Author Archives: JeffFuchs

About JeffFuchs

Bio Having lived for most of the past decade in Asia, Fuchs’ work has centered on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories with an obsessive interest in tea. His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in award-winning publications Kyoto Journal, TRVL, and Outpost Magazine, as well as The Spanish Expedition Society, The Earth, Silkroad Foundation, The China Post Newspaper, The Toronto Star, The South China Morning Post and Traveler amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America and Asia and he serves as the Asian Editor at Large for Canada’s award-winning Outpost magazine. Fuchs is the Wild China Explorer of the Year for 2011 for sustainable exploration of the Himalayan Trade Routes. He recently completed a month long expedition a previously undocumented ancient nomadic salt route at 4,000 metres becoming the first westerner to travel the Tsa’lam ‘salt road’ through Qinghai. Fuchs has written on indigenous perspectives for UNESCO, and has having consulted for National Geographic. Fuchs is a member of the fabled Explorers Club, which supports sustainable exploration and research. Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures. He has spoken to the prestigious Spanish Geographic Society in Madrid on culture and trade through the Himalayas and his sold out talk at the Museum of Nature in Canada focused on the enduring importance of oral narratives and the Himalayan trade routes. His recently released book ‘The Ancient Tea Horse Road’ (Penguin-Viking Publishers) details his 8-month groundbreaking journey traveling and chronicling one of the world’s great trade routes, The Tea Horse Road. Fuchs is the first westerner to have completed the entire route stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas a dozen cultures. He makes his home in ‘Shangrila’, northwestern Yunnan upon the eastern extension of the Himalayan range where tea and mountains abound; and where he leads expeditions the award winning ‘Tea Horse Road Journey’ with Wild China along portions of the Ancient Tea Horse Road. To keep fueled up for life Fuchs co-founded JalamTeas which keeps him deep in the green while high in the hills.

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – A lusty bit of Leaf Tribute

One of the most exquisite pieces of tea porn I’ve come ever across was this compressed mass of large leaf material, formed into seven gourds, sized in ever-descending size to form a large pyramid of vegetal fuel. It was also … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Horse Road Chronicles – A lusty bit of Leaf Tribute

A Snow Pass, The ‘Feel’, and Karma’s Chai

The mind wanders back to a mountain pass, a blizzard, and that wonderful thing that exists still: instinct. On a day of few words along a portion of a trade route in Ladakh as a blizzard piled in at 5000 … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Snow Pass, The ‘Feel’, and Karma’s Chai

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – He Was Late

The horseman assured Sonam and our team that he would appear at 7am sharp the next morning. He promised over several cups of tea, and that was usually the sign of a deal that was done and agreed upon. The … Continue reading

Posted in Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Horse Road Chronicles – He Was Late

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Walks and Words

“When you walk through mountains, you appreciate any arrival. When you walk to a place, you can speak about a place”. An interview about the Tea Horse Road which turned into a sumptuous afternoon with tea about far more than … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Walks and Words

Tea Horse Road Chronicles –

The final destination along the Tea Horse Road, both for our own expedition and for the great journeys of the past, was Kalimpong, in Western Bengal. It became for many muleteers and tea traders a kind of plush retirement community; … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – The Tea That Never Came

A simple tea room in Weishan, Yunnan, and one of the only tea rooms in my life that I failed to actually have tea in. Weishan was another of the understated hubs along the Tea Horse Road, and it marks … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Horse Road Chronicles – The Tea That Never Came

The Tea Sessions – Part 2 – Gyokuro Trip, Umami Grip

Continuing my tea-fuelled series for Outpost Magazine, The Tea Sessions, as it takes a (brief) break from Puerh and into Japan’s fabled world of umami as it plays out in a stunning Gyokuro serving session in Kyōtanabe. Article here: Gyokuro Trip, … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Tea, The Tea Sessions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Tea Sessions – Part 2 – Gyokuro Trip, Umami Grip

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Part Human and a Little Part Goat

Over the course of years since meeting Dorjè I’ve written and pondered much about him. “Part goat and a little part human” was how he was described to me. Perhaps sounds unfair but the goats’ abilities in the Himalayas are … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Choices, No Choices, and some Courage

Ascending up to the Sho La Pass in northwestern Yunnan in May there would always be a chance of weather issues, but it would still be a surprise when, even at the relatively kind altitudes of 3000 metres, the skies … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Tea and Bloodlines

On foot our team of four puttered and wandered west (often faintly lost) through the Nyanqen Tanghla mountains in Tibet towards Lhasa. Highlights seemed on some days to be every single breath and moment. On other days, the grind of … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Horse Road Chronicles – Tea and Bloodlines