About JeffFuchs
Having lived for a decade in Yunnan, Fuchs’ work has centred on indigenous mountain cultures, oral histories along with an obsessive interest in tea.
Fuchs is the author of 'The Ancient Tea Horse Road' (Viking-Penguin) and he was the subject of 'The Tea Explorer' documentary based on his exploration of the Tea Horse Road.
His photos and stories have appeared on three continents in publications such as 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 UNESCO amongst others. Various pieces of his work are part of private collections in Europe, North America, and Asia. Fuchs served as Asian Editor at Large for five years at award-winning Outpost magazine.
Jeff has worked with schools and universities, giving talks on both the importance of oral traditions, tea and mountain cultures.
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.
Fuchs partnered with Wild China to create a journey along the Tea Horse Road which National Geographic Traveler called one of the "50 Trips of a Lifetime".
He is co-founder of Akahiao Nature Institute on the island of Hawai'i along with his wife, Julie Rogers.
‘Cheshi’ in the early morning in her family’s nomadic camp of Shin’zhu’gong at close to 5000 metres. I continually messed up her name, though I spent weeks with her and family. She patiently dealt with me until she reminded me … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged exploration, Himalayan Trade, Himalayas, Litang, Nomad, Nomads, portrait, Tea, Tea Horse Road, The Ancient Tea Horse Road, Tibetan, trade routes
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Few have had quite the leaf influence upon me, as has Mr. Gao (aka Dr. Gao, Master Gao, or just Master). From his understated approach to communicating to his intuitive understanding of the vital ‘fry’ his has been a calming … Continue reading →
Posted in The Tea Sessions
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Tagged China, classic tea, Jeff Fuchs, LBZ, Pu'erh, puer, Tea, Tea Frying, Tea Master, tea production, tea sourcing, The Tea Sessions, yunnan
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Her’s was the last tent in the windblown nomadic community of Ala Dhotok (Stone Roof), before we headed up the snow pass of Nup Gong La. It was another morning of cold along a portion of the Tea Horse Road … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Churned butter tea, Faces of the Himalayas, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs tea, Nomad, portrait, Tea, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, Tibet
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A few thoughts shared in a recent interview with Tea Biz here. In the great rush of tea paraphernalia and in the increasingly creative marketing and usage of fantastical descriptions and flavour wheels; in a time when the ‘names’ of … Continue reading →
Posted in Media, Tea
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Tagged Interview, Jeff Fuchs, Jeff Fuchs tea, Pu'erh, puer, Tea, tea and mountains, tea biz, tea culture, tea history, Tea serving, Yunnan tea
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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
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Tagged Compressed Tea, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, puer, Simao, Tea, tea culture, tea history, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, The Ancient Tea Horse Road, Yunnan tea
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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
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Tagged chai, Expedition, exploration, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, mountains, Pashmina, Photography, Tea, tea and mountains, trade routes
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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
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Tagged Asian History, Expedition, Food History, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, portrait, Tea, tea and mountains, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, The Tea Explorer, Tibet, trade routes
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“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
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Tagged Asian History, Black and White, Himalayas, Interview, Jeff Fuchs, portrait, Tea, tea and mountains, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, tea trade, trade routes
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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
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Tagged Asian History, Cha Ma Gu Dao, Himalayas, India, Jeff Fuchs, Kalimpong, Tea, tea and mountains, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, The Ancient Tea Horse Road, trade routes
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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
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Tagged China, Commodities, Tea, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, trade routes, Weishan, yunnan, Yunnan Province
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