Jeff Fuchs, Author and Himalayan Explorer, Exploring Ancient Trade Routes in the Lands of China’s Ethnic Minorities, Feb 28, 2014. poster, resumé, video1, video2 video3
A look at China’s fascinating ‘frontier’ regions and how they came to be some of the most dynamic, and unheralded cultural murals on the planet. From the Tea Horse Road that spanned the Himalayas to the great tea forests of southern Yunnan, it is in the rural frontiers–sometimes known as the ‘wilds’–that a rich weave of traditions, language, and DNA run riot. The timeless vitality of oral narratives have maintained these lands’ tales right into the present. This presentation will provide deeper insights into an often overlooked part of the Middle Kingdom and its tales, peoples and dynamism.
Jeff is an award-winning author and Himalayan explorer who spent the past decade in Asia where his work and research centred on Himalayan trade routes, oral histories and an obsessive interest in tea.
He has consulted with National Geographic and works as a mountain guide. He gained prominence in the realm of exploration as the first westerner to trek the daunting Tea Horse Road, one of the world’s greatest trade routes. His book The Ancient Tea Horse Road documents this 8-month ground breaking expedition covering 6,000 kilometres through the Himalayas. His powerful photo essays and feature articles have appeared on three continents in National Geographic Traveler, The Huffington Post, UNESCO, World Geographic, The Spanish Expedition Society, Outpost, The Toronto Star and The South China Morning Post amongst others.
Most recently, he was invited to be ‘scholar-in-residence’ at the prestigious policy making institute, the East-West Centre, in Hawaii as part of their Asia Pacific Leadership Program. Fuchs has urged a more careful examination of both the Himalayas and China using oral narratives and the epic trade routes that he believes can assist the west in seeing a more ‘complete’ and diverse human and cultural landscape.
Jeff is a member of the Explorers Club and calls the Shangri La County in Yunnan Province his home.
Below, you will find three short videos that were shot during Jeff Fuchs’ talk.
© Jeff Fuchs, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Video by Frederic Dekkal/Lois Siegel Productions Inc.