Guest Blog Post for Asha Tea House

Guest blog post for David Lau’s Asha Tea House in California on tea’s very simple and understated origins in southwestern Yunnan – Pulang Mountain – here

Before the palate can indulge, tea leaves are harvested and produced using time-honoured traditions. Here in tea's ancient home great teas need little ostentation.

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.
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4 Responses to Guest Blog Post for Asha Tea House

  1. Peter says:

    Your description of the unpretentiousness of tea, the ancient tea trees, and the people who harvest them, are all quite fascinating and refreshing, Jeff. It is also wonderful to read of the relationship that exists between the native peoples of Yunnan and the ancient ways of tea.

    Many thanks!

    Best wishes,
    Peter

    • JeffFuchs says:

      The indigenous ways of tea, their simple adherence to natural methods and the social aspects are great examples of how tea was, how it still is in certain quarters and how it can be once again. Great teas, simply served in an environment that hides nothing.
      Thanks for the note Peter.

      Jeff

  2. I truly appreciate the content of your blog.. Keep going.