Author: Darcey

I was munching on my chicken salad sandwich when my colleague popped into my office, “ Oh, sorry. Here you go. Conde Nast Traveler Magazine issue you’ve been waiting for!”.

I probably didn’t look my best in my small office in an old house on East West Highway.  At least, the munching image didn’t quite live up to the dream brought alive on the cover of the magazine:

“135 Travel Experts who can change your life (Trust Us!)”

“FANTASTIC GETAWAYS! Living the Dream in Italy, India, Kenya, Eypt….”

I wiped away the crumbs, and turned the magazine to page 120.  Yes, there I was, for the first time, chosen by Conde Nast’s Wendy Perrin as one of the travel experts for China.

“Zhang wants to show you the “authentic China” beyond anything you’ll read about in guidebooks, and—as a Yunnan Province native, Harvard MBA, and former consultant for The Nature Conservancy—her vast Rolodex of in-country experts in nearly every field can make this happen…and get you farther off the beaten path than any other company can. Her cultural connections run deepest in Southwest China—Yunnan, Szechuan, and Guizhou provinces—where you might find yourself having tea with a practicing shaman, catching a private Naxi music concert at the home of the village head, or camping in luxury mobile tents on the Tibetan Plateau ”

This news reached me last week by email. So, the initial excitement has since settled, but never the less, the pride brought by this listing is still ringing.

It was exactly, almost to the date, 10 years ago that I started AsiaTravel. At that time, I was a couple years out of business school, still owning a couple of black suits that I wore to glassy office buildings in Hong Kong, New York and Beijing. Still was quite used to flying business class.

Somehow, Travel changed my life. I took some time off McKinsey to travel around the world. Puff, 4 months was gone without a blink. I was sitting in the cabin of an oil tanker truck (only choice for a hitchhiker), rocking my way up to the Tibetan Plateau from Kashgar. We rocked and rocked, I fell asleep and woke up. Wow, a whole night was gone. The snow-covered landscape replaced the desert where we started. But the milestones said, 125 km!! A whole night, we covered 80 miles in distanced, but close to 15,000 feet in elevation.

My heart started to beat faster, breathing became more labored, the landscape increasingly looking austere and moonish. The Tibetan antelopes galloped in the distance. I started to cry, for no reason. One was just touched by being so close to pristine nature. I knew there were risks, for me, being the solo woman traveler on that route. But I knew I was one of the lucky few, who had the money, the time, and the right passport (Chinese) to travel to these remote corners of Tibet.

Sometimes, I, woke from sleep in that rocking truck, stared out the window, and asked myself, “What if the truck tumbled over the edge? Is there one thing I would regret for not doing?”

The answer came back loud and clear, “Building my own business”.  That was the beginning of AsiaTravel.

Travel, somehow, has had magic powers over me. I met my husband hiking the sacred pilgrimage trail around Mt. Kawagebo in Yunnan, I took my wedding party to hike from Salween River to the Mekong.

Then travel helped to change other people’s lives.  Recently, two clients got married on a AsiaTravel trip. Two clients got engaged on a AsiaTravel trip. We’ve helped families retrace the Burma Road commemorating their father’s journey in WWII.

After all the years of traveling, I think I am starting to understand the magic of travels. Somehow, when one’s on the road, one’s attention is so outwardly focused, that all you notice are people and things around you. After the outward focus, the inward reflection of oneself is much gentler, and not so judgmental of whether my office is in an old house or a shishi building downtown, or whether my munching is embarrassing.

Travel elevates one above the daily routine, and allows one to see the beauty of other people’s daily routine. One of my favorite moment recently was jogging in front of Shangrila’s Songtsam Lodge, while watching the Tibetan farmers shepherding their cattle to the fields. I am sure they didn’t think of their life was poetic and charming, as it was just hard work. But as a traveler watching them, I was loving that moment. That’s the illusion of distance- distance of reality, distance of geography, and distance of time. That’s probably the art of travel.

Anyway, back to my sandwich. I didn’t think my munching a sandwich at desk was any bit poetic, but more embarrassing. But, I know, give it another 10 years, I will reflect back on this moment, as one of the defining moment of launching AsiaTravel in America.

