Arriving back to Zhongdian (aka Shangri-La) to wet, hints of snow in the surrounding mountains, and the usual fun and games getting up-to-date with the goings on in our old town. Building goes on, buildings go up and the sound of band saws now competes day and night with the local collection of canines for title of undisputed champion of decibels.
However the route may be called, whether it be the Tea Horse Road, the Tea Caravan route, the Horse Tea Route, or even simply the Yunnan Tea Road, the strands that make up its length are stained with far more than simply tea. Fabrics, medicines, DNA, and any trade item that had value was bundled aboard the mules and horses and taken away to other hungry lands.
An upcoming post about a Tibetan mountain Doctor and a remote monastery will is imminent but before that a link here to a feature article in the award-winning TRVL on Yunnan’s Tea Road here. TRVL is an ‘ezine’ exclusively for iPads…and they do it brilliantly. The link and app are free.
Of course, tea, the great panacea of Asia was always first on any list of desired items during the caravan’s busiest times
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.
