Countenance: Travelers Along the Tea Horse Road

Tea once traveled the most daunting journey of any plant on the planet. Few tea drinkers know the story of how tea spread to every nation from its origin in the mountains of China. Traders for 13 centuries loaded tea on the backs of yaks, mules, horses, sheep, and man.  It took months for caravans of tea to find their way from what is now Yunnan and from Sichuan, China along narrow trails ascending to the highest of highlands, the Tibetan Plateau. Along the way, this eternal fuel of the spirit,

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Jeff Fuchs is an explorer, mountaineer and writer. 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). He is co-founder of the Canadian tea venture Jalam Teas (www.jalamteas.com).

4 Comments

  1. Renee Planje
    on June 29, 2017 at 3:44 pm •Reply

    HI Jeff
    what an amazing article with so much heart in it. Renee

  2. Kamal Gupta
    on November 27, 2017 at 8:47 am •Reply

    This is one of the best narratives I have read. Thank you

  3. Greg Goodmacher
    on June 21, 2020 at 8:15 am •Reply

    The writing and photography are exceptional!

  4. Aravinda Anantharaman
    on June 27, 2020 at 2:17 am •Reply

    What a great narrative and photos! And what an adventure to undertake! Love it!

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