As someone whose first job out of college involved writing for a China-related website, I have a soft spot for writers interested in China. In many ways, China remains a misunderstood place, one whose complexities can only be truly understood and conveyed by those who have  been there. In that spirit, AsiaTravel is excited to officially invite international writers, bloggers and radio / TV hosts to apply to participate in hosted press trips to China this fall.

We’re looking for unique voices that are in sync with the AsiaTravel brand image: premium quality, attentive service and an adventurous spirit. If you produce multimedia content for a luxury adventure travel audience, all the better.

On these press trips, we invite you to experience China the way that our guests do: sipping tea with village elders or shooting hoops with local school kids on a dirt court. This fall, we’ll focus on two trips to southwest China’s Guizhou and Yunnan provinces (you may join just the Guizhou portion, just the Yunnan portion, or both):

1) The Richest Mosaic: Discovering Hidden Minorities of Guizhou (Nov. 6-9, 2010)

We like to think of Guizhou as China’s best-kept secret. A remote province that is still relatively untouched by modern tourism, Guizhou is a must if you want to experience rich ethnic minority culture. On this trip, you’ll hike along ridges of terraced rice paddies from village to village and learn ethnic traditions and craftsmanship.

Curious what Guizhou is like? See for yourself — two of AsiaTravel’s best guides, Billy and Xiao, are featured on our new Vimeo channel, showing what they love most about their home province.

For this press trip, AsiaTravel will provide a car, driver and services of local, English-speaking guides; hotel accommodations; admission fees and activity expenses; meals and drinking water; opportunities to interview village heads and local craftsmen; and free time to explore and conduct interviews on your own.  Please note: you will need to arrange your own international / domestic air to the starting point (Guiyang) and from the ending point (Guiyang).

2) The Ancient Tea & Horse Caravan Road: An Expedition with Jeff Fuchs (Nov. 10-16, 2010) 

Yunnan is another one of our favorites, given its stunning natural landscapes and cultural diversity. We’re particularly excited to offer a press trip for our newest journey, one that retraces part of a legendary trade route that remains little known to Western audiences. The Ancient Tea & Horse Caravan Road was a vital route along which Chinese tea was traded for Tibetan horses. On this trip, you’ll travel from Yunnan’s subtropical south in Xishuangbanna, the source of all tea, before heading north up the Road to a former trading post, Shaxi, and further north to Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, finally ending in the mountainous Tibetan region of Shangri-La. Along the way, you’ll sample teas at their origin and study the trail’s impact on ethnic minority villagers.

What makes this trip particularly special is the access you’ll have to Jeff Fuchs, the first Westerner to have ever traveled the entire 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) route and author of The Ancient Tea Horse Road. Jeff’s passion for exploring off-the-beaten-path locales and local culture is right up our alley, and we’re pleased that he will lead this press trip in addition to the journeys we’re offering our guests.

For this press trip, AsiaTravel will provide an economy-class air ticket from Xishuangbanna to Dali; a car, driver and services of Jeff Fuchs and local English-speaking guides; hotel accommodations; admission fees, activity expenses and presentations; meals and drinking water; opportunities to interview Jeff; and free time to explore and conduct interviews on your own. Please note: you will need to arrange your own international / domestic air to the starting point (Xishuangbanna) and from the ending point (Shangri-La).

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For more information on either trip, see AsiaTravel’s Press Trips page. To apply, please submit samples of your recent clips (within the past 6 months) and information about your outlet to Anita Narayan at anita.narayan@wildchina.com.

You know what I am talking about – that brick or disc of tea in the velvet box! What do you do with it?

A few years ago, we were living in LA. My dear father came from Yunnan to stay with us in America for the first time. He brought a few bricks of Yunnan Pu’er tea (普洱沱茶) as gifts for people. Literally, they look like a solid disc or brick that if you get wacked on the head, you’d bleed.

I held him back, telling him that Laowai (Chinese endearment for “foreigners”) really didn’t know how to appreciate tea, and they wouldn’t know what to do with the brick.  Finally, we were going to dinner at this famous screen playwright’s house for dinner, my dad insisted in bringing one brick and presented it to the writer. The writer was very polite and thanked my father. I never went back to ask what he did with it.

Let’s face it, the brick of tea is packed so dense, that I wouldn’t know what to do with it. It’s too big to boil as one serving of tea; it’s so hard that you need a hammer to break it; it makes a huge mess if you do that! So, all the bricks I have collected still mostly sit on my bookshelf, until yesterday.

