5. The Ancient Tea Horse Road

Title: The Ancient Tea Horse Road

Length: 296pg

Date of Publication: August 4, 2012

Link:Book

Professional Review

I could not find any professional reviews.

Reader Review:

"I first read the Kindle version of Ancient Tea Horse Road over one year ago. It's a rare book that has a special place in my heart because I can read it again and again with the same wonderment as the first time. When I bought it, I had just returned from a trek in the Yunnan province of China -- two days on the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail and another five day trek to ethnic villages with three mules and their owners -- a trip that had completely won my heart and soul to the Chinese. It's hard to describe to westernized Americans the simple but deep-hearted ways of the mountain villagers of China. So when I bought this book, I was curious if Fuchs, as a westernized white man, would do justice to a culture so vastly different from our own. Fuchs surprised me greatly. He superbly captures in well-crafted words the nuances of the Chinese ethnic groups, their unique lifestyles, their humanity and their respect for the mountains, and their partnerships with their mules and horses, as well as his own love and respect for the people who shared their lives and stories with him. The book captures my imagination so vividly! As I read, I find myself watching an adventuresome movie with impossible challenges and a cast of strange characters headed to the unknown beyond the next mountain, but only if we stay alive! So who is this Jeff Fuchs, I ask myself. Re-incarnated perhaps from the soul of Beryl Markham? Her stories captured my admiration in her well-written and now a classic book "West with the Night", stories about flying and life in Africa. It's the very same way Jeff Fuchs' stories about trekking and living in the mountains of western China captured my admiration. Fuchs, Markham, Hemmingway, Lewis and Clark, Captain Scott . . . they all share their passions so well."

- T. Reed

What does this book teach the reader?

This book teaches the reader about the ancient trade routs of tea and how tea was originally moved on horseback.