I'm TK Chang. I drive the roads this notebook is written from, and I photograph them — all year, in every month the season pages describe. Western Sichuan is where I live and where I work: the passes above 4,000 m, the valley villages, the grasslands where the weather turns in twenty minutes.
The short version
- Base
- Western Sichuan, on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau
- What I do
- Drive, guide and photograph these routes the year round
- Who with
- Small private groups — best for two travellers, up to four
- Languages
- English & Mandarin; trips run in English
- Also on
- Real-time POV driving films from these roads, on YouTube
What I actually do
Two things, which are really the same thing seen from either side. I drive and guide a small number of private journeys through Western Sichuan, Qinghai and Yunnan — one car, your group only, route built around your dates. And I photograph these roads the year round, which is why I can tell you what the light is doing on a given ridge in a given month.
On the road that means: pacing the days so the altitude doesn't ambush you, timing the stops to the hour the light actually works, and handling the small ground problems — payments, tickets, ordering food — in a language you may not speak.
One thing worth saying plainly
Guests sometimes ask whether I'll photograph their trip. The honest answer: the useful thing I bring isn't a second camera, it's knowing where the good shots are. If you shoot — or just want your phone photos to finally look like the place — I'll put you in the right spot at the right hour. If you'd rather watch the mountains go by, that works too.
Why this notebook exists
Most of what's written about this region in English is written by people who came once. The light here is seasonal in a way that's hard to guess: the same valley is a different photograph in May and in October, and a stop that looks like nothing at noon is the whole reason to be there at seven in the evening.
Everything on this site comes from journeys I've driven and photographs I've taken myself. Where I'm not sure of something — a gate, a season, a road — the page says so instead of filling the gap.
What guests have said
I'd rather not describe myself, so here are two people who write for a living and travelled these roads with me:
"…by the end of the tour, we had a feeling that T.K. was more a friend than just our driver. If you want to have the same experience like us, ask for T.K."
— Magda Sawyer · Baba goes China, the travel blog recommended in the Lonely Planet China 2025 edition
"Today's visit was extraordinary, the exclusive plan and the material I brought. TK VERY GOOD too."
— Isaac Martín · Chavetas.es, one of Spain's best-known family travel blogs
Two more guests wrote in their own words, without any prompting from me, that they would ask for me again — Stefano and Giulia. Their notes are on the guest words section of the notebook.
If you'd rather travel with me
Everything on this site is free to read, and most people should simply take the guides and go. But some prefer a second pair of hands on the ground — and that's the other half of what I do: a small number of private journeys each year, driven and guided by me.
One car, your group only. Best for two travellers, up to four. Route, pace and stays planned with you before departure, and a tailored quote by email.
What a private journey includes →
Write to me
Questions about a route, a month, a specific photo spot, or whether a plan makes sense — send them over. If it's about travelling together, tell me roughly when, how many of you, and what you want out of the trip.
tkchang1949@gmail.com — and Instagram and YouTube are on the notebook's contact section.