A big background on Pu’er tea, this is one type of tea that Yunnan Province in Southwest China is known for. They brew into a strong dark brown colored tea. But, historically, this tea was always packed on horse backs and carried by caravan trademen over dare-devil terrain onto the Tibetan Plateau. There, they transfer into the famed Tibetan Yak Butter Tea.  Honestly, I prefer drinking Pu’er tea by itself without the yak butter part.  Nevermind my personal taste, Yak butter tea is an essential form of calorie for Tibetans. The transportation route became known as the ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Road. National Geographic magazine ran a beautiful article on this road, but I was hugely offended by the article left out Yunnan.

People from Yunnan still prefer to store tea in the same condensed brick form. In fact, it is said that the older the tea, the more valuable it is. So, many collectors are in search for decade old tea. There are tea connoisseurs in China, as there are wine connoisseurs in the west.

Back in May, I walked into a tiny tea store in Heshun Old town in Tengchong, Yunnan. A young tea salesman told me that I needed a 解茶针，(needle for separating the tea). I had no idea that special equipment was available to do this job. He also explained that the tea brick was pressed together one layer at a time. So, adjust natural tendency to break off a chunk, one should carefully peel layers of tea horizontally.

I took the needle as a treasure and tucked into my purse. Hello?? How stupid is that!! I was caught at the airport security in Tengchong. To my amazement, the airport staff saw it on the imaging screen, and said, “Take the TEA NEEDLE out! It has to go in checked luggage. “Oh, no!” I groaned, knowing very well that I’d loose the needle, as no one had ever bothered to retrieve my check luggage for something like this.

Well, I was in for a surprise. People there knew that I couldn’t do anything with the tea if I didn’t have the proper instrument. So, they found my luggage, and now I have the tea needle in DC!

With tool in hand, I gave it a try yesterday, and was delighted with the result- now in a glass jar for future use. My son was busy playing with my iphone next to me. I tried to explain to him what I was doing, telling him about tea from mom’s hometown.  He simply ignored me. Never mind.

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Photo credit: The Half-Dipper

If anyone’s listening, AsiaTravel’s tea journey with Jeff Fuchs is worth the experience.

For those of us with cross-border marriages, it often involves two weddings to cater to family and friends on each side. My husband and I had gotten married a year earlier in the States, but my grandma wouldn’t take the paper issued by some foreign government as my marriage certificate. It had to be done properly. Her granddaughter had to be married out respectably.

 

So, it was time to plan a wedding in Yunnan.

The logistical challenges of organizing a wedding are many. Starting from the simple most, flowers and wines. I have always had a preference for a western floral arrangement rather than a rigid Chinese bouquet; same with wines. I’d pick a glass of red wine over Maotai (the fancy Chinese white spirit). So I ended up cutting out pictures from wedding magazines, and taking them to the flower market to find a talented florist to do them. Fortunately, Kunming is China’s cut-flower center.

Then it was the wines. It’s no longer an issue today, as you can find many Western wines in Chinese supermarkets. But back then, the only wine import channels were 5-star hotels. So I used them.

The most fun part was designing activities so that my Chinese relatives and our western friends could mingle. We decided to invite our wedding party on a 9 day journey from theSalween River valley across the snow mountains to the Mekong River valley. My husband’s best man probably didn’t quite expect the hike to be so rigorous at such high altitude (10,000 feet), so he didn’t waste his precious hours to prepare for it. He eventually make it up the mountain top with the help of two Tibetan guide and a donkey.

 

This wedding hike was the first trip organized under AsiaTravel’s brand name. The images from this adventure accompanied me through the first year of AsiaTravel’s creation, as sales aid. It is now one of AsiaTravel’s signature adventure travel to China product: Hiking the 19th Century French Explorer’s Route. It launched our local Tibetan guide into a successful lodge business in Dimaluo village near one of the most beautiful Catholic Tibetan Churches.

The wedding after the hike was probably the best party in my life. Also made my grandma happy.

Nowadays, I go back to Harvard Business School every year to discuss the case study on AsiaTravel, and they ask me if I had any advice for future entrepreneurs. I always say, “Leverage whatever you can, your friends and family as your first clients, and your own wedding as your first product!”

