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.

Lobsang – On Water in the Himalayas

A morning of brittle cold that brought the eyes to a standstill in Darlag, southern Amdo. Lobsang watches while his two sons source ice from a nearby ‘lake’ to bring home to boil for morning tea. Lobsang asked me whether … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Himalayas, Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lobsang – On Water in the Himalayas

Time with Tseten – Tea Horse Road Trader

We sat in the dark gloom of his home, with a bit of lukewarm butter tea roaming around our hands. Another of the remaining legends of the days of trade and odyssey journey-making along the Tea Horse Road, Tseten was … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Time with Tseten – Tea Horse Road Trader

Tseba, his Tea, and the Walk(s)

One of the most purpose-driven of walkers, Tseba, would prepare a kettle of butter tea every morning before leaving to circumambulate around Litang’s Chode monastery. No less than three rotations would ever be done and afternoons would often see Tseba … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tseba, his Tea, and the Walk(s)

Tea Pot Travels – The 90 ml in Europe

The second selection is a 200 gram cake of Spring 2021 Naka old tree (100 + years). A bit of brilliance it is on the palate. Fresh and almost throbbing with ‘qi’, it counts among my ‘teas that cannot disappoint’. The region’s ability to provide random bits of sumptuous unbridled strength on the palate and in the blood isn’t always a given…but it usually is. It is one of the regions that, with careful hands and consistent raw materials, can provide an offering that satiates and restores my very core. It is too, a tea that can ‘cut’ through a palate of pungent cheese without a problem. I know this well as the two are frequent partners on my palate journeys. Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tea Pot Travels – The 90 ml in Europe

Omu, The Strong

Arriving to a new camp and homestead, Omu sets about going through an unending list of ‘musts’. One of the musts is securing tent ‘fly’ lines of twined yak wool, hammered into the high-altitude turf. Using a stone picked up … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Omu, The Strong

Dolma, the Titan

Over the course of a decade of repeated visits to a nomadic community and little Dolma’s clan near Litang, I would continuously be in awe of the ’nomadic ways’ of doing simply anything. Moving up to a half dozen times … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dolma, the Titan

Leaf Journeys, Leaf Ageing, and the Heights

It was upon the months’ long journeys along the Tea Horse Road that the big-leafed ‘assamica’ material and eternal panacea, tea, would transform and morph from a simple green tea into an almost compost-like blend that many Tibetans began to … Continue reading

Posted in Explorations, Mountains, Tea, Tea Horse Road | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Tea Comes Around

The joy of a bit of time-hit leaf beauty. Age hasn’t always been something I’ve ever been convinced matters in any tea. Age of bushes, of trees, or even of the producer maybe, but age of the cake or how … Continue reading

Posted in JalamTeas, Tea, The Tea Sessions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Tea Comes Around

The Tea Sessions – Latest Column Piece – “Karma’s Chai”

Few mortals provide (and have provided) as much leaf pleasure as the immortal Karma. Over years and expeditions, he has alchemized his fierce brews at thousands of metres high, on cliffs, glaciers, and in snow blown Himalayan camps. Within his … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Tea Sessions – Latest Column Piece – “Karma’s Chai”

Pomo – The Girl Who Could Do It All

‘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 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pomo – The Girl Who Could Do It All