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.
Back to the comforting cold and silence of ‘Shangrila’ here in northwestern Yunnan in preparation for another Outpost Magazine exclusive. Revo Polarized sunglasses, Mountain Hardwear, and our own Jalamteas are sponsoring (and happily fuelling) a ‘western first’ along an ancient … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Media, Mountains, Tea
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Tagged Adventure travel in China, Ancient Tea Horse Road, ancient trade routes, exploration, Himalayas, Jalam Teas, Jalamteas, Jeff Fuchs, Mountain Hardwear, mountains, Outpost Magazine, pilgrimage, Revo, Southwest China, Tea Horse Road, Tibet, Winter Expedition, yunnan, Yunnan Travel, Yunnan trekking
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A little recollection of being introduced to Bang Ma tea; it contentedly remains a tea by my side on every journey since discovering it. There are moments that hit when the head and heart – and in this particular … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Tea
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Tagged Ancient tea trees, China tea culture, Hani indigenous, Hani People, Indigenous culture, Indigenous tea culture, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, Puer tea, southern Yunnan, Tea, tea adventures, tea culture, tea sources, tea travel, Unfermented Pu'erh, unfermented Puer, unfermented tea, yunnan, Yunnan tea culture
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Traders, pilgrims – travelers, who utilized their legs and lungs through the mountain corridors of he Himalayas often tell tales of the mountains’ ‘natural order’, of the inevitable paths that lead and have led through the walls of stone. … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains
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Tagged china trekking, eastern tibet, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Mountain trekking in Yunnan, mountains, northwestern yunnan, Shangri-La, shangrila, Tibet, trade routes, trekking, treks, Western Yunnan, Winter trekking, yunnan, Yunnan Travel, Yunnan trekking, Zhongdian
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To the entire creative team at Outpost Magazine, Canada’s award-winning adventure travel magazine who helped turn the Tsa’lam feature into one of their classics – a big thank you. To Wild China, whose patient support and award aided and smoothed the … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Media, Mountains
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Tagged Amne Machin, Amne Maqin, Amye Maqen, Expedition, Golog, Golok, Jeff Fuchs, mountain travel, mountains, Outpost Adventure Magazine, Outpost Magazine, Qinghai, Salt Road, Salt Road Feature article, Tibetan Mountains, Tsalam, Wild China, Wild China Explorer of the Year 2011
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Skies, snow and peaks have replaced moss-laden trees and the mind clears along with this parting of the eyes’ peripheral. All of a sudden the introspection that has come with days of tunneling through gargoyle forests and wandering mosses gets … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains
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Tagged Expedition, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, kawa gebo, Kawa Karpo, kawa karpo kora, kawa karpo trek, kora, Meili Snow Mountain, meili xueshan, sacred mountain, sacred mountain trek, sacred mountains, sacred mountains of Tibet, sacred snow mountain, sacred walks, southwestern china travel, Tibet, tibet travel, tibetan pilgrimage, Yunnan trekking
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Mornings can ease in or they bump in. I wake in Gebo and have somehow managed to roll not only off of my matt but make it a good three metres from where I first lay my head the night … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains
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Tagged buddhism, circumambulation, Expedition, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Kawa Karpo, kora, Meili Snow Mountain, Mountain, mountains, Nomad, Tibet, Tibetans, Treks in Southwest China, yunnan, Yunnan trekking
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For anyone reading this, whether by happy accident or by loyal readership, this is what Aurelien has drafted up – the sometimes wonderful coupon for purchasing our Bada tea cake. When you access Jalam Teas simply type in “T&M-$10off” as your … Continue reading →
Posted in Media, Tea
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Tagged Ancient tea trees of Yunnan, Bada Puerh, compressed tea cake, Jalam Tea Launch, Jalam Teas, Jeff Fuchs, tea cake, Unfermented Pu'erh, Yunnan tea, Yunnan unfermented Puerh
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And so, after much sipping and traveling; after obsessing on how to get teas ‘out of the bag’ from the gardens and ancient tea sources to you direct, Allen, Aurelien and myself have finally got our modest version of how … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Media, Tea
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Tagged 100 gram Puerh Cakes, Ancient Tea Tree, Ancient Teas, Big Leaf Yunnan varietal, Camellia Sinensis Assamica, Direct Sourcing Tea, Green Tea, Jeff Fuchs, Pu'erh, Rare Puerhs, Tea, Tea Cakes, Tea Company, Tea from Yunnan, Tea ordering, Yunnan tea, Yunnan unfermented Puerh
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Jana is one of those towns that looks to be embarrassed with itself, somehow inward looking with its newly built homes falling into disrepair and a winding dusty road that is littered with refuse. We one depart it one … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains
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Tagged animism, asia treks, buddhism, China, Expedition, Himalayan treks, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Kawa Karpo, kawa karpo kora, kawa karpo trek, Michael Kleinwort, sacred mountains of Tibet, sacred snow mountain, Southwest China, Tibetans, yunnan, Yunnan trekking
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The kora, for Buddhists and Hindus, circumambulating in a clockwise direction follows the apparent movement of the sun. The sun in question is now hidden as we wake in the camp of Chube’ka. Tucked into the valley there is … Continue reading →
Posted in Explorations, Mountains
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Tagged Asia trekking, buddhism, circumambulation, Eastern Himalayas, Expedition, Himalayas, Jeff Fuchs, Kawa Karpo, kawa karpo kora, kawa karpo trek, Meili Snow Mountain, Michael Kleinwort, Mountain Gods, mountains, Nomads, sacred mountain trek, Southwest China travel, Tibet, yunnan, Yunnan Travel, Yunnan trekking
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