Proof? AsiaTravel now helps other people with their weddings at the beautiful Aman at the Summer Palace! This photo at the top is from a beautiful couple who are AsiaTravel clients.

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For more of their photos visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30359491@N08/sets/72157624138596972/

Deep in the heart of Southern Yunnan there exist tea trees unlike any other on Earth. The jungles of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the districts of Simao and Lincang are home to the oldest tea trees in the world. In these regions grow tea trees that range in age from several centuries to over a millennium, and the tea that is made from their leaves is called Pu’er.

Over the past 30 to 50 years, however, the number of these ancient trees has steadily decreased. Since China’s reform and opening up policies were implemented in 1978, the Chinese tea industry has grown rapidly.

In early 2001, the Pu’er market took off. Large corporations moved in and producers and retailers proliferated. Before long, demand couldn’t keep up with supply. Prices inflated and hype ran its wild course. In 2007, the bubble burst and the market crashed, sending many businesses into bankruptcy. Since then, the market has steadied, but the unsustainable industrial approach to agriculture that was initiated during the market’s quick expansion has continued.

With increased demand for Pu’er tea, the industry changed course from quality to quantity. Today, the majority of large corporate players that have a strong-hold on the Pu’er market only produce plantation tea, which is cultivated in monocultures sustained by the use of agricultural chemicals that erode the land, lessen the quality of tea leaves, and sometimes poison people.
Large areas of forest are now being cut away for high yielding tea plantations, and according to one farmer, “Plantation tea in Xishuanbanna didn’t exist until after 1978.”

Nonetheless, many century-old, big leaf tea trees still exist (there are two primary species of tea trees: small leaf and big leaf). These trees have lived for hundreds, some for thousands of years in rich, bio-diverse environments. Now, these trees and environments are nearing a state of endangerment.

 

Along my travels, I encountered herbicide bottles scattered throughout ancient tea gardens. Herbicides are used to make these gardens look prettier and keep “weeds” away, but they harden the ground and destroy biodiversity. When the surrounding foliage is killed off and the environment is no longer diverse, insects then further target the tea trees. Once the insects begin heavily attacking the tea trees, pesticides are generally the next step. Before long, a once-thriving, bio-diverse environment becomes not too much different from the plantation tea growing on adjacent mountain sides.

When I did find environments that were chemical free, I often came across other disturbing signs of environmental destruction. Many trees are simply over-cultivated. One farmer told me that he harvests his 500 year-old tea trees twice a month for nine months out of the year. When I tasted his tea, it was very weak in flavor and energy compared to teas that don’t come from over-cultivated trees. The same farmer showed me a tree of his that was over 800 years old.

“How often do you harvest this tree?” I asked.
“Once a year,” he replied. “It harvests two kilograms.”

I found it odd that he’d only harvests his prized tree once a year, but his other ancient tea trees he over-harvests. As a result, many of his 500 to 600 year-old trees were showing signs of illness.

In order to increase production, cultivators have begun chopping ancient tea trees in half. By doing so, the tree sprouts more branches and more leaves, allowing the farmer to harvest more tea and earn a higher income. The problem is that chopping a tree in half is not healthy for it, and so this practice is leading to the illness and death of many ancient tea trees.

When these trees die they are gone forever. It took several centuries for them to culminate into their current state and thus it will take several centuries for new trees to reach this level, assuming all other environmental factors are in place.

Saddened by what I saw, I unfortunately did not find any signs of formal protection for the last of the world’s ancient tea trees. With a lack of regulation and a strong emphasis on money, the very trees that filled many farmers and producers’ pockets are being destroyed for the sake of filling them further.

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Andrew Stein founded and runs Project Releaf. Funded by a J William Fulbright Research Grant, Andrew takes us on a journey through some of China’s most remote and ancient tea localities. Seeking to better understand the balance between China’s massive economic growth and its rapid environmental deterioration, he analyzes these effects of China’s swift modernization through the lens of China’s deeply-rooted tea industry.

