The WildChina Explorer Grant

WildChina’s own story is one of exploration, self-discovery and challenge. High up on the slopes of Tibet’s Mount Kailash, Mei braved the high altitudes and harsh landscapes to find true beauty of snowcapped mountains alight with the sunrise. The breathtaking view brought Mei a sense of fulfillment—yet she stood alone and exhausted from her journey. The creation of the WildChina Explorer Grant is a testament to supporting other explorers in finding authentic and life-changing travel experiences while protecting local cultures and environments.

WildChina’s Explorer Panel

Edward Wong

Edward Wong (Chinese name: 黃安偉) is an American journalist and a foreign correspondent for The New York Times. Edward served as one of the Times' main correspondents covering the Iraq War from November 2003 through June 2007. He moved to the paper's Beijing bureau in April 2008. Wong reports on China's politics, economy, military, foreign policy and culture. He has covered signature events of recent years in China, including the Sichuan earthquake, the Beijing Olympics and unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang. He has also reported from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, North Korea, Mongolia, India,Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan. He occasionally writes travel stories about trekking in the mountains of Central and South Asia and other outdoor travels.

An essay by Edward was published in Travelers' Tales: Tibet, an anthology of travel writing on Tibet. Edward appears in Laura Poitras's 2006 documentary about the Iraq War, My Country, My Country, and in Dexter Filkins's book, The Forever War.

Edward received the 2005 Livingston Award for International Reporting for his Iraq coverage. He was among a group of reporters from the Times' Baghdad bureau named as finalists for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting.

Edward graduated from the University of Virginia in 1994 with a B.A. in English. In 1999, he earned dual Master's degrees in journalism and international studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He has studied Mandarin Chinese in Beijing and Taiwan. Edward's family is from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province.

Li Bo

Li Bo has a lifelong interest in studying the interface of environment, science and society. Mr. Li grew up in Dali, home to the Bai ethnic group in Yunnan Province. In 1994—before a nonprofit sector in China existed and when the private sector was on the rise—Mr. Li left his government job. After a brief stint in business, he found his home in a nongovernmental organization devoted to reducing poverty in the mountains of southwest China. Over the next decade, as witness and participant in a drastically changing Chinese society, he has been involved in the work of diverse NGOs with different missions: rural livelihoods, indigenous knowledge, natural resource management and world heritage management in Yunnan, community-based tourism, biodiversity conservation, and NGO-led advocacy for transparent dam site decision making in southwest China.

In 2001, Mr. Li completed his master’s degree in natural resources management at Cornell University. Since 2009, he has been the Executive Director of Friends of Nature, a domestic environment group based in Beijing focused on mitigating environment risks.

YU Hui

Yu Hui is the founder and executive editor of The National Geographic Traveler Magazine (Chinese edition). Within the magazine, Yu brings expert knowledge of travel editing, publishing, advertising and marketing. In cooperation with the US edition, Yu believes that The National Geographic Traveler Magazine should follow the US edition, but must also integrate and become specific to Chinese needs and travel preferences. Under his direction, Yu Hui has overseen the Chinese edition of Yu Hui is the founder and executive editor of The National Geographic Traveler Magazine (Chinese edition). Within the magazine, Yu brings expert knowledge of travel editing, publishing, advertising and marketing. In cooperation with the US edition, Yu believes that The National Geographic Traveler Magazine should follow the US edition, but must also integrate and become specific to Chinese needs and travel preferences. Under his direction, Yu Hui has overseen the Chinese edition of The National Geographic Traveler to become the highest grossing edition of the magazine (currently published in 15 countries).

Over the years, Mr. Yu has also pioneered the concept of sustainable travel in China. The National Geographic Traveler promotes environmentally friendly practices in China and encourage travelers and travel companies to join in forward-thinking eco-travel. In 2010, the magazine organized a forum on “Sustainable Tourism," the first competition for sustainable tourism in China. to become the highest grossing edition of the magazine (currently published in 15 countries).

Our 2011 WildChina Explorer

Jeff Fuchs

In its initial year, the WildChina Explorer’s Grant has been granted to Canadian explorer and writer Jeff Fuchs, with British entrepreneur and endurance athlete Michael Kleinwort.

Along with local nomadic guides and the odd mule Fuchs and Kleinwort traveled to the most isolated and unknown portion of the Tsalam route in Qinghai – a remote portion from Honkor to the Maqu area. The expedition completed in May of 2011 was completed entirely by foot leaving as little carbon footprint as possible. It accessed many of the last nomadic traders to document their precious recollections of travel along the Tsalam. The expedition is another in Fuchs’ desire to bring Asia’s long lost trade routes to light.

To learn more, please head to Fuch’s blog