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.
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
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Tagged food, Green Tea, Gyokuro, japan, Japanese Tea, Jeff Fuchs, Kyoto, Kyotonabe, tea sessions, The Tea Sessions, Umami, Yamashita's Gyokuro
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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
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Tagged Asia history, Faces of the Himalayas, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, mountains, portrait, Tea, tea and mountains, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, trade routes, yunnan
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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
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Tagged Asia history, Asian History, Expedition, Himalayan travel, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Snow, Tea, tea and mountains, tea history, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, Tea in China, trade routes
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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
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Tagged Ancient Tea Horse Road, butter tea, Himalayan Faces, Himalayan Portrait, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, portrait, Pu'erh, Tea, tea and mountains, Tea Horse Road, Tibet, Travel
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It was here at the ‘first bend of the Yangtze’ in Yunnan province that the Mongolian armies of the Yuan Dynasty crossed the great waterway and would ‘take’ the previously independent region into the greater fold of the Middle Kingdom … Continue reading →
Posted in Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Cha Ma Gu Dao, First Bend of the Yangtze River, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Rivers, Shigu, tea custom, tea history, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, Yangtze River, yunnan
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Within the tidy remnants of a former ‘Tea and Horse Trade Office’ in Mingshan County, near Ya’an in Sichuan, Jamyan and I wandered for 25 bizarre and wondrous minutes. As we made our way in to the horse dung and … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Media, Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Ancient Tea Horse Road, Asia tea history, Cha Ma Gu Dao, Jeff Fuchs, Mingshan, Sichuan Tea, Tea, Tea and Horses, tea custom, tea history, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, tea trade, Ya'an
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Given the span of time and efforts to immerse in leaves and the lives connected to tea, there aren’t many more satisfying additions than starting up a tea column (in joyous collaboration with Outpost Magazine). These pieces will comprise ‘The Tea … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Tea, Tea Horse Road, The Tea Sessions
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Tagged chinese tea, Green Tea, Himalayan Tea, japan tea, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, Tea, Tea Cups, tea history, Tea Journeys, Tea Moments, Tea People, Tea Pots, tea sessions, Tea Time, tea travel, The Tea Explorer, The Tea Sessions
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Not all stories of the Tea Horse Road were ones of grand expanses, snow caps, or buzzing tea sessions. A friend from the Yi minority invited me to visit his grandmother who had tales of her own to tell. She … Continue reading →
Posted in Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Cha Ma Gu Dao, China, Interview, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, puer, Tea, tea custom, tea history, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, The Tea Explorer, yunnan, Yunnan Travel
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Blankets and ridges of green stimulant leaf lie in rows near Puerh. Here the leaf is entirely industry. Gorgeous industry, but still industry. Local Hani, Han, Yi, Lahu, and Dai pluckers shimmy through the humid air to pluck, pluck, and … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Tea, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Cha Ma Gu Dao, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, puer, Tea, tea fields, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, tea leaves, tea sourcing, Tea Time, tea travel, yunnan
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Ponzera, or Benzilan as it is now known, is a small valley town in northwestern Yunnan that lies alongside a headwater stream of the Yangtze River. For its size and population, its contributions to the Tea Horse Road spanned vast … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea Horse Road
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Tagged Ancient Tea Horse Road, Benzilan, butter tea, Jeff Fuchs, Ponzera, Tea, Tea Explorer, Tea Horse Road, tea horse road chronicles, tea trade, The Tea Explorer, Tibet
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