Joseph Rock: about this site

This blog site is a compilation of my trek diaries and photos compiled from various visits to China and Tibet retracing the plant-hunting travels of Joseph Rock since 1992.

Joseph Rock made seven major botanical expeditions in the Southwest China/Tibet borderlands in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the 20 years I have gone back and revisited the routes he took. Some are (or were) relatively unchanged, others have been transformed by development. I took a few pictures with my old Leica and Rolleiflex cameras (I didn't adopt digital cameras until 2007 and even then continued to prefer film).

If you want to find out more about these trips, check out the index on the right hand side of the page. I have provided links to the various blog entries I made at the time.

These include the destinations:

• Muli monastery (Sichuan)
• Gongga Shan and Kangding (Sichuan)
• Yading and the outer kora (Sichuan)
• Kawakarpo Kora (Mt Meili, Yunnan)
• The Nujiang and Cawarong 2007
• The Mekong (Lancang Jiang) and Cizhong (Yunnan)
• Maidi Gangga and the Yalong river (Sichuan)
• Monasteries at Jone (Gansu), Labrang and Lajia (Qinghai)
• Trekking between the Mekong and Nujiang via Shela Pass

These are the major sections, but this website also covers a lot of other miscellanea relating to Joseph Rock and other explorers of the region, such as Frank Kingdon Ward. It also covers nearby areas such as Dali (I have the best photos of the Cangshan peaks), Lijiang, Kangding and Chengdu, with pictures showing how they have changed over the years.

Unfortunately I haven't had time to arrange any of this in any sensible order. My advice is either to browse by year or do a search for your keyword in the box at the top left.

I won't be doing much updating of this site as I have pretty much covered all the areas Rock visited.

Shuola Pass 说拉垭口 Yunnan-Tibet border

From my October 2016 trip going from Meili Shi, Yunnan into Tibet (and back)

On the Tibet-Yunnan border: the Sho-La

Took this in autumn 2016 with my Leica (35 Summicron). Just developed the photos.

This is my guide, doing a bit of praying on the pass. As you can see, the weather wasn't great.