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.

Puerh – The ‘Sort’

Tea ends up in nuggets and in twisted desiccated things of tangy beauty. Cakes and compressed forms line shelves and delicate curled buds are unveiled out of boutique bags and wrapping. It ends up with names and tales scarcely believable … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, JalamTeas, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Puerh – The ‘Sort’

Puerh – Age and Other Words

Age of trees or bushes is one of the questions particularly vital to any discussion or selection of Puerh (regardless of how you spell it). A ten-year old tea doesn’t tell the drinker anything about the age of the leaves when picked, and for many of us this is a more intriguing and more delicious question than it sometimes gets credit for. Continue reading

Posted in JalamTeas, Media, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Puerh – Age and Other Words

World Explorers Summit – Cardiff Wales, Exploration and its vital people and tales

Exploration and its tales. The World Explorers Summit in Cardiff, Wales in September, 2016. Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Media, Mountains | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on World Explorers Summit – Cardiff Wales, Exploration and its vital people and tales

Tea Journey Begins

Tea Journey Magazine documenting all things tea, tea people, culture, and the methods of consumption. A tribute to tea in all of its forms and personalities Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Journey Begins

Tea’s Last Guardians – The Himalayan Muleteers and the Tea Horse Road

Joining the storied Royal Geographical Society here in London as they host my upcoming talks: Tea’s Last Guardians – The Himalayan Muleteers, this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. A magnificent venue to rant on about two great fuels: tea and mountains…and their epic custodians whose grand work rarely gets a worthwhile bit of mention. A grand tribute to the Tea Horse Road. Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Media, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pu erh Tea and its Precious Pickers

There is much made of a tea’s geographic designation, its altitude, its harvest season, and its growers…and there should be! The earth, the temperate surroundings and the handlers and coaxers of the leaves are to be thanked and acknowledged. Every … Continue reading

Posted in JalamTeas, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Nomad’s Fine Food – Air-Dried Yak

Tibetan styled air drying. Slabs of yak meat hang in a nomad’s tent letting 4500-metre air and wind dry one of the vital protein sources for families in the Himalayas. Yak have long been one of the essentials for the very highest of high-residents, providing sustenance, cloth, mobile transport and tools. Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Nomad’s Fine Food – Air-Dried Yak

Pu erh’s Needed Basics

Mystification in Puerh’s world comes from some of its legitimate claims, but it also comes from regurgitated misinformation, marketing, and the intensely pretentious. Mystification, though, can also serve to hide or manipulate knowledge and create hype, and it is at this, that this little bit of writing is directed. Continue reading

Posted in JalamTeas, Media, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Speaking About the Ancient Tea Horse Road

In a day and age of digital everything and seemingly every topic at our fingertips, it’s rare nowadays, compared to say 50 years ago, to meet a true ‘explorer’: a person who has ventured out into truly unique and remote lands, having cultural exchanges where outsiders have perhaps not, and bringing the tales home. Our guest today, Canadian Jeff Fuchs is just that – an explorer. Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Media, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Speaking About the Ancient Tea Horse Road

Toronto Tea Festival – Speaking About (and Sipping) Puerh

  Delighted to be speaking and slurping away at this year’s annual Toronto Tea Festival on behalf of our own JalamTeas. January 30th’s talk “Puerh’s Roots – Caravan Fuel to Boutique Idol” will look at the ascent of the unique … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, JalamTeas, Media, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments