A team composed of hundreds of tea merchants and experts and 120 camels will make their way across the ancient tea route that connects the Chinese hinterland and Europe in June.

The news was announced by the tea industry development research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the event's major organizers, on Monday at a news conference in Beijing.

"China has long been viewed as the home of tea. But Chinese tea exporters have seen growing difficulties in recent years," said Hu Mingfang, secretary general of the organizing committee.

"We organized this event to enhance the overall international reputation of Chinese tea, and to help Chinese merchants gain louder voices in international tea trade as well as building tourism, trade and cultural exchanges platform for Asian and European countries," Hu said.

According to Hu, a series of Chinese tea promotional activities, including tea culture forums and seminars, will also be taken in Mongolia, Moscow and Paris as part of the seven months of the trip.

The ancient tea road starts from Wuyi Mountain in East China's Fujian Province and leads to St. Petersburg in Russia, which was formed more than three centuries ago.

History records show that great quantities of tea were transported from China to Europe through this route.