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Jeff Fuchs

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Portrait taken on a expedition in Ganze in July,2010

Jeff Fuchs is a noted explorer, mountaineer and writer.[1] He gained prominence with his successful bid to become the first westerner to trek the entire Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea Horse Road, stretching almost six thousand kilometers through the Himalayas and a dozen cultures, documented in the book The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers (2008).[2][3]

Biography

Fuchs is a Canadian citizen of English/Hungarian heritage, born in Ottawa, Canada. He spent considerable time in Switzerland as a child where a staunch love of the mountains and climbing was established. Fuchs graduated from Dawson College in Montreal with a degree in Commercial-Fine Art Photography. He is fluent in several languages, notably Mandarin and Tibetan. He divides his time between Canada, Shangri-La County, China, and Europe.

Fuchs's has been published in World Geographic, Spanish Geographical Society, New Ideas, Outdoor Exploration, New Traveler, Silkroad Foundation[4], Outpost magazine,[5] Kyoto Journal[6] and The China Post newspaper among others.[3]

He was an invited speaker 1st Annual North American Tea Conference in October, 2010, to discuss the origins of tea and tea's ancient birthplace in southern Yunnan.[7] Jeff Fuchs joined with WildChina[8] a tour group operator for a series of trips along the Tea Horse Road beginning in late 2010. Fuchs is testing clothing made from yak wool for a new social venture, Khunu, a company that sources yak wool directly from isolated communities upon the Himalayan Plateau and within Mongolia. Fuchs is a current member of the Explorers Club.[3]

Jeff Fuchs tests tea in southern Yunnan province, home of the oldest tea trees on the planet and home to the famed Puer tea

Ancient traditions and oral narratives

The relationship between mountains, indigenous cultures, and tea has informed much of Fuchs' work, with a particular focus on Asia. After considerable time spent between the Himalayas and Southwestern China, he became compelled by the people and their narratives surrounding the old tea caravans. This interest culminated in a journey to retrace the path of the world’s highest ancient trade route, from the perspective of the first Westerner to do so.[3] Fuchs brought due attention to this story in his book The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers (2008), where he documents the 6000 km, 7.5 month journey.[2]

The team treks along a remote portion of the Tea Horse Road deep in the Himalayas without the aid of pack animals

Apart from being the first western explorer to have traveled both main arteries of the Ancient Tea Horse Road,[3] Fuchs also spends considerable time in isolated regions documenting the changing face of culture and recording the oral traditions as passed on by elders. One of his most well-known articles appeared in Outpost documenting a three-week stay at almost 4500 meters with a community of the famed and feared Tibetan nomadic Khampas in eastern Tibet (Kham).[5]

Jeff Fuchs has spoken extensively at secondary schools, universities, academic organizations and public lectures throughout North America, Asia and Europe. Based on his first-hand experience with indigenous cultures, Fuchs has urged contemporary audiences not to ignore ancient traditions and the importance of oral narratives in our society.

In recognition of his work with minority cultures Fuchs was awarded a grant from the famed Banff Centre to continue his written and photo documentation of Himalayan Culture.

Bibliography

Three people stand outside facing the camera, mountaintops are in the backdrop, the tallest bearded Western man in the middle has his arms around the shoulders of two shorter Asian men.
Jeff Fuchs with trekking partners atop the 5,400 meter Trola pass in central Tibet.

Books

  • The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers (2008; Viking Canada). ISBN 978-0670066117

Articles

References

  1. ^ Jeff Fuchs, official website.
  2. ^ a b Jeff Fuchs. The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers (2008; Viking Canada). ISBN 978-0670066117
  3. ^ a b c d e Explorer's Club: Members Biography
  4. ^ "The Tea Horse Road", Silk Road Journal, V.6, N.1 (Winter 2008)
  5. ^ a b Outpost, "High Himalayas – With Khampa Nomads at 5,000 metres", May/June 2006, Issue 51
  6. ^ Jeff Fuchs. "Of Bonds, 'the Word' and Trade", Kyoto Journal #74
  7. ^ Opportuniteasbrewing 2010, Tea Association of the United States of America, 1st Annual North American Tea Confrence
  8. ^ WildChina, official website.
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