I just did an interview by email with Chris Horton, Founder / Editor of GoKunming. His questions brought back so many nice memories of Yunnan. Thought I’d share them here:

 

Chris Horton (CH): Where in Dali did you grow up? What are some of your strongest memories of that time of your life?
Mei Zhang (MZ): I grew up in Dali until I was 9. That’s when my family moved to Kunming. My memories of that time that keep coming back are many. We used to go to a hot spring for baths near Xiaguan. There are always camellia blooming, and we’d climb the mountain behind the hot spring to pick big white flowers (Rhododendrons as I learned later). There were so many of those white flowers that we’d cook them for dinner! I remember people in Dali loved flowers, there are wild jasmines and other fragrant flowers for sale in the market all the time. Talking about market, that’s my favorite. Many different ethnic people would also come to the market, the Yis or Bais, wearing beautiful clothes, selling fresh vegetables and eggs. I still come back to Yunnan to search for those moments. (By the way, thank you for asking this question, it brought back so many nice memories.)

CH: What was the chain of events that led you from Dali to Harvard?
MZ: If this didn’t happen to me, I wouldn’t have believed events like this would ever happen. So my Dad, who was a worker building the hydropower station in Xiaguan, decided that the best thing he could do for me and my brothers was to give us the best education possible. He moved us to Kunming for better education. When I was testing for high school, he made me apply to the Foreign Languages school affiliated to Yunnan University, hoping that if I couldn’t get into college, at least I’d have some English to be a secretary. I got it, but I cried and cried, believing that he robbed me of the opportunity to become Madam. Currie of China. After that, I got into Yunnan University, studying English and Law. I started taking part time jobs as an interpreter since college to pay for school. Then one day, at an usual official banquet hosted by Yunnan Government for Krung Thai Bank from Thailand, my life changed. The president of the bank decided to give a spontaneous speech. None of the government interpreters were willing to go up to the stage with him, as there was no preparation, no script. They all recommend that I go up onto the stage, as I was the youngest interpreter with nothing to lose. So, I did. After that, the officials from the Bank invited me to sit at their table, and offered me a scholarship I couldn’t resist. The rest is history.

CH: What was the inspiration behind founding Wild China in 2000?
MZ: See here: http://www.wildchina.com/application/assets/img/press/pdfs/World-of-Chinese—See-a-Different-China.pdf

CH: What are the most surprising or amazing places you’ve discovered in China since then?
MZ: There are many, so I’ll just pick a few from memory. I remember seeing the villages near the Yellow Mountains for the first time. I was struck by how beautiful the traditional architecture was, and how much history the places endured, and how sad the current state was – all adults gone to work in the city as migrant workers, with only grandparents and kids left in the village. Guizhou Province also struck me an unbelievable place. It’s also in the Southwest of China, but incredibly poor and lack of development. In a way, it reminds me of the Yunnan I grew up with. Rice terraced fields with ethnic hamlets scattered here and there. Traditional lifestyle that’s so beautiful and the hardship so challenging. That’s the China I knew and loved.

CH: What notable changes have you seen in China’s travel industry since 2000?
MZ: The extraordinary growth of domestic travelers spurred incredible growth in the travel industry. There have been some great advances, for example, I just visited Heshun village near Tengchong in Yunnan. I have to give the development company a lot of credit and respect. I think they did an amazing job keeping the beauty of the place while making it accessible to the general public. The landscaping is beautiful and tastefully done, and the written materials are interesting and well done. There are more and more lodges and hotels that are also tastefully done around the country. These are all great. But, I feel sorry for sites and places that are too quickly run over by tourist crowds. Lijiang old town is a prime example.

CH: How often does Yunnan figure into your clients’ travel plans? What are the most popular destinations?
MZ: Very often. It’s one of our top destinations. Before I traveled the world, I thought I was just biased because I was from Yunnan. Now that I have been to Mt. Everest, South Africa, Italy, Peru, you name it, I know Yunnan IS one of the most extraordinary destinations in the world!

CH: What are your favorite places in Yunnan?
MZ: My favorites are: Cizhong in Diqing, I find the catholic Tibetan cultures fascinating; Shaxi Jianchuan Grottoes, I loved the long history behind the whole Tea and Horse caravan road; Tengchong and Gaoligong Mountain, I love the incredible bio diversity there and the WWII history. I just hiked across Gaoligong from Baoshan to Tengchong last week, and thought it’s one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever had. After the hike, I called Gaoligong Nature Reserve, and told them that I’d sponsor them in publishing a birding book! Look for it, it’s coming out next year.

