 1901) From a late 19th century archive, this handwritten map is a very early representation of the topography of this Chinese province, where a few years later a French-financed railroad would link Tonkin to China. 120 x 80 cm