CH: Wild China has carved out a niche for itself as a provider of sustainable and socially responsible tourism in China for foreigners, do you see these concepts ever becoming important to the domestic tourism market?
MZ: Absolutely, we want to get involved in the domestic tourism market as well, but we have a wait a little bit for the demand to build up more. In the meantime, we are speaking at different forums etc to influence Chinese travelers.

CH: Spending much of your time between Beijing and the US, you’re usually far away from Yunnan… what Yunnan dishes do you miss the most?
MZ: I actually make it to Yunnan a lot! At least twice a year, and spending some solid time in the mountains. Yunnan Rice Noodles (mixian) is probably the one dish I miss most. I am a good cook, so can fabricate most items including suancai (pickled greens) myself, but the noodle is beyond me.

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Learn more about Mei Zhang and the AsiaTravel story.

Go to the interview link on GoKunming.

 

Electric blue skies and majestic mountains were a wonderful welcome as I stepped off the plane in Lhasa, Tibet. In early May, as the Manager of Training and Quality Control, I was sent to Lhasa to meet with our local AsiaTravel team to prepare for the 2010 summer season, lead review sessions on our distinctive service standards, and to develop new products and tweak our itineraries to ensure that our AsiaTravel travelers are eating, staying and experiencing the most unique and authentic aspects of Lhasa. AsiaTravel has been working with our local team in Tibet since 2000 and they perfectly understand AsiaTravel – getting off the beaten path and experiencing real Tibetan life and culture.

 

I know when I look back in the years to come on my trip to Tibet, I will remember staying at the Yabshir Phunkhang. Per Chungdar’s recommendation, I reviewed and stayed at this recently opened boutique hotel that served as the home of the 11th Dalai Lama’s father in the mid-19th century. Elegant Tibetan accents were thoughtfully applied throughout the hotel to create a stylish retreat to relax and catch your breath (literally!) from the 12,000 ft altitude! The delicious Nepalese curry in their well appointed restaurant was the ideal meal after a long day of travel from Beijing, and the setting would be a special location for a private dinner for a larger party.

AsiaTravel is always trying to find locations and activities that no other travel agencies have discovered and on this trip to Lhasa, we definitely scouted some amazing and unique locations. My favorite new find was a Tibetan nunnery roughly a one hour drive from Lhasa. N Shunsel is a nunnery that is rarely visited by non-locals and is a satisfying three hour hike. Walking through the breathtaking valley and getting stunning views of Lhasa in the distance, I knew we had found a special spot that our AsiaTravel clients would greatly enjoy to visit.

 

While my time in Lhasa was short and busily spent gearing up the guides for the summer season, the colorful prayer flags, the religious atmosphere that pervades every aspect of Tibetan culture, and chilled barley beer will hopefully soon lure me back to Tibet to explore again.

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Nellie Connolly is AsiaTravel’s Manager of Guide Training. Learn more about AsiaTravel’s guides.

Many parts of China can get quite hot in the summertime. But, did you know that there are three cities that are notorious for their heat?

Meet China’s “Three Furnaces” (三大火炉): Wuhan (capital of Hubei province), Nanjing (capital of Jiangsu Province), and Chongqing (a provincial municipality previously a part of Sichuan Province). Incredibly hot, humid and uncomfortable in the summertime, these cities are those from which local Chinese are sure to stay away when vacationing in warmer months of the year.

Given the reputation of these and a number of other Chinese cities in June, July and August, where can travelers beat the heat and experience China differently in the summer?

 

AsiaTravel has three solutions for comfortable warm-weather travel:

Inner Mongolia – Hulunbeier: In Inner Mongolia, experience traditional Mongolian wrestling, archery, and horse racing at a Mongolian Naadam Festival (which literally means “games” in Classical Mongolian). Large cultural influence from Mongolia means that travelers can find Naadam festivals all over this northern Chinese region as well. For the Naadam event best suited to families and groups, visit Hulunbeier in July and August. This is a great way to experience the outdoors, traditional sport and game, and moderate summertime weather in China.

Yunnan – Dali, Lijiang & Zhongdian (Shangri-La): Three of Yunnan’s culturally- and historically-rich towns – Dali, Lijiang and Zhongdian – are generally quite pleasant in the summertime and offer a number of diverse sights to explore. There may be precipitation during this rainy season, but lower temperatures and amazing landscapes more than make up for this. Find more information and ideas by looking at our South of the Clouds itinerary. One word of caution: due to the summer rain, hiking in Yunnan’s Tiger Leaping Gorge at this time is dangerous. AsiaTravel strongly advises against doing so.

Gansu – Dunhuang and Xiahe: Home to a portion of the Silk Road, Gansu boasts dry summers whose temperatures peak in the mid-80s (Fahrenheit). Visit Dunhuang, the main traders’ stop in Gansu along the Road, for the Mogao Grottoes; and Xiahe for Labrang Monastery in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Our Marco Polo’s Silk Road: Across the Taklamakan journey has an optional post-trip extension to this area. (We recommend avoiding July and August for the entire trip, since temperatures in the arid desert of Turpan can reach 113°F [45 °C] during the day.)

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Want more information on cooler summer destinations in China? Email Alex at alex.grieves@wildchina.com. 

 

AsiaTravel’s Alex Grieves recently interviewed Jeff Fuchs, the first westerner to traverse the historic Tea Horse Caravan Route, author of The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers, and AsiaTravel expert. The route, which spans from Nepal, through China’s Yunnan province, and finally into Tibet, has for centuries been mysterious to outsiders, at best, but is usually simply unknown.

Fuchs explains his collaboration with AsiaTravel on the series of unique, once-in-a-lifetime journeys on the Road; why this route is profoundly important, historically and culturally; and how Himalayan nomads may be the key to understanding climate change.

WCT: How and why did your interest in the Tea Horse Caravan Trail develop?

JF: I have always been an avid climber. In 2003, I went on an expedition with a Tibetan guide, Dakpa, from Yunnan who told me about his interest in and passion for the Tea Horse Road, which he knew by another name. Over the next year, we made the pact that we would travel it together. Initially, we found very little written documentation on the route. After completing more research, we realized that its significance likely surpassed that of the Silk Road. The Road linked Tibet to the Middle East and Persia, and within Tibetan tribes one can find Persian DNA as a result. Researching this route opened up new opportunities for me: after demonstrating the importance of the route, I also received a deal from Penguin Books and published a book on the Road, which was great for acknowledging and publicizing the importance of the route. I also later did consulting for National Geographic. The Road also further developed personal interests, primarily mountain climbing and tea.

WCT: Why is the Ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Road such an important route? What do people need to know about the culture and history surrounding this route?

JF: To know the significance of the Road is to understand the importance of tea to Chinese culture and by extension, Asia and the world as well. The origins of tea go back 2,000 years, to the base origins of ancient Chinese tea trees. Minority tribes worshiped tree forests; they had a very tangible identity in the lives of these people. At this time, money lacked any value – the currency of choice was tea.

As such, tea was the main export from Yunnan, which kept dynasties attempting to take over at bay, since the desire for tea was so incredibly strong. Tea was used as an herbal curative element, so it was incredibly important to all, regardless of which dynasty or power with which you were allied. Thus, the route was truly integral to people during the peak of its use.

Travelers to China need to experience the Road to see what one route could do for so many lives, communities, businesses, and alliances. Travelers just don’t see these regions, or these stories, on an average trip. The history, stories and challenges of the Road enable those who travel it to see something real.

 

WCT: Where did your interest in tea come from?

JF: Tea has always been part of my home life. When I was growing up in Switzerland, my father of Hungarian origins was always experimenting with foods and was a tea lover. He had me drinking Japanese and Taiwanese tea from the age of 12. When I moved to Taiwan in 1999, I became completely obsessed with tea, and began doing advertising and promotional work for a tea company to learn more about it. Later I discovered Banna [Yunnan] and Pu’er [also from Yunnan] tea. I’ve collected teapots and teas for quite some time now, and have expanded my collection to Oolong and other Green teas as well.

WCT: What were the challenges of this route? Surprises? Rewarding aspects?

JF: This route was full of surprises and unexpected challenges, and it was surely an incredible, life-changing experience.

I expected spectacular geography. What I didn’t expect was to discover the profound importance of the route, its legendary impact on cultures that developed alongside it, and how it functioned regularly from the 7th century until the 1950s.

The truly surprising aspect of the trip was the daily combination of intense, breathtaking beauty and imminent danger and hardship. Portions of the route were so simple and untouched, and also so treacherous – I couldn’t believe how arduous the trek must have been for mules carrying tea. Even in May and June, we often walked through meters of snow, so one can imagine how difficult it must have been for the tea horses. The physical danger of the journey was also unexpected. I’ve climbed all my life, but the daily beauty coupled with danger that I encountered on this trip was in a league of its own.

The journey was 5,000 kilometers, and took us 8 months in total. During these 8 months, there were many difficult times. We trekked through the Himalayas during a blizzard in June. We almost lost the youngest member of our group when he slipped and slid down a glacier, and just barely survived with enough friction from his equipment and clothing to stop him from falling to his death. We ended up with severe frostbite and skin problems. We almost lost another group member in a blizzard with 6-feet visibility to a snow tunnel in a crevasse, since we didn’t hear or see him fall. These hardships brought to light the physical dimension of the route, and made us realize how many lives must have been lost over 1,300 years of history.

The true beauty of the route, however, lies in the way in which it linked and unified people through common need – the need for tea. Despite strife and wars, trade never stopped along the route. It kept relationships open and communities sustained. Tea was the unifying element, and without it, the route would not have been as crucial, and would probably not still exist for us to explore.

WCT: It seems that you’ve traveled everywhere throughout your life. Why China, and why China now?

JF: I’ve lived in Yunnan since 2005. For me, China has always represented a mass of information that is only partially understood by the West. There is so much that isn’t promoted and isn’t known, and that doesn’t fall into the stereotypes of how China is perceived. China really has a bit of everything. It’s a massive geographical wonder; you can see every extreme, color and season here. Specifically, I have always been interested in the Himalayas. The eastern part of the range satisfies my passions for mountains and tea, so I am naturally drawn to the area.

It is important to remember that right now, China is continuously opening up and becoming increasing accessible. As it opens up, we can peer in more and see the various faces of China that exist within the country.

WCT: You’ve also spent time documenting a nomadic tribe at 5,000 meters in the Himalayas. Tell me more about that experience.

JF: My intention was to do story on a dying way of life, a cultural piece on nomadic culture and existence. For three weeks, I lived with a family in a community of 8 fierce Tibetan families who possessed Persian ancestry and DNA. These khampa, or eastern Tibetan, nomads are the most traveled of Tibetans.

In the middle of nowhere at 4,800 meters, I experienced every aspect of their lives: their daily rituals, strife, meals, their relationship to nature, everything. At that time, I only spoke minimal Tibetan, and very little in their own dialect. When you live at almost 5 kilometers in the sky, completely isolated, your life revolves around preset rituals. There is no technology; you are completely cut of from the trivia of modern life, and anything that isn’t crucial.

It was difficult at first – it took me a week and a half to get into the rhythm of this life – but it was one of the best experiences of my life. While it is a world of stress and hard work, it is also one of incredible joy. Relationships are very well defined according to natural elements because everything in their life has to do with the weather, including one’s health and the health of one’s yaks.

These nomads are such an enigma because they have chosen to remain so isolated. For this reason, they are, in fact, the true global warming experts. They don’t have terms for these environmental problems as we do, but they know and feel it because of their innate sense of nature. Their intuition allows them to know this. Before we created these terms to frame these issues, they talked about and felt these changes. Their oral histories tell stories of the landscapes as accurately as any historian would.

My experience with the nomads goes to show how important it is to understand people who live on and with the land – regardless of where they are from – and how their perspective can shed light on the state of affairs.

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Photo credit: Jeff Fuuchs

Travel along the Tea and Horse Road with Jeff.

 

In late March, AsiaTravel founder Mei Zhang blogged
about colleague Sunshine’s trip to and future work with an elementary school in Yubeng, a Tibetan village in Yunnan province.

Recently, Sunshine gave us an update on the status of AsiaTravel’s aid to Yubeng.

 

“The books on plants and stones have been just sent out. Thanks to [AsiaTravel colleague] Li Ling’s help, the teachers and kids will have books to learn about different kinds of fish, amphibians, and invertebrates. [AsiaTravel colleague] Catherine also helped to get stone samples – this is wonderful for the kids to tell different stones apart.”

AsiaTravel looks forward to continued support of schools like Yubeng